With the heavy top, there's a little bit more of a richer sound, like your chops are more loose. My personal preference is the heavy top.

You’re the hidden gem of youtube

Trent, I've been high skeptical that these things would make a material impact to anyone's sound, so I'm very surprised to realise that there was a very slight but noticeable difference. Firstly, I thought that the heavy top (3rd) mouthpiece sounded a tiny bit cleaner than the others. But only discernable because you played them back-to-back. In isolation, I believe it would be impossible for a listener to pick. But more importantly, you split the difference as the player, when you said that "the notes are a bit less certain to play" when you take off the booster. That in itself is a strong enough reason to favour the additional mass options. Thank you for this valuable demonstration.

I shut my eyes when you started playing, hoping you wouldn't say which mouthpiece was which. Fortunately, you didn't. Frankly, I didn't hear a difference between them - at least not enough to mention. Knowing full well these had to be different takes of the same passage, any differences seemed to be from the different performances. However, that's only half of the story. Sometimes differences in equipment result in a different "feel" for the performer. Those don't necessarily translate into different sounds, but they might allow for a more precise performance or better expression or less fatigue. Any of those could be valid reasons to prefer one mouthpiece over another even if they don't directly affect the sound.

The heavy top sounds a bit richer to me, maybe ever so slightly louder too? It was slightly more pleasing to my ear than the standard. Maybe it gives more stability to the sound and the extra metal helps it resonate better?

I honestly didn't hear a difference and I think that's because of the camera audio. I also have a Dennis wick 0AL bass trombone mouthpiece and I also really love playing on it. I share the sentimental value of your 0AL because I too bought that mouthpiece as my first brand new. Awesome video

I don't have the best ear, but I only notice a very slight difference between the three mouthpieces. I think I like the sound of the third mouthpiece (the heavy one), but again the difference is just slightly more pleasing.

The heavy DW sounds the best. The booster doesn't make enough of a difference to make it worth buying. I actually like the sound of the standard DW for jazz or pop concerts and Heavy DW for symphonic.

I absolutely agree with you! The heavy top and the booster sound a little better. I am partial to my Bach 6.5AL because it was my first brand new mouthpiece. My first trombone I’ve ever had is a Holton that is over 85 years old and has the original mouthpiece, and to this day I have kept the slide in good condition and I used it as my marching trombone for band!

The differences were subtle. I can see applications where one could have an advantage over the other. I preferred the heavy top and then the regular. The "boosted" one, it's like "why bother?". I also see this as being a viable tool when cutting your own multi-tracks so you can have each recorded part have its own character. I think I need to try this with trumpet, as that's what I play. I do have times when I'd like to darken the tone a bit.

Thank you for the video Trent! I honestly heard no difference with or without the booster

I’ve been looking for a new Euphonium mouthpiece so this video has come out at the perfect time :D

Megatones from Bach also have slightly more open backbores

I agree with your summary. I did not hear a difference in tone, but attack and stability seemed better with the heavy mouthpiece. I played with a borrowed one, and it felt better, but not enough to actually get one.

It would be interesting to see what the waveform looks like for each. I can't hear much difference from over here in the U.S. Maybe if I was closer, I could tell.

There is always the possibility of change per round. It's extremely difficult to get the exact same sound per rep, but given the sample size, each rep sounded the same coming out of my cellphone speaker. However, you sound more comfortable on the heavy top mouthpiece, which in turn will give you a better sound. Love this channel.

I really like my KGU heavy bottom caps on my Committee trumpet and use a KGU booster on my main mp. To me it feels like it absorbs the upper harmonics and makes it slot wider with less high sharp frequencies. It feels like pulling out the tuning slide 1mm without having the problem notes go flat if that makes sense.

Trent, I noticed a ig difference between the standard vs either of the other two examples. The added mass seems to have damped the higher frequencies, leaving a deeper, richer, or thicker sound. But that was only on the initial, three-note passage. In "Do, Re, Mi," while there was some difference, it was not nearly as pronounced as in the first passage.

The heavytop mouthpiece has a much clearer and more pleasant sound on the lower octave arpeggio, but I noticed on the Bb below middle C the heavier ones sounded less certain, almost as if the extra mass widens the target size for slotting higher harmonics. Just my initial observations.

I think the tonal palette is the most broad with the standard mouthpiece, and the most limited with the booster. My guess is, since the booster isn’t fixed, the vibrates a little on its own, possibly counteracting the vibrations of the mouthpiece itself. I played on a Bach megatone for several years, and have since switched to a standard weight Pickett. Horses for courses.

I heard that the heavy top one was the cleanest sound

I liked the pedal tones from the standard mouthpiece best. The bulkier units felt a bit more cottony muffled. Ensemble playing with either heavy mouthpiece would likely remind one of euphoniums or french horns and be quite mellow. Just depends on what you are after for the given composition.

I feel like the standard mouthpiece produced a more “dirty” sound and let the additional sounds your lips made in the mouthpiece show through in the what you hear, and that the heavytop got rid of these almost completely and had a much more full sound. The boosted one sounds somewhere in the middle, a bit more towards the heavytop.

I think on the standart mouthpice,the sound is just a little bit thiner then on the others but it does not make huge differences on a metal mouthpice.There are also plastic mouthpices avaiable on wich you can get metal boosters and on those mouthpices a booster does change the sound dramaticly. (“Brand“) is the brand name.

The regular mouthpiece has a dark tone with a variety of colors, where the sleeve takes away some of those colors and makes it brighter, while adding volume. The heavyweight mouthpiece keeps the colors and darkness whilst increasing the volume for the same input. So the extra mass does add volume but different sound options for what the player prefers.

As with a lot of things you alter with a musical instrument, the change is most noticed by the musician. You sounded better with the heavy top, but that was most like because you like it better.

Hi Trent - first time commenting. In my opinion the heavy top seemed clearer and more stable. From a players perspective do you find that your playing benefits from the heavy top? Thanks again for the demonstration and all of your videos which I find both informative and entertaining.

To my ear (and the speakers with which I heard the video) the standard mouthpiece sounded more resonant, while the other two sounded a bit stuffy, very close, with the Heavytop the stuffiest.

Love your comments, Can you compare efficiency of a trumpet Bach Stradivarius vs a King Symphony Trumpet Super 20 by HN White 1965

I didn’t think I could really hear a significant difference between the mouthpieces until the switch from the heavy top to the standard. Then it was really noticeable.

I LIKE YOUR SOUND WITH THE WICK HEAVYTOP THE BEST. ITS MORE PRECISE AND DEFINED.

I'm just a beginner on trumpet, but I found that the heavy style mouthpiece (I only have a very cheap Chinese-made no-brand one) puts a little more mass at the mouthpiece end of the trumpet and I find that the weight of the trumpet sits more nicely in my left hand. Not sure if this will apply to all trumpets or just the old Yamaha T100 I have.

Eyyyy, I`m a bass bone player myself :D In my opinion, the heavy top has a richer, fuller sound, but suffers a little bit in articulation. Mouthpiece that I use right now is Douglas Yeo mouthpiece for bass trombone, and it`s kind of in between the heavy top and standart mouthpieces - for me it works just great!

I thought the original sounded sweetest/roundest; the heavy more precise/clear; and the booster somewhat in between. Great stuff Trent! Could you do something on how to go about tuning brass instruments. B))

Hey Trent, love and warm regards from India I feel the heavy top mouthpiece has a more suttle and finished Tone, it sounds best amongst the one with booster and the original mouthpiece, lovely and great Video, you are a blessed soul who can play brass left right and center without any nonsence, and that's something worth high appriciation, 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹👍👍🇮🇳🇮🇳

Heavytop definitely sounded clearer to me. Booster, very close to it. FWIW, I use boosters on my cornet and trumpet mouthpieces, and I find much more of a sound difference on the trumpet than the cornet- I guess because there is more shank to focus the sound down the instrument. They both help the feel though, probably because keeping a good sound requires slightly less work from the embouchure. Useful to have a direct comparison, so thanks Trent.

I have used a lafreque device on my trombone. They seem to be very popular in Japan. There are different models for different instruments, including woodwinds.They consist of 2 small metal plates fitted one over the other and this is attached to your instruments (different placement on different instruments). I have tried it on my trombone and it made a great difference in the projection and ease of playing. I am only hesitant, as it attaches on via an elastic device, which would give way sooner or later. Any views on this device?

I actually preferred the mouthpiece with the booster.

I couldn't really tell - and so much depends on the frequency response of your microphone, and the EQ of my stereo equipment. I play trumpet, and have eventually settled on a Smith Watkins Mike Lovatt mouthpiece, studio model with medium booster. It's fat at the bottom and rich at the top. Without the booster, it's a lot thinner sound, and doesn't cut the way it does with the booster. I guess it's all down to personal choice.

Thank you!

It sounded a little bit darker with the heavytop and the booster. The heavytop sounded the most full and it didn't have the slight airyness of the others.

During the arpeggios there was a TINY difference in the tone, however when you distracted yourself from tone production to play a tune - all of that difference went away. My impression is that any difference perceived or realized exists due to player input. But what do I know? My Bass Trombone mouthpiece of choice is a Doug Elliot 118.

I feel like when you added the booster, the sound because fuller and more wholesome. Then with the heavy top, a bit of this was taken back off but there was certainly more power.

Hi, I have also tested for the result of heavy mp which with comparing to light mp. For my opinion, as in your video, the difference is so small that most of the listener cannot determine which is which. However, in my test, i try to make a really loud and heavy accent tonguing on the trombone, which nearly sound like explosion, the difference is noticeable. For the light mp, when you blow too heavy into it, there is a very little vibrate buzz sound from your instrument/mp, but not from the explosion sound from the bell. When i changed to heavy mp, the little buzz sound disappear, only left is the more clear version of the explosion sound. well, the little buzz sound is so small compare to the explosion sound, however, you can still hear the difference. Sorry that i dont have the video/sound sample with me.

The heavy top produces a richer sound with more depth. After listening to the heavy top I listened again to the standard mouthpiece and it sounded thin by comparison. I didn’t think the booster DW made much difference. I would be interested to see a similar comparison between the trumpet mouthpieces.

Is there any chance you could make a few comparisons like this on a flugelhorn?

To my ear, any differences were within the range of normal variability. Do you think a heavy mouthpiece would help prevent breakup of the sound when playing high and soft on a tenor trombone? When I play the last movement of Mahler 6, I find that the high G (played as a seventh partial in second position) is liable to this flaw.

Sounds if the heavier mouthpiece makes the sound of the air/buzzing more precise

Heavy top sounds much cleaner and maybe even a touch louder. Lower tessitura really blooms with the heavy top. Nice sound!

I am mainly a clarinet player, although I dabbled in trombone for a year or so. I heard no difference between the normal mouthpiece and the boosted version. But the heavy-top was a bit more beefy and rich, and it sounded more confidently played. Just my thoughts

could you do a video on the schagerl apredato trumpet mouthpiece

I’m trying a Bach 10 3/4 CW. What size megatone would equal that? For trumpet

In my opinion the heavy top mouthpiece sounded like a straight mute was slightly on the instrument, because it had more of a beam sound but some echo with it

It's very subtle for my ears and so what feels best, plays best/easiest and what costs less have to be considered too. A trombone mouthpiece has already so much mass and so dampening that I don't see how it even could make much difference. My own heavy Bach trumpet mouthpiece plays different than the standard one but they are not exactly the same. The throat of a megatone is a bit larger.

I definitely prefer the heavy top from listening. The first mouthpiece sounded good but just a tad bit airy, the booster did make a bit of a difference but not that much, but the heavy top sounded way more full, rich, and louder.

I think the heavy top mouthpiece certainly makes a difference, the tone is much fuller when you played on it. But I didn't hear a difference with the booster though, weirdly enough

Can u do bach megatone vs denis wick heavy top for trombone

i think the difference is below the threshold of perception but an electronic device which analysis the sound might detect a change

Can you compare monette trumpet mouthpiece and lotus trumpet mouthpiece.

What i heard was that with the booster and low mouth piece your medium range and low range was substantially better sounding but that sacrifices the quality of high notes but you did not play many of those so i do not know for sure.

I noticed a lot more power on the bass notes with the heavy top and the booster

The heavy top is A LOT cleaner than the other mouth piece

This seems like the discussion on if gold or silver affects how a flute sounds. I hear that as the mouthpiece gets heavier the sound gets darker and perhaps a bit fuller.

I think thw booster is interesting the heavytop however sounded like it mess led with your tone making it airy

I can't hear it, but I wonder if part of the reason is that the speakers on a laptop aren't of a high enough quality to be able to send that along. Nowadays we use smaller and smaller speakers because scientists figured out we can use the upper partials of a low note to trick the brain into hearing the pedal tone of those partials. But I would assume that with bigger speakers, or in this case, a bigger mouthpiece, that you'd be able to hear richer sounds in the lower parts of the harmonic series.

I didn't hear any difference, but then, my hearing is going, especially in the high frequencies. Adding mass to a mouthpiece (or anything else, I suppose) would dampen higher frequencies. So, for those who can still hear high frequencies, you should be hearing more overtones with the lower mass mouthpieces. This would affect the timbre, or "color", of the sound.

I think your heavy top mouthpiece has a slightly richer fuller sound than the other two, though the booster comes in at a very close 2nd place. Really like the sound you get from your horn. :)

No dislikes on the video so far. Congrats Trent!

So, I can play french horn really well with the standard mouthpiece, but I can barely play above the 2nd D on trumpet with the standard mouth piece. Is there a mouthpiece I could use with trumpet that could replicate my french horn experience?

The Denis Wick heavytop seems to give a sound more rich of middle and bass harmonics, yet less focused. The normal Denis Wick gives a brighter sound; adding the booster seems to de-focus the sound... I didn't like it very much actually

What type of mouth piece to you recommend to an advanced beginner trombonist

I think the standard one sounds like it has a much warmer tone where as the heavy top sounds kind of buzzy and distorted. i like the standard more.

What song is the intro? Is it just his own chords or is it a part of a whole choir?

The heavy mouthpiece sounded more focused and had more core to the sound, the standard sounded a little fuzzy and uncentered, the standard with the weight sounded more centered but not the same core/richness the regular heavy had. I thought the heavy(third one) sounded the best

The heavy top had a darker sound than the normal and the normal one with the weight adder

Doesn’t the megatone also have a larger throat

Bach standard mouthpieces do actually also differentiate from Bach Megatones the throat. The throat of a megatone is in general bigger

I thought the heavy top sounded ver so sightly brighter. If I’m choosing a mouthpiece for a sound the difference wouldn’t necessarily be enough to make me choose it over other factors. I’ve found with the heavy tops I’ve played (on a trumpet, and clone mouthpieces, not brand name) the notes slot much more easily. I’m a lot more confident that the note I aim for will be the note I hit, not just an approximation if it. That could be a purely psychological thing though, so don’t take my word for it.

What’s the name of the outro song?

Yes

Creo que los cortes tocados con las boquillas de mayor masa suenan diferente pero ¿Cuanto afecta esto psicologicamente al musico? El musico puede sugestionarse e intentar darle un timbre diferente de forma inconsciente.

Hard to tell just playing mezzoforte. The big difference between them will be appearant in pp and ff. For me it is easier to play in ppp with projection with a heavy mouthpiece {Bach Megatone 1 1/4C) in comparison with Bach 1 1/4C. I can also play louder without distortion (ff ==>)

whats the name of the intro song

Can’t tell the difference w/o the booster, but the heavytop is a bit cleaner-or thinner-in the higher tones. But who knows if the shape is really identical.

Hey Trent, recently I'm in the market for my own trombone. I play in my my school's jazz band and also in the Symphony in my valley. So I need a versatile instrument because I can't afford multiple. Would a giardinelli GTB-10 trombone sound suitable for this or should I look around more and what should I look for?

Imho Heavy mpcs produces a little bit more projected and focused sound, apparently with the same effort. This is what i hear.

Adding the booster or using a megatone mouthpiece makes me hear more of the sound and less of the air or your lips vibrating, but more information may be needed.

What would happen if you put a booster on a interchangeable trumpet mouthpiece?

Not the best listener but it sounds like to me the normal one vibrates the most after you stop putting air through the instrument. The heavytop vibrated the least since its the one with the most mass. I also feel like the heavytop brings out articulation more than the normal one too

All sounded the same to me TBH most the differences I hear are run to run errors and changes that you'd expect. Personally I don't really mind I've used all kinds. To me it's all about the diameters and dimensions and rims. Enjoy whatever you play on! (I use a Baer set of CC and F tuba mouthpieces. Neither of which I'd call a heavy MP.)

PLZ TELL ME

You are AWESOME

I did hear a difference the heavy top and the one with the buster sounded a noticeable amount smoother and clearer tone

Interesting. I didn't expect to hear much difference, but the booster sounds cleaner than the standard, and the heavy top gives an even more pure tone.

All I want in the world is to try Tuba mouthpieces before I drop $100 plus dollars on one, but alas, I guess I'm just going to have to guess on size and brand. It's hard having big lips and being unable to test mouthpieces:(

I started on a heavy mouth piece (they ran out of regular) and when I finally got the correct one I felt a huge difference in tone might just be me though

Did you get a new Bass Trombone?

Personally, I think you a slightly more beefy and brassy sound from the heavy mouthpiece. I suppose the player's choice comes down to personal preference?

Intro song?

I read an article about a guy who used a weighted collar on his mouthpiece for many years, only to loan it to someone he was playing with and change his mind about his unweighted mouthpiece entirely. Maybe it's just a fad, who can make the heaviest mouthpiece. Some have commented the playing characteristics of a horn can change dramatically, but I don't have any experience to say anything more than this.