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 Most brass players know that different mouthpieces can significantly effect one’s intonation. However, what aspects of mouthpieces have the most effect on intonation, cup depth, the fit of the shank in the the leadpipe, cup shape? Surprisingly, the one aspect that may have the most effect is the mouthpiece rim’s inner diameter.
For most of my horn playing career I’ve used mouthpieces with very large inner diameters to compensate for the large size of my lips. One problem that I struggled with for quite a while was intonation in the low register. All of the notes below a certain point would be flat by 20-30 cents causing me to compensate with by opening my hand (without complete success due to the extent of the problem). I believed it was unrelated to any mouthpiece issues until I tried a mouthpiece with a smaller inner diameter. Suddenly the problem didn’t exist anymore. I didn’t immediately attribute the improvement in intonation to the change in diameter size, but after a few quick trials I began to think otherwise. In order to more throughly test the theory I borrowed a few mouthpieces from John Ericson. First I tried an Osmun mouthpiece with an 18.5mm inner diameter. The intonation issues in my low register were significant. Then I tried a Laskey 85G (18.5mm inner diameter, but much smaller than the Osmun mouthpiece with the same measurement). The intonation issues were not as bad, but still present. After that I tried the same Osmun mouthpiece previously referenced, but this time I placed a rim on it that has nearly the same inner diameter as the Laskey 85G. The intonation between it and the Laskey 85G was about the same. I moved on to a Laskey 80G (18mm inner diameter). The intonation issues disappeared. I then tried a copy of an old FARKAS model mouthpiece that my dial caliper measures at 17.25mm. The intonation issues did not reappear. I got the same result when I tried a Paxman mouthpiece that measures in at 17.5mm. All brass players should recognize that the inner diameter of a mouthpiece’s rim is important. If one is using a rim that is too large their intonation can be negatively affected. “You have to train your mind like you train your body.” -Bruce Jenner “The mind messes up more shots than the body.” -Tommy Bolt “The mind is a powerful thing and most people don’t use it properly.” -Mark McGwire The words above are just a few of the quotes author Gary Mack uses to introduce chapters in his book “Mind Gym.” Although Mack’s book is written for athletes everything in it translates directly to music. “Mind Gym” talks about the need to condition the mind so that it does not get in the way of success. This book is especially excellent for anyone who deals with problems of attaining total concentration during a performance. Through athletic anecdotes, Mack shows the importance of mentally preparing yourself well before a performance, using mental imaging to enhance performance, mental toughness, and an optimistic atitude. “Mind Gym” is a book I would recommend to any musician.  A great book that I have recently finished reading is titled “The Savvy Musician: Building a Career, Earning a Living, & Making a Difference” by David Cutler. The most important aspect of this book is the fact that it encourages musicians to think out of the box. There is more to life as a musician than ridiculous amounts of practice. Although many will chase the coveted few full-time orchestral positions (and that is still my goal) one can make a living as a musician outside of that world. Not only can you make a living as a musician without a full-time orchestral job, you can become prominent, successful, and well-respected outside of that world, if you are an outstanding performer.
However, being an outstanding performer is not enough. One has to be dependable, hard-working, creative, and willing to take risks. Not only that, but to be successful as a musician you have to possess business and entrepreneurial skills. ”The Savvy Musician” goes into detail about the business of music. It covers entrepreneurial basics such as drafting a business plan, crafting print and virtual materials, and marketing. It gives detail about the business side of the recording and publishing industries. The book also goes in detail about the art of making contacts and personal finance. David Cutler’s book is one I wish I had read many years ago. I strongly believe that every musician and aspiring musician should read this book. 
Come see me perform an evening of beautiful and virtuosic music! This recital will be my last concert at Arizona State University and my final performance as a student anywhere. I promise that you will not be disappointed! Richard Strauss – Zweites Hornkonzert (Second Horn Concerto) Featuring: Admission is FREE!!!  Over the past few days I’ve been listing most of my mouthpiece collection for sale. That has caused me to think about each mouthpiece and why I used them and then stopped using them. The overwhelming majority of them only saw about two weeks of use. The special few that saw years of use were always a compromise between different playing characteristics. Of course these playing characteristics only apply to me as people with different lips will experience different things with different mouthpieces. The following is a list of the aspects of a mouthpiece I would consider:
1. Accuracy vs. Intonation 2. Comfort vs. Articulation 3. High Range vs. Low Range 4. Ease of playing vs. depth of sound The list above is just the major points to consider when choosing a mouthpiece. If anyone is interested in seeing the mouthpiece collection I have for sale head over to the mouthpiece section of the hornplayer.net website. This video is another excerpt from my recording project of Friedrich Gumpert’s transcriptions of Mendelssohn and Schubert Lieder Die Post Op 89 No 13 by Franz Schubert Performed by Derek J. Wright – Horn and Chia-i Chen – Piano
Excerpts from my recording project of Friedrich Gumpert’s transcriptions of Mendelssohn and Schubert Lieder
Lieblingsplätzchen Op 99 No 3 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Performed by Derek J. Wright – Horn and Chia-i Chen – Piano |
Derek J. Wright is a professional musician and hornist. Click on the links above to learn more about him. |
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Copyright © 2010 DEREK JUSTIN WRIGHT - All Rights Reserved |
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