I ordered and received a Yamaha 11 Japan mouthpiece this week. Depending on who you read online, it’s either like a Shilke 11 (R. Shilke consulted for Yamaha in the 60s) or a Bach 7C. One site even said it was somewhere between a Bach 3C and 5C.
I don’t know. I’m a woodwind guy, remember?
The community band’s 1st chair took a look at it and promptly pronounced it a “cheater” mouthpiece, and supposedly only good for experienced players to play in the upper register. It played quite well for me down in the 3rd trumpet range, for what that’s worth.
I asked him what he played on, since the external profile of his mouthpiece was similar to the Yamaha, and he replied (rather smugly, I think) that he only played Bach mouthpieces.
The Yamaha rim doesn’t feel like a 7C to me; it’s different in some way that is more comfortable for me. 7C rim is more rounded with the feel of an edge or high point in the middle of the rim to it. The Yamaha 11 is flatter and curved differently. It’s very comfortable to play on. Unlike the last time I played a practice session on the 7C, I didn’t get as tired this time with the Yamaha. That may be as much as just me playing more now.
I didn’t have any significant problems (no more than usual, anyway) finding the pitch and staying on it with the Yamaha. However, the high school student sitting next to me with a road kill Bach, playing anywhere from a quarter to a half step out of tune, and completely ignoring the key changes, did cause me some distress. I think I pulled my neck from twitching so much.
I was able to gently remove the fairly major bend in the 1st valve tubing going to the bell of the lacquered Olds Ambassador this week, and I will start working on freeing the slides next. I’ve done some research as to how to go about this w/o bending tubes etc., so I will try those this week.
That’s it for this edition of (turn on the echoing, Kevin) “The Trumpet Chronicles”. Tune in next time for another exciting episode…d…d…d…d…d…
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