Denis Wick - Steven Mead ULTRA Series

From Steven Mead on the SM-Ultra line from Denis Wick:

In 1995 I worked with Denis Wick on the SM range of euphonium and baritone mouthpieces. Until that point many of us euphonium players played on mouthpieces designed for the trombone. This range has proved to be very popular both in the brass band and the symphonic wind band worlds. Many solo players also depend on this mouthpiece and I played it with pride, making many of my most acclaimed recordings with it.

As a performing professional musician, I cannot ever be truly satisfied with my performance; there would be nothing to aspire to. Practice would only be daily maintenance. I could never think like that, which is why my instincts have led me to further mouthpiece research. There are many mouthpieces available these days which are very 'positive' in their initial feeling, but because of an 'over-heavy' design have made sacrifices on the tone that we want. Is this progress? Well, of a sort, but once you play with the sound you're not happy with you may try to deceive yourself but you cannot deceive your audience. A truly great mouthpiece must tick all the boxes.

I have tested other brands over the last 12 months and liked many features of them, especially in the areas of projection, clarity and ease of articulation. It was in my mind that the really perfect euphonium mouthpiece would be one that combines the optimum tonal requirements with a more effortless production and projection and does this with as wide a range of colours as possible. From an initial concept drawing we started to get closer to the desired goal. Each prototype was subjected to rigorous testing in different acoustics, using 'blind' judges listening to the new mouthpiece in relation to others. Each time following the tests we were able to make it a little better, then again a little better.

Finally, we arrived and I'm delighted present new Denis Wick SM Ultra range for euphonium and baritone. These are the main features:

- Highly responsive with a clear projection and centre of tone right across the range
- High comfort rim edges
- Warm tone that accentuate the true tonal characteristics of the euphonium and baritone
- Enhanced clarity of production and articulation
- Resonant singing higher register
- Bigger toned low notes
- Increased flexibility throughout the range
- Tests prove the new SM Ultra improves tuning
- Enhanced dynamic range and especially easy to play soft with a quality tone
- New range of colors in the tone
- A sound that always has resonance