I play jazz, marching and concert band. I have a bach 3C right now. I own a Kelly 3c which I use in the stands for marching band and on the field for really cold nights. They are very nice because the don't get cold but they do tend to slide around on your face when moving on the field. As far as using it in concert or jazz, I wouldn't. They have a tendency to pinch your sound. If you are looking to buy a shallow-cup "screamer" mouthpiece, don't. They are no help, you maybe able to play high but the tone quality is awful. If you want to play high you need to practice, (long tones and lip slurs) and if you want to play lead/scream trumpet in the jazz band you can increase your range with a smaller bore trumpet. The smaller bores scream easier, but also blare with little effort. I took my 3C to a music store just yesterday and tested a .460" bore jazz trumpet and played 3 octaves (g to g to g to g) cold. Once you have range you can get out about a full step higher, cold with a smaller horn (the range will obviously become higher as you warm up.) As a trumpet player, you should look for quality of tone in all octaves rather than poor tone and good range. The Kelly's are, of course, a polycarbonate mouthpiece and to the best of my knowledge come in a 3, 5, and 7c only. There a neat idea, particulalry if you're playing outdoors in the c-o-l-d weather. But.....your tone will "suffer" - at least as compared to your Bach. that is, save it for marching band, and go back to metal when it's indoor concert season.
Oh by the way.here's a link to everything (and more) you'd ever want to know about mouthpieces:
http://www.osmun.com/reference/schilke1....
Best of Luck !! Trumpet 2 has some good things to say on your question. I would like to add that you and every trumpet player would do well to purchase the excellent DVD Warren Vache put out called I Love The Trumpet 4 hours of great information on trumpet playing,origins,tone,and care. You may get it at your local music store or Amazon.com or artistshousemusic.com Also check out some of the CDs Warren Vache has made over the years.Warren plays with a full rich tone and incredible flexibility and range and great musicality. |
