Do you need to buy a new trombone mouthpiece? If you just invested in a new trombone, it probably came with a mouthpiece. It fits in the instrument and you can play and make music with it. Performer, teacher, and the founder of Denis Wick Products, Denis Wick discusses this in an excerpt from his famous method book, Trombone Technique. Keep reading for his answer.
Although there is a mystique about mouthpieces which makes even the most experienced players and teachers hesitate to give a definite opinion, I feel that I should at least offer mine, controversial though it may be, based on the experience which I have been able to gather. Some mouthpiece characteristics are related to the individual player. Most, however, relate to the instrument with which they are to be used. These are: cup depth, cup curvature, and breadth; shoulder, and taper of throat, taper of back bore, and – very important – distance of projection. Personal considerations are the diameter of the cup and the shape of the rim. Even these personal preferences for a particular rim-shape or cup size can be carried too far.
Sign up to receive performance, product, and career tips from the Denis Wick Artist and Educator community.
Human flesh can adapt to almost anything! In recent years it has been increasingly understood that the bulk of the outside shape creates a previously unconsidered effect. A heavier mouthpiece gives slightly more volume, especially at a distance, but much less sensitivity, ie. feedback to the player. A wide range of mouthpieces is available today. Each manufacturer supplies with each of his instruments a stock mouthpiece which is intended to complement the instrument. Most unfortunately prove not to be good enough for professionals.
It is worth realizing that at least 90 per cent of the production of most makers goes to amateurs, schools, brass bands, and the like; it is only natural that the mouthpiece supplied with a particular trombone should be as easy and responsive as possible for a beginner. The ultimate potential of a trombone can rarely be achieved with a stock mouthpiece, even in the hands of a good professional player – usually the lower register and upper dynamic levels suffer considerably. Most professional trombonists either use a mouthpiece which they have adapted from such a stock model, or go to a specialist mouthpiece-making company to select what is, for them, the ideal mouthpiece, depending upon the instrument they use and the work they have to do.
