For a brief period in about 1952, Mason Jones and Ward Fearn (2nd horn in Philly) tried using rosewood mouthpieces. Fearn had them made up by an industrial concern that had very accurate lathes. I tried one myself for a while. As I remember, the tone was a bit darker than with metal, and Jones didn't use his for very long. The mouthpiece was very comfortable (warm on; the lips right away), and attacks were cleaner, but slurs were a bit harder to do. (I played with a dry lip at the time). If you do use one, the wood has to be very hard -- ebony is the hardest wood, rosewood the second hardest.
Chris Earnest _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
