Hiya. Blessing mpces are inexpensive. 90 degrees?! Surely you jest.
That would put the bells straight up in the air! Maybe 30 to 45
degrees bend? I would expect some alteration and damage to the sound
but OK for mellophones.
As to the weight thing, I think it is not very important. You HOLD the
horn in playing position. Adding weight to it would increase your
fatigue. Perhaps you need to grow 2 or 3 inches taller. That would
shift the angle a little and make it feel more balanced for you. Or
let the bell get off the thigh and fall a bit lower and farther to your
right; that could shift it a little since you aren't likely to grow
any more.
Paul Mansur
On Thursday, September 29, 2005, at 04:33 PM, Angela Gonzales wrote:
Hello listers. Since I'm in a conserving mood lately (with all the
high gas prices), I'm putting two subjects in one email:
1) I'd like opinions on Blessing mouthpieces. My little sister is
having to deal with her high school band director on this. Not only
did he give the entire section at her school Blessings, but they have
been altered by having the shank bent 90 degrees. This would make it
easier to play the mellophone (I know, eeww!) with the bell towards
the press box. She normally plays on a Holton MC.
In fact, I want any opinions on how bending a mouthpiece is
practical (or not) as well. No opinion refused.
2) After making good progress and a personal playing breakthrough over
the past year, I noticed recently that the balance of my horn (Conn
8D), when playing, is not even. It seems like there's more weight
towards the upper part of the horn, and when holding it, the leadpipe
wants to dip.
I've experiemented around with different ideas, and found that
removing the first three valve caps made the horn balance better. Not
having my moutpiece on (a Lawson) also made a difference.
However, keeping the caps or mouthpiece off isn't practical. I'd
like ideas on what I could do to add a little bit of weight to balance
my horn.
Fire away!
Angela Gonzales
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