[Trombone-l] Assessing mouthpieces

[Daniel Pliskin]

I've modified lots of mouthpieces.  I used to get them used, for $5 or $10, so I had little to lose.  

Besides the general comfort of the rim shape and size, the depth of the cup, the size and shape of the back-bore, gap between the end of the mouthpiece and beginning of the lead-pipe and the shape of the transition between the cup and back-bore, are all important variables.  Early on, I decided that without a numeric-control lathe, I wasn't going to take on playing with cup geometries.  And although I don't have an allergic reaction to brass, I rarely alter the rim.  

There's a lot of talk about drilling out mouthpieces to get then a little bit darker sounding.   It works, to some extent, but the cylindrical section, produced by the drilled-out section, also introduces a slight whispery  tone, which I don't like.  On many occasions, I've drilled out mouthpieces, to darken the tone and then reamed out the back-bore with a tapered reamer.  I make single-fluted tapered reamers (form tools) from broken scissors pieces.  

Tiny amounts of metal make a huge difference, when altering the transition between the cup and back-bore.  If the transition is too sharp, the tone is bright.  Make it too rounded and all the life in the tone vanishes.  

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  Try an experiment.  Try clocking your mouthpiece.  Set it in the receiver with the logo facing out, as a reference point.  Play it for a while.  Then turn the mouthpiece about 45 degrees and try it again.  Most mouthpieces are out of round, to the point where there is a preferred rotation of the mouthpiece, where you like the tone the best.  You might want to mark your mouthpiece, so that you always insert it with that best rotation.  

But also, this points out how the tiniest change in a mouthpiece makes a world of difference.  So if you take the next size lettered drill and take out some of the back-bore, you may well have gone past that sweet spot, you were looking for.  Numbered drills are a better bet, because there are more sizes.  

It also convinces me that if they can't get a single mouthpiece to be uniformly symmetrical, then how are they going to get two different mouthpieces to play similarly?  So, when you find a mouthpiece you like, play every mouthpiece the store has in that size.

What I used to do is work on my second-favorite mouthpiece, trying to get it to the point where it became my most favorite mouthpiece.  

DanP



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