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rowuk · 03-06-2007, 07:38 AM

There is no "rule of thumb" (or face for that matter!). The mouthpiece game is so dependent on outside factors, that at one point of time in your life one thing may be best and a while later something else.

The basic math is that a shallow mouthpiece emphasizes the overtones and "blocks" fundamentals, giving you a "brighter" sound. A deep cup acts as a low-pass filter doing just the opposite. A shallow mouthpiece requires more lip tension to keep the lips from "bottoming out" however.

Mouthpiece rim size determines how much of your lip is actually in the cup producing tone. More lip mass in the cup generally will give you more "body" to the tone.
The throat and backbore of the mouthpiece influence both intonation and playing resistance. They are critically related to one another and just drilling out the throat yourself does reduce playing resistance but will generally make the intonation "slots" sloppier-making it easier to bend out of tune notes, but not solving the problem (mostly creating even bigger problems). A big throat does not have to sacrifice slots OR intonation if the backbore is a good match. Selecting a mouthpiece that is NOT extremely "free blowing" often aids your ability to play long phrases.

Another factor is the gap between the end of the mouthpiece and the beginning of the leadpipe. That is something that also does affect the overall playability of the mouthpiece/horn and is not always easy to "tune" yourself. Manufacturers like Schilke strived for no gap. Other manufacturers have their own formulas for success. I have personally played mouthpieces designed both ways and if the total mouthpiece concept is sound, they work equally well.

There are disciples of heavy/massive mouthpieces all the way to skeletonized ones. This too is an optimization process that depends on other factors like horn weight for instance. Heavier seems to "project" better all other factors being the same. Better projection means you do not hear yourself as well in sub-optimal playing environments.

There is no correlation between big/thin lips and small/large mouthpieces. There are too many fine examples of all combinations!

Moral of the story:
1) find a rim that is comfortable (preferably from a good mouthpiece company)
2) talk to them and have them make some suggestions. They play with this stuff every day and are closer to predicting success than ANY guesstimate that we could make with our limited chance to fairly compare!
3) buy what they recommend
4) do not attempt to judge a mouthpiece in a music store or practice room. You need to compare them in the environments that you actually play in, preferably with at least one other pair of ears that you trust!

03-06-2007, 07:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
rowuk Moderator Fortissimo User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 4,374	Re: Mouthpiece size vs. sound quality There is no "rule of thumb" (or face for that matter!). The mouthpiece game is so dependent on outside factors, that at one point of time in your life one thing may be best and a while later something else. The basic math is that a shallow mouthpiece emphasizes the overtones and "blocks" fundamentals, giving you a "brighter" sound. A deep cup acts as a low-pass filter doing just the opposite. A shallow mouthpiece requires more lip tension to keep the lips from "bottoming out" however. Mouthpiece rim size determines how much of your lip is actually in the cup producing tone. More lip mass in the cup generally will give you more "body" to the tone. The throat and backbore of the mouthpiece influence both intonation and playing resistance. They are critically related to one another and just drilling out the throat yourself does reduce playing resistance but will generally make the intonation "slots" sloppier-making it easier to bend out of tune notes, but not solving the problem (mostly creating even bigger problems). A big throat does not have to sacrifice slots OR intonation if the backbore is a good match. Selecting a mouthpiece that is NOT extremely "free blowing" often aids your ability to play long phrases. Another factor is the gap between the end of the mouthpiece and the beginning of the leadpipe. That is something that also does affect the overall playability of the mouthpiece/horn and is not always easy to "tune" yourself. Manufacturers like Schilke strived for no gap. Other manufacturers have their own formulas for success. I have personally played mouthpieces designed both ways and if the total mouthpiece concept is sound, they work equally well. There are disciples of heavy/massive mouthpieces all the way to skeletonized ones. This too is an optimization process that depends on other factors like horn weight for instance. Heavier seems to "project" better all other factors being the same. Better projection means you do not hear yourself as well in sub-optimal playing environments. There is no correlation between big/thin lips and small/large mouthpieces. There are too many fine examples of all combinations! Moral of the story: 1) find a rim that is comfortable (preferably from a good mouthpiece company) 2) talk to them and have them make some suggestions. They play with this stuff every day and are closer to predicting success than ANY guesstimate that we could make with our limited chance to fairly compare! 3) buy what they recommend 4) do not attempt to judge a mouthpiece in a music store or practice room. You need to compare them in the environments that you actually play in, preferably with at least one other pair of ears that you trust! __________________ Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. Last edited by rowuk; 03-06-2007 at 07:45 AM.