Instrument Recommendations
Recommended Instrument Brands
Quality equipment is essential. Students that play on poor quality instruments, mouthpieces, and reeds, experience unnecessary challenges with pitch, breath control, and beauty of sound. An instrument can be a big purchase and one not to be made without the guidance of a private lessons teacher or band director. Some salespeople will sell you the brand that turns the most profit without much consideration to your individual needs. If you buy on amazon, reverb or ebay you may be purchasing a poor quality instrument that will cause frustration and endless repair bills unless you know what brands to look for.
Some things to take into consideration when purchasing an instrument:
Buy a quality instrument that will last. Even if you do not continue to play in college, you will get much better resale from a top brand instrument, AND if you treat them well, they will appreciate in value.
Do NOT buy an “off-brand” instrument! Ever! These are poor quality instruments that will break, produce a poor tone quality, play out of tune and need constant adjustments. And many instrument repair people will REFUSE to repair off brand instruments because they are so bad. It can be difficult to know the difference between an off-brand and a reputable brand if you are not familiar with band instrument brands.
A used instrument of a good make/model is a much better purchase than a brand new poor quality instrument. Instruments that are treated well and receive regular maintenance last for decades.
Suggested step-up instrument brands:
o Flute: Yamaha YFL 481H or Azumi 2 or Azumi 3
o Piccolo: Yamaha YPC 81
o Clarinet: Buffet R13 (you will need this if you plan to be a music major) or Buffet E11 (very good student clarinet). Some Backun models are excellent.
o Alto Saxophone – Yamaha Custom Z or Selmer Series II Super Action 80
o Tenor Saxophone – Yamaha Custom Z or Selmer Series II Super Action 80
o Trumpet – Bach 180S 37 ML bore, though many of the Stradivarius line will work quite well.
o French Horn – Holton Farkas H-180 or Conn 8D artist series (do not buy a single horn!)
o Trombone – Bach 42B F attachment, Bach 36B F attachment, Conn 52H, Conn 88H, Yamaha 8820, Shires Q Series, Eastman 828. An F attachment is a priority for a step-up trombone purchase.
o Euphonium – French Besson, Yamaha Custom. (Do not purchase a euphonium without a compensating valve!)
If you can not currently afford to upgrade your instrument you still make a big difference in your tone quality and intonation simply by purchasing a high quality mouthpiece and good reeds. High School musicians should not be playing on the mouthpiece that came with the instrument. These are intended for beginners and if you play on a beginning mouthpiece, you will sound like. . . a beginner! The following are a great reference, but there are wonderful moutpieces out there for all players.
o Clarinets: M13 Lyre mouthpiece with a Rovner Ligature Van Doren reeds either 3 or 3.5. Get rid of your 2’s and 2.5’s, they are for beginners! Use up the box and don’t buy any more. Avoid Rico reeds they are firewood! . Rico blue box (Royal) are ok for bass clarinet or contra.
o Saxophones: Selmer C* (C-star) mouthpiece with a Rovner Ligature. The next best choice is a Yamaha 5C or 4C mouthpiece . If your mouthpiece does not have a brand stamped on it, it’s not a good sign. Get rid of your 2’s and 2.5 reeds, they are for beginners! Use up the box and don’t buy any more. Avoid Rico reeds they are firewood! Get Van Doren 3 or 3.5 reeds.
o Double reed players should be playing on hand finished or hand made reeds. Forrestsmusic.com is a good resource.
o If you are taking private lessons your teacher will recommend a mouthpiece that will work for your. Otherwise a good “standard” mouthpiece that you can’t go wrong with is the Bach 3C. High school trumpet players should NOT be playing on a 7C! 7C mouthpieces are for small children.
o Trombone: Bach 6 ½ AL mouthpiece (not a 12 C!!)
o Horn: Holton MDC mouthpiece
o Euphonium players: Schilke 51D mouthpiece, Bach 6 1/2 AL
Tuba: Conn Helleburg
What about plastic mouthpieces for brass instruments? These are great for very cold weather during marching band when your lips will become numb when playing on a metal mouthpiece. They are also good options for students with a metal allergy that prevents performance on a traditional mouthpiece, though I recommend a metal mouthpiece with an interchangeable rim. They are not good mouthpieces for other situations because you lose stability and depth of sound.
What about instruments that come in cool colors?
Short answer: No
Longer answer. No way.
Real answer: Colored instruments are made cheaply (which is why they are cheap!), and will break, play out of tune, and have terrible tone quality. The brass instrument color will flake off in your hands and the woodwinds will feel really nice for a couple of weeks before the rods start bending and the pads stop sealing. The exception to this is the P-Bone —while it’s not appropriate for band, it’s a great instrument for beginners who may have trouble lifting the weight of a metal trombone and who might be more inclined to dent the slide. For older kids, it’s a fun toy that is actually surprisingly well made, but it doesn’t get the dynamic or depth of tone necessary for band use.
Percussion Stick Bag Recommendations
Stick Bag: Innovative Percussion MB1
Suspended Cymbal: Mike Balter 23R
Triangle: Steve Weiss Basic Set of 4
Suggested Percussioin Materials .docx