I know that it has been a while since the last post about horn mouthpieces, but it has given me some time to settle in with the new mouthpiece. That way I have really been able to put it through its paces. Mouthpieces and equipment are a very personal decision, but there are obviously some important things to consider when you pick things for yourself or recommend them to other people. Let’s talk first about the mouthpiece.

Mouthpieces

As a horn teacher, I have seen a lot of different mouthpieces used by students, and things are getting worse. There is a large contingent of students using cheap, no name mouthpieces that they can easily purchase from Amazon and even some of the more non-reputable music retailers. I am seeing everyone from middle schoolers to high schoolers using equipment lacking a brand or model number printed on the outside. These mouthpieces don’t sound good, and I can’t understand how someone at sometime before I arrived hadn’t tried to get them on something different. Starting a kid off on a good, name brand, medium-sized mouthpiece will do wonders for their development. Some models I really like are the Farkas MC or MDC, Bach 7, Giardinelli C10 or equivalent, Laskey 75G, and many others. The Laskey can be hard to find now. I really hope that they come back into production someday soon, as it was probably the best factory-made mouthpiece out there for students. The Farkas and Bach mouthpieces are pretty common.

For myself, I am all-in on the new combo that I have. My AG2k just sings with the Houser San Francisco cup and the Osmun copy of Laskey’s 17.75mm rim. I play principal horn with the Florida Wind Band right now, and this combo helped me get through the concert without missing a beat. Slurs were smooth and high notes just pop.

Horns

With my private students, I have been helping many of them find good double horns. The rental situation in the Tampa Bay Area is not great. The local music stores just don’t rent good stuff. For the price that many of these parents are paying for Eastman double horns, they could have a much better instrument that will not hinder their future development. The aftermarket is great, and I have been happy to help facilitate the purchase of everything from a $1500 Holton H378 for a middle school student to a $2500 Conn 8D for one of my high schoolers that looked and played like a brand new horn. Here is what I recommend in terms of horns for middle school and high school players. (Please note that any of the high school instruments can be used in middle school, but they might be overkill for a beginner. Still, it would mean they wouldn’t have to switch out horns. I played on a Holton H180 from 7th grade until after my undergrad was done.)

Middle School:

Conn 6D

Holton H378

Yamaha? – I would like to recommend a Yamaha intermediate horn here, but I can’t. They play very sharp and are nowhere near as good as the higher level instruments they make.

High School: (all of these are also great for kids looking to play horn in college!)
[The Holton and Conn models are still the best for school instrument purchases!]

Holton H179 [H181/281 for a student personal purchase]

Conn 8D

Yamaha 668II

Hans Hoyer G10

I will definitely have more to say on this later. Hopefully this is helpful to people. It is my hope to post more to this blog to give more info for people that might need it. Happy holidays!