I have been playing Curry 10.5C consistently for over a year now. That means that I am pretty satisfied with it. It is a lean and efficient piece with nice high and warm low. Milk chocolate with a silver wrapper. The only issue is that it feels a bit small on my lips, and that it has a rather small sound. I wanted it to be a bit bigger, but with the same character, only pure chocolate with the same silver wrapper.
I ordered a Curry 8.5C, and together with that a flugelpiece 8.5FL-Y (since my Van Laar has a Yamaha receiver). From the time I play Curry, I am confident that I can order a trumpet and flugel set of pieces, because they really do have the same rim. I had to figure out if I needed an FL or an FL-M (a bit shallower), and the FL gives me the best warm and yet projecting sound I want from my flugel. One of the reasons I have such an amount of pieces, is that I always had trouble matching pieces. If I had a good flugelpiece, I had to find a matching trumpetpiece and vice versa.
Anyway, the 8.5C came on thursday, the day of the concert with Patrick Votrian. I unpacked it on stage during soundcheck and after a few tones, I decided to play the concert on it. It sounded good enough and felt playable. What surprised me was the width of the rim. The 10.5 has a pretty narrow rim and the 8.5 is rather wide in comparison. I hadn't expected this big difference.
Halfway I noticed that I was tiring a bit quicker than I wanted. The 8.5 obviously takes a bit more strength to keep together. Sound was good, especially on the flugelhorn I was very pleased with what I heard and felt. It gave a bit more room for my lips to move within the piece. I switched back to my trusted 10.5 and played the rest of the concert without trouble.
I decided to practice some more on the 8.5 and give it a week or two to adjust my lips to the somewhat roomier inner diameter and the wider rim. I definitely liked the flugelsound, and also the trumpet has a bit bigger sound, but the first couple of tries it seemed a bit harder to control and get a focused tone on it.
I have been practicing on both flugel and trumpet for a few days now, and I might have found a better match. I am not quite sure, on trumpet I still tire a bit quicker, but I like the bigger tone so much, that I just give it another week or so. On flugel I am already convinced. In a couple of days I have a bigband gig and that is a good testcase. If my embouchure holds through this gig on the 8.5 I know I can do other things as well.
If the 8.5 didn't fit, I wouldn't have played and practiced on it anymore already. A lot of mouthpieces are so clearly not my thing, that after a minute it is clear that it isn't going to work. With Curry's it is a bit different. They have a very open high register, which no other piece I ever tried has quite like it, and it has a very versatile sound for what I do. For bigband and pop it has enough sizzle (though I don't play lead. I tried a 10.5* and a 10.5Z, and these have lots of sizzle!, but too shallow for me), and for my trio, which needs a bit of a classical sound, or at least a more mellow approach, it is just right. Like I said it feels lean (the 8.5 even more, because of the bigger diameter) and gives a nice warm low.
I am curious if I will keep the 8.5, and if not, the 10.5 has been a good choice for over a year now. Stick to that for some time.
A special word about the TC line of Curry. That is really something worth to check out. T=trumpet, C=Cornet. It has a flugellike cup, it is a bit shorter than a normal trumpet piece for tuning reasons, and it plays just great. It has a very cornettish sound, but if you step on the gas, it gives a fat and warm sound. It is perfectly in tune an I can easily play the same range as the other pieces, and for ballads it is just what I need sometimes. It is even easy to switch inbetween songs if you need a more intimate sound. Super for my trio gigs. If the 8.5 dtays, I really have to get an 8.5TC. I now only have a 10.5TC, which I use very frequently.
Halfway I noticed that I was tiring a bit quicker than I wanted. The 8.5 obviously takes a bit more strength to keep together. Sound was good, especially on the flugelhorn I was very pleased with what I heard and felt. It gave a bit more room for my lips to move within the piece. I switched back to my trusted 10.5 and played the rest of the concert without trouble.
I decided to practice some more on the 8.5 and give it a week or two to adjust my lips to the somewhat roomier inner diameter and the wider rim. I definitely liked the flugelsound, and also the trumpet has a bit bigger sound, but the first couple of tries it seemed a bit harder to control and get a focused tone on it.
I have been practicing on both flugel and trumpet for a few days now, and I might have found a better match. I am not quite sure, on trumpet I still tire a bit quicker, but I like the bigger tone so much, that I just give it another week or so. On flugel I am already convinced. In a couple of days I have a bigband gig and that is a good testcase. If my embouchure holds through this gig on the 8.5 I know I can do other things as well.
If the 8.5 didn't fit, I wouldn't have played and practiced on it anymore already. A lot of mouthpieces are so clearly not my thing, that after a minute it is clear that it isn't going to work. With Curry's it is a bit different. They have a very open high register, which no other piece I ever tried has quite like it, and it has a very versatile sound for what I do. For bigband and pop it has enough sizzle (though I don't play lead. I tried a 10.5* and a 10.5Z, and these have lots of sizzle!, but too shallow for me), and for my trio, which needs a bit of a classical sound, or at least a more mellow approach, it is just right. Like I said it feels lean (the 8.5 even more, because of the bigger diameter) and gives a nice warm low.
I am curious if I will keep the 8.5, and if not, the 10.5 has been a good choice for over a year now. Stick to that for some time.
A special word about the TC line of Curry. That is really something worth to check out. T=trumpet, C=Cornet. It has a flugellike cup, it is a bit shorter than a normal trumpet piece for tuning reasons, and it plays just great. It has a very cornettish sound, but if you step on the gas, it gives a fat and warm sound. It is perfectly in tune an I can easily play the same range as the other pieces, and for ballads it is just what I need sometimes. It is even easy to switch inbetween songs if you need a more intimate sound. Super for my trio gigs. If the 8.5 dtays, I really have to get an 8.5TC. I now only have a 10.5TC, which I use very frequently.
Hi Bert, I have been using a Bach #3 with very large drilled out throats, somewhere between #15 - #19 depending on the horn I am using at the time. I recently got my hands on a couple of Curry 3TF's and have moved over to them. As mark advise, these TF's can work better with a slightly bigger drill like #22 or slightly larger as opposed to his standard #23 drill. I drilled one out to a #22 and another out to a #21 and yes for me I found they worked better. I find them very suitable for me but they do tire me out very quickly. This does not matter too much because I am not playing professionally as I am retired now. I can put up with the less endurance as I like the dark sound. Last month I ordered a couple of 3TC's from Dillon's music but they seem to be out of stock so I am going to have to wait longer to get them, I would like to know if you have drilled out any of your mouthpieces and especially your TC's.
ReplyDeleteThank you Richard Autenzio.
richard.autenzio@bigpond.com