Denis Wick Trumpet Mouthpieces |
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Each model gives the player subtly different tone colours and individual characteristics. From the grandest symphonic sounds of the largest types to the shallowest and most brilliant jazz mouthpieces, and for C, D and piccolo trumpets every need is provided for. |
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| From boyhood beginnings in amateur bands and orchestras, Denis Wick became principal trombone of the London Symphony at age 25 and worked with this great ensemble and some of the world's greatest conductors for 31 years, until his retirement in 1988. Despite his renown as a soloist, orchestral and chamber music player, conductor, and of course as a teacher of many of the great names of today, he is best known world-wide for his mouthpieces and mutes, which place him in a class of his own among brass players. Years of careful and unrelenting research, infinite patience and, as he says, "an element of luck" have produced one of the most successful series of products in the world of brass music. Every single one has been made for musical reasons only. "Any ideas I had which were not entirely motivated for a good musical result have been failures." Denis Wick's hands-on approach to quality control continues to protect the quality and consistency of the Denis Wick mouthpieces and mutes. Every process, from using the best quality materials to carefully monitoring anodising and plating is relentlessly checked. The traditional skills of metal spinning and the most modern computer-based turning lathes are equally important. The brass player's mouthpiece is the most important piece of equipment he or she possesses. It is as personal as shoe sizes and should be fitted as carefully. Instruments need mouthpieces which bring out their best characteristics and players need mouthpieces that will help them realize their full potential. There is no easy answer to this complex requirement. No two players are alike and their requirements from the same instrument can be wildly different. Care taken in choosing the right mouthpiece for instrument, type of music, and player can make the difference between steady progress leading to ultimate success and wasted effort leading to constant frustration. Brass instruments are hardly ever made with really accurate, keyboard-precise intonation. Manufacturers usually try to find the best intonation compromise by the intricate matching of the internal tapers. The natural harmonics of any tube are governed by natural laws and can never be perfectly in tune as western man hears the notes. A well-designed mouthpiece should assist the compromise and make the instrument more usable. The perfect match can give perfect results. The best players can, with careful training, produce intonation which transcends the narrow confines of equal temperament. A lifetime spent working with some of the world's finest professionals has given Denis Wick an unrivaled insight into solving these complex problems. The spin-off has been the enormous improvement in the quality of brass band playing; even the least able players produce a good sound with reasonable intonation when using Denis Wick mouthpieces. The current high level of trombone and tuba playing in the UK can be directly attributed to his influence over the last 40 years. Having set standards which have held good for so long, Denis Wick continues to innovate and introduce new models as playing levels improve and better players demand demand better equipment. Musicians are by nature conservative and happiest with what they know. Most mouthpiece designs, whether American originals or oriental copies, reflect tastes and styles of bygone years. By using a mixture of traditional and modern concepts, Denis Wick has created mouthpieces which reflect the needs and tastes and today's and tomorrow's music and musicians. Carefully designed rims give maximum support with maximum control and flexibility, different external shapes give ultimate sensitivity or incredible volume, and cup shapes produce telling overtone structures. |
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