Whether or not you know his name, you have heard his sound. Jim Self's beautiful
tone and lyrical phrasing have inspired leading studio composers to write prominent
tuba solos for him in their scores. Since 1974 he has worked for all the major
Hollywood studios, performing on over 900 motion pictures and hundreds of
television shows and records. His solos in major films include Jurassic Park,
Home Alone I & II, Hook, Casper, Sleepless in Seattle, Star Trek VIII, and
The X Files. And it was Jim's tuba that was the "Voice of the Mothership" in
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In addition to movie sound tracks, Jim can
be heard on a wide spectrum of recordings with hundreds of the world's top
artists and groups, as well as leading orchestras. Somehow he still finds
time to play principal tuba in five Los Angeles area orchestras and has
released several solo CDs of both jazz and classical music.
Jim's mouthpiece embodies his long experience of playing literally ALL
types of music in highly demanding situations. Jim doesn't like changing
rims, so he uses the same mouthpiece on all his tubas. It is a medium large
rim that is comfortable to play over the many hours a day that are required
in his work. The cup and backbore are rather large for the best combination
of a good centered attack and a warm, alive sound. Jim says, "I feel more
accurate on the high notes than on any previous mouthpieces, and on the low
notes, too."
Replica Series Mouthpieces and Signature Series Mouthpieces are identical,
except that Signature Series Mouthpieces have gold plated rim and cup and
Replica Series Mouthpieces are all silver plated.