Wycliffe Crossover MP

RichEKelly · by **RichEKelly** » 2019-09-11 11:15 a.m.

I have on occasion the need to play trumpet parts for church and such, but it is not often enough to get my Trumpet chops in shape. Does anyone here have first hand experience with the Wycliffe crossover trombone MP with the trumpet shank, and if so, what experiences you can share.

thx

brtnats · by **brtnats** » 2019-09-11 10:11 p.m.

I’ve got one and I love it. Your mileage may vary. It’s not a magic bullet; you’ll still have to work to build the muscles for a trumpet embouchure. But, it lets me switch seamlessly. Once I dialed in the air and the aperture, I can just pick up the trumpet and play. Current range stops at a high C, useable range at the A below that. I mostly use it for church gigs, and it works very well. Somewhere on this forum I’ve posted a recording. I sound a lot better now than I did in the recording.

Kdanielsen · by **Kdanielsen** » 2019-09-12 12:05 a.m.

I have one that i use for teaching beginners. Its works pretty well, but if you play with a fairly high mouthpiece placement (mostly upper lip) you might run into problems with your lips touching the bottom of the cup. This makes the high range pretty hard for me (Its much easier on a bigger deeper mouthpiece). I wish it was just a bit deeper and more bowl shaped, but Im definitely not spending the money it would take to get something like that.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-09-12 11:07 a.m.

I had Doug make me a piece awhile ago for alto sacbut that happens to work for trumpet as well. In my experience, getting trumpet to work on a trumpet piece is actually a comparable amount of work. 2 or so weeks of 15 minutes a day can get you really, really far. You won't be nearly as good as you are on trombone but if you want to play at the local church? You should be well on your way with that level of commitment and incidentally would take around that much time on the other piece because the octave displacement and intonation are still tricky and need to be practices. And it's high for even a 12C rim. Unless you don't want to play high in which case.... the trumpet mouthpiece makes it comparably easy.

Redthunder · by **Redthunder** » 2019-09-12 12:42 p.m.

I also have one, and to my chops it felt way too strange to play effectively. It just sounded tubby and flat. I agree with Matt in that my experience was that it was no harder to put in a little time on a trumpet piece. But that said, I found it easier to work with a larger trumpet mouthpiece at first, in my case a Bach 1. After a while, I can now play fairly competently (for teaching purposes) on a bach 7C.

Geordie · by **Geordie** » 2019-09-13 10:25 a.m.

I’ve posted elsewhere in this forum about wanting to buy/try one of these pieces. If any one is selling or swapping one plz feel free to hit me up ...

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-09-13 11:28 a.m.

[quote="Redthunder"]I also have one, and to my chops it felt way too strange to play effectively. It just sounded tubby and flat. I agree with Matt in that my experience was that it was no harder to put in a little time on a trumpet piece. But that said, I found it easier to work with a larger trumpet mouthpiece at first, in my case a Bach 1. After a while, I can now play fairly competently (for teaching purposes) on a bach 7C.[/quote]

Also for what it's worth, the Kelly pieces seem to work really well on trumpet. At least for me. I got a 3C for like $10 and it's surprisingly easy to play and doesn't give nearly the same tone quality that their plastic trombone mouthpieces seem to do. And that isn't entirely just my lack of perception from not being a very good trumpet player... I've had other players listen and tell me similar things about the sound. If / as I get better that might change... but for starting out it's absolutely more than adequate and a cheap way to figure out what size to start with.

baileyman · by **baileyman** » 2019-09-13 8:43 p.m.

I have an Al Cass doubler, but have no experience on it.

Bloo · by **Bloo** » 2019-09-14 12:29 a.m.

I double on Trombone and Trumpet (have since I started playing) and I've found inbetween mouthpieces to be much harder to play and overall less rewarding compared to playing the correct mouthpieces.

brtnats · by **brtnats** » 2019-09-14 5:17 p.m.

Here’s what I would contend:

If you can play trumpet AND trombone, at a gig, well on completely different mouthpieces, then by all means do so. If you can switch seamlessly between a 6.5 sized rim and a 3C trumpet rim, do it. The hybrid mouthpiece isn’t for you.

It IS for people like me, who need to play trombone and trumpet back to back, live, with no interruption to the face. I don’t play like Jim Morrison, and I can’t make a trumpet mouthpiece work for me without a pretty long transition time. The hybrid mp opened trumpet up to me, and means I’m spending almost not time acclimating and more time practicing the instrument and not the mouthpiece switch. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. But some of us need it.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-09-14 10:15 p.m.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that it isn't potentially useful... Wycliffe is certainly a case disproving that notion... rather that it isn't merely a magic-bullet that just lets you play trumpet without any additional practice. And so particularly for individuals who don't have $200 to drop on a piece or have difficulty finding one, it's probably better to default to at least trying a traditional trumpet mouthpiece for a similar amount of time you'd have to spend getting acclimated to the hybrid. Sure you might not be Jim Morrison but, likewise, playing the hybrid also doesn't make you Wycliffe Gordon.

Redthunder · by **Redthunder** » 2019-09-16 9:13 p.m.

I remember reading on Chasons music’s page something along the lines of “if you don’t have a solid upper range and support on trombone, you won’t be able to play trumpet well, regardless of this piece or not.”

I think that sums up pretty well the idea behind this kind of thing. A tool to reinforce and make easier the concepts and skills a competent brass player already knows how to do, just on an instrument that’s different than you’re primary instrument. That said, it’s still not for everybody, but if it works for you, then use it.

jonzbonz · by **jonzbonz** » 2019-09-18 10:13 p.m.

I have one I've been trying on soprano trombone. It's been hit or miss with me just like a trumpet piece. But it is helping with air support which I find helpful on both tenor and bass bone. A lot of trade-offs between the pieces so I need more time to determine what will work for me.

RichEKelly · by **RichEKelly** » 2019-09-20 1:48 p.m.

thanks for the insights. If anyone has one they decided didnt work for them, do let me know.

JustinM · by **JustinM** » 2019-09-20 2:50 p.m.

Apparently, they've had a bit of a run on these recently. I ordered one before rejoining this forum after an embarrassing number of years away, and I was informed they're on backorder. That's fine, I can wait. I will try to remember to fill everyone in on my first impressions--not that anyone should take them as gospel, of course.

Geordie · by **Geordie** » 2019-09-20 2:58 p.m.

[quote="RichEKelly"]thanks for the insights. If anyone has one they decided didnt work for them, do let me know.[/quote]

As per my earlier post, me too.

Fruitysloth · by **Fruitysloth** » 2019-09-22 7:00 p.m.

Just bought one used off someone on facebook, when I can get a horn on my face with it, I'll try to add some input!

Geordie · by **Geordie** » 2019-09-23 1:44 a.m.

[quote="Fruitysloth"]Just bought one used off someone on facebook, when I can get a horn on my face with it, I'll try to add some input![/quote]
Congratulations. Interested in your opinion of it when it’s been played. My search continues ...

jonzbonz · by **jonzbonz** » 2019-10-06 6:51 p.m.

With more face time on the soprano, I'm finding that I'm adjusting to the regular trumpet piece (Wick 1X) more readily than the hybrid. Years ago I doubled trumpet and trombone and could switch back and forth between the rims and that is coming back, but more slowly than expected which is why I tried the hybrid.

JustinM · by **JustinM** » 2019-11-06 10:35 a.m.

[quote="JustinM"]Apparently, they've had a bit of a run on these recently. I ordered one before rejoining this forum after an embarrassing number of years away, and I was informed they're on backorder. That's fine, I can wait. I will try to remember to fill everyone in on my first impressions--not that anyone should take them as gospel, of course.[/quote]

I realize I never gave anyone my first impressions like I said I would.

Caveat: I'm very (hugely, extremely, almost certainly) doing it wrong because I'm not a trumpet player and would never claim to be. I dabble with non-trombone instruments so that I can sometimes play with my marching band students.

Background: I'm a pretty rangy trombone player on small and big horns without using a lot of pressure and I can produce quite a volume of sound without looking as though I'm going to pass out. In other words, I don't have issues with breath support. When playing trumpet, I typically use a CKB 3C that was packaged in with the trumpet I bought. I also have a 1C with a custom 57 backbore that I bought on eBay on a whim, but I do not normally use that mouthpiece.

Impression: I had a really hard time using this mouthpiece, but not for the reasons Chasons suggested. My trumpet "tone" (such as it is) went completely out the window because I constantly bottomed out on this thing. I felt like if I did anything more than barely come in contact with the mouthpiece at all, I wouldn't be able to produce a sound. I intend to continue working on it to see if this is an obstacle I can overcome. Safe to say that I'm disappointed, though; I didn't expect to have more trouble with this than I did with a standard trumpet mouthpiece.

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Wycliffe Crossover MP