Canadian Brass - FEATURE STORY

Arnold Jacobs Mouthpieces

by Chuck Daellenbach, September 1995

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The state of the art in tuba mouthpiece design was achieved in the first part of this century. One basic size of mouthpiece bearing the name of the then-famous tuba player, Helleberg, was commercially available. Examples of these original Helleberg mouthpieces have always been treasures to find and play; especially since the supply of new mouthpieces was cut short in the mid-1930s.

I was first acquainted with these famous mouthpieces in Gunnison, Colorado during the summer of 1962, where Arnold Jacobs was in residence performing and teaching. I had bought a parcel of tickets to study with Arnold for the princely sum of $1.50 each. Was that summer an eye-opener for me - along with his basic approach to playing the tuba which has inspired generations of players, Arnold introduced me to the fine Helleberg mouthpiece he had been playing since 1931. He had purchased his brand new at the factory, where, at the time, he had literally hundreds to choose from.

For sixty years this has been Arnold's main mouthpiece. While he indicated that he would never have parted with it during his active career with the Chicago Symphony, he has agreed to let us replicate his mouthpiece so that we can all share in its history and share in the experience of playing the same mouthpiece that served Arnold so well during his outstanding orchestral career.

After starting my studies with Arnold, I immediately set out on a search for my own Helleberg. Discovering one in northern Wisconsin, I made it my own mouthpiece of choice for thirty years. The model I found was the small version of the Helleberg, while Arnold's was the large version.

Many, many mouthpieces have been based on this great design, but there have always been significant and disappointing variations in the results. It was our goal to recreate these two original models exactly as they had been, and make them widely available again. We are very proud to announce that this goal has been achieved.

As a living tribute to our teacher and mentor, the larger version of the mouthpiece bears the name "Arnold Jacobs".

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