Liad Bar-EL

Please note that my advice differs from those who buy a ready-made finished Shofar as to those who buy an unfinished Shofar to customize for themselves; so, I am assuming here that you want to buy a finished Shofar which allows very little room for customizing.

One-note Shofarot are the ones which everyone hears the most in the world of Shofarot. If you are skilled, you might be able to get an octave but that's it. It is also you by not using the correct technique on how to blow it. Put the tip (mouth piece section) between your two fingers, put it to your lips (look at the picture in the first post of this thread) so that the edge of the mouthpiece area hits the inside of your lips (almost like a French kiss) on the right side of your mouth and the fingers are supporting and pressing against your lips so that you can focus your air into that incredibly small hole. Do you see and understand what I mean?

As they say, you get what you pay for. You pay less, you get less.

They ALL smell. The Shofarot are all of the same material and they are all from a live (really dead) animal. Now you don't want me to tell you the differences of "smell" between animals do you? One Shofar may have more of a smell because it has more of it to smell (it's longer). The cleaning is the same for both the long and the short. If the long ones smell worse than the small ones, it is because the owner/blower is too lazy and cheap to clean it and does not want to see his good liquor being poured down the drain. Let me explain.

Here's what most everyone out here do to clean their Shofarot. After you are finished playing it, fill the Shofar with tap water and rinse at least three times. Take a full bottle of mint liquor and dump it into the shofar until it is full. Of course put your thumb or finger into the mouthpiece area to plug the hole. A shame to see that poured to the floor and shame on you to have your wife clean it up after. Let the liquor sit inside for about 1 minute and then dump it out into a container so that you can pour it back into the bottle the next time you want to clean it. This disinfects the Shofar and gives it a good smell until you use it again. Now when the sediment in the liquor bottle gets to be about 1 inch high, buy another bottle. (joke) I don't need to tell you as a trumpet player that before you play the Shofar you should brush and dental floss your teeth.

Getting back to cleaning, here in Jerusalem when the Shofar is played in the Synagogue, there are about five times that it is played. In between each section, I have seen some Shofar players clean their Shofarot. What did you say? No, they are NOT drinking that liquor through the Shofar. They are dumping it out each time. The reason is that during prayer, nobody wants to be distracted with bad smells.

What would you say if I told you that there is a LOT more of a chance of "messing up" with a small Shofar than there is with a big one? This is related to the next section; so, I'll continue it there so that you will understand what I mean.

Each Shofar has an end (tip) which is of a solid material that the manufacturer has to drill a hole through and to form the mouthpiece. The smaller Shofarot have less of this material and the longer ones have more of it. With less material, you can only get the pin hole mouth piece formation which will eat your lips the first few minutes of trying to play it and you will be lucky to get a sound. Failure rate about 80%. With more material in the mouthpiece area, you can get a mouth piece formation made to the order of your present trumpet mouthpiece in which you would be playing the Shofar like you would your very own trumpet. Failure rate about 99%. The one percent that is lacking is due to the fact that you decided to drink the liquor before playing the Shofar instead of dumping it out after playing it.

Opps! I was talking about customizing your mouthpiece. Sorry. Usually, all the mouthpiece formations made by the manufacture are pretty much the same. Some are larger and some are smaller depending on the Shofar. Almost ALL of them have no rim cushion; so, you have to support your lips with your fingers as I previously mentioned. Basically, you have to do a lot of shopping around and trying them out. Bring some wet ones with you so that at least you can clean the mouthpiece area a little bit before you play it.

Shofar Tip: Look to see if a particular Shofar has a lot of the solid material, take it to an engineer, or someone who can duplicate your trumpet mouthpiece, and have him cut the Shofar and form it to the specs of your trumpet mpc. There is a great risk here of loosing your Shofar altogether by cutting too much off and ending up with one big hole with no inside cup. I lost one this way already.

Customizing will raise the price of your Shofar considerably. I have had to buy a couple Shofarot at a time so that if one fails in the hands of the engineer that I gave to cut it, then I will have another one. After 5 Shofarot, I still have not succeed in getting the Shofar that I want and my wife keeps asking me, why do you want another Shofar, you have 7 already?! What can I say?

Liad Bar-EL

Sunnyvale Sam

So the problem was part the shofar's and part mine. I didn't know to cushion my lips with my fingers, and I was blowing straight in, like a trumpet.

Well, it makes sense that long ones smell more because there's more of of them to smell. In addition, I've heard that the manufacturers can't scrape out the interiors as effectively.

Another cost problem with the long ones. I suppose mouthwash might do the same job a little cheaper?

The chance of my messing up is extremely high independent of my choice of equipment (I know this from my trumpet comeback experience). So I'd still prefer a shofar that doesn't set expectations too high, and generate excess embarassment when I fail to meet them.

Liad, thanks for the thoughtful advice. I wonder if the stores near here will have "after High Holiday" clearance sales next week?

Sam

Liad Bar-EL

With such a small sharp mouthpiece, you have to surround it with your lips and play it on the inner part of your lips which are supported, kept in place, with the fingers.

There is no scraping only boiling out the inside of it. Time will help cure the inside.


I prefer water instead of chemicals and keeping the horn well ventilated. Mouthwash is not biodegradable like liquor; so, there might be a problem of it eating the horn.

I tired to tell you that the small ones are harder to play and will have a higher chance of giving you embarrassment.

I don't know about American stores; however, out here they maintain their price throughout the year. It could be because of tourists buying them.

There are a few other things I could say but will save them for later. In the mean time, do you have any other concerns with the Shofar? Do you want a certified Kosher one? Do you want one polished or "natural"?

Let me know of any questions.

Liad

Liad Bar-EL

I had white silk bags with a draw string made for my Shofarot. You might want to ask your wife or girl friend to make you one when you get one so that it will fit perfect.

Liad Bar-EL

Liad Bar-EL

Oh one other thing before I go to sleep on this computer. Though the Shofar is a horn of an animal, treat it like it were a box of eggs. If it gets cracked, it is no longer Kosher.

Liad Bar-EL

Liad Bar-EL

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