Personalised mouthpieces for wood- and brass players

Choosing a mouthpiece is a specialist task!

The problem
Choosing the right mouthpiece is a general problem with which every wood- and brass player will be confronted sooner or later. Some players are plagued with the problem all their lives. It is far from a simple matter of merely trying out of the models on display in the music shop on an impromptu visit. The "standard" mouthpiece supplied with the instrument is usually also not good enough: even a mouthpiece which is of itself good is not necessarily suited to everyone. Every individual is different, and every mouthpiece is therefore unique. What is perfectly suited to one player is totally wrong for another. And yet many wood- and brass players struggle along with an imperfect mouthpiece, limiting their capabilities and not infrequently leading to stagnation in their development.

Experience
Choosing a mouthpiece, however is not something which you can do "just like that" It requires a great deal of understanding and experience of a great many many factors, all of which have an influence on and play a role in the choice of mouthpiece. The mouthpiece must suit the fysical characteristics of the musician; on the other hand, it must also perfectly "attuned" to the instrument, to enable it to be played well.

Help of a specialist
It is a very complex business. You should have a good picture of yourself and an accurate idea of what you want to change and why. Once you have an idea of what you want to improve, you must be able to translate that idea into the fysical rality of an alternative mouthpiece. And for that you not only need a thorough knowledge of what is available in the way of mouthpieces, but also of the specific characteristics of a particular model and what you can (and cannot) do with it.

Finally, when trying a new mouthpiece, it is not easy to know how you should assess or test it.

All in all, a pretty tall order!
And without specialist help, it's quite simply impossible!