*from Rick Stevenson:
...what mouthpieces do you and the other members of the AHQ use?

Well the three of us who play high horn usually stick with the same model through out the concert and these are also the mouthpieces that we play every day. Geof plays on a bastard mouthpiece which is comprised of a bored out Mirafone "Leuba" cup (these date back from the 60's). The rim, I'm told, is a copy of John Cerminaro's but I can't confirm this; its made out of nylon, I've experimented a bit and this material seems to be a bit easier on the lips. Geof is the only one in the group who has such a rim. Kerry plays a Paxman standard Halstead mouthpiece. David plays on a Singer Nr. 15 mouthpiece, the rim is a copy he got years ago of Myron Blooms. He tried to get a new cup recently, but the new cups seem very different from the one he got 20 years ago, so to copy it he had to get a custom job. Charlie usually uses two different mouthpieces, one for work in the orchestra (he plays both second and third horn) and with the quartet he uses a larger one. They are both Josef Klier models, for the quartet its his model W1BM with a specially prepared 4.9mm backbore. Even though we all use different mouthpieces, from different sources, they all do seem to have a few traits in common. Specifically they all seem to have very deep cups and large bores. The rims are all fairly thin with well defined edges.

In addition to all of this we also often use that invention called the "ring". This is a brass collar that fits onto the mouthpiece stem just above the leadpipe. The theory behind this is that the vibrations produced by the lips and transferred to the air column also produce a slight distortion in the shape of the mouthpiece. The louder the dynamic, the more the distortion. This distortion also soaks up some of the energy, especially the lower harmonics of the sound, therefore decreases the available energy for sound production within the instrument itself. To counter this an additional mass is added to the stem of the mouthpiece which decreases the amount of lower harmonics swallowed up which allows for a richer tone production in the horn. Too much mass will swallow too many of the higher harmonics make it harder to produce the tone, but just the right amount should increase the richness of the sound, especially in loud dynamics.

We did a bit of an experiment a few years ago, where we all gathered our various horns together, and we also had a large selection of different size rings to try out. We took all of this to a hall with very generous acoustics and tried them all out behind a screen. We came to the conclusion that with large bore instruments the medium size rings helped to produce a more rich tone. The larger rings seemed to require too much effort, especially in the upper register and were not too useful; and on narrower, lighter horns (i.e., Alexanders) the rings seemed to produce no noticeable change for better or for worse. The down side is that it requires a bit more support to play the instrument, but this, we found, is something you just need to get used to.

*from Rick Stevenson:
What horns do you prefer?

Currently three of us are playing Paxman horns (all gold-brass), full triples (David plays a L, Kerry plays a 1988 Triple large bore with an Eb descant and Geof has an XL) and Charlie plays a Rauch Geyer copy. That the three of us play the same make of horn is by accident, although I guess it does show that Paxman does have a good product.

*from Wes Robbins:
Can you share with me any information or experience you or the other members might have with lead pipe modifications? I play a 1971 Conn 8-D and I am interested in possibly obtaining either a Mc Cracken or Lawson lead pipe. What do they really do for one's playing, how much do they cost, how long does it take, who do you go to for a modification of this nature?

Geof responds: I played an 8D for years back when I was living in Seattle and in Los Angeles. I had a different lead pipe attached too, but it was made by Atkinson. I found it to be an improvement over the original; the pipe cost me $125 and it was another $30 or so to have it attached back in 1980. I suppose it would be at least double that now.

As for suggestions about particular lead pipes for an 8D I'm afraid that I've been away from mine for so long that I really can't tell you what is the best one out there now, so I guess try the ones out that you can, and hopefully you'll find something better suited to your needs.

*from Wendy Limbertie:
I've got a question, has your arrangement of "West Side Story" been published. If not when can we expect it on the shelves?

Our arrangement of "West Side Story" is not currently available (except for the recording of course!) and I'm afraid it doesn't look good for the future. The titles included in the arrangement are under copyright by several different publishers and therefore getting permission from all of them at the same time has proven to be unsuccesful so far.