Caps On, Caps Off

So, I heard back from John Ericson.  He basically said I should go back to a default position, i.e. no heavy caps.  He also said that a larger mouthpiece would just wear me out faster.

Testing time.  Without the heavy caps the horn felt significantly lighter!  Unfortunately, it played lighter, too.  I did a lot of particular muteless practicing to try it out and the bottom line is that the horn DOES play better with the heavy caps.  I did leave one off, though.  The one didn't make a difference.

While using the regular rotor caps I also experimented with a few different mouthpiece, including a shallower Laskey 75, the IYM and a Giardinelli C10.  The IYM actually compensated for the heaviness lost from the heavy caps, but playing on the IYM is a different sensation and therefore takes some commitment to adapt.

The shallower Laskey had a negative impact on the sound.  The Giardinelli gave a good sound but caused the notes to slot poorly.

So I'm back where I started.  So what do I do about that clarity issue?

I'm now turning to the concept of the Balanced Embouchure, or more specifically learning to roll my bottom lip IN.  I'm finding it's making the biggest impact.  It will, however, take a lot of practice to get comfortable with it as it has to roll in and out in different ranges.  But I think I can do it, and hopefully it will bare good fruit.