I found this article on Phil Rinaldi’s site and he has graciously allowed me to duplicate it here for you. It was written by the great trumpet player/designer Mark Van Cleave. Interestingly, I have never met Mark or know his teaching but I COMPLETELY agree with what he has to say in his article. In fact, if you take the time to read both of our articles, you will find a lot of similarities! Enjoy!
How to Choose a Trumpet Mouthpiece
Every trumpet player seems to have a shoe box hidden somewhere in the dark corner of their closet that contains all of the many attempts at finding the perfect mouthpiece. One that has a great sound, great projection, great range, great flexibility, and a rim that feels just right. Oh yeah, it also must PLAY ITSELF!
Is any of this really possible? Well… yes and no. Good equipment can certainly make playing more enjoyable, but it will never do it all for you. Most players problems with equipment start with a lack of real understanding about how to pick what will work for you. Getting that good fit is so important.
I always use shoes as my analogy. When buying shoes, it all starts with finding YOUR shoe size. The most important aspect of the mouthpiece that determines your basic fit or shoe size is the inside diameter of the cup.
So, what determines your shoe size? Many players assume that it is lip thickness. Not exactly true. What really determines the correct inner diameter fit for you is your EMBOUCHURE thickness. The embouchure thickness is the thickness of your lips when in the trumpet playing position. Many players have different ways of forming the embouchure and these variations can have an important impact upon the playing thickness of the chops. If you have thick lips, it is probable that your embouchure thickness will also tend to be thick …but not necessarily. If a player with thick lips forms his embouchure by rolling the lips inward, the resulting playing thickness may actually be fairly thin. So… there are no hard and fast rules to finding the proper fit for you.
BASIC guidelines:
The upper lip (vibrating lip) should be inside the cup at all times. Another way of saying this is the resulting RING you see on your chops after playing should NOT be in the pink part of the lip tissue. This ring should go ABOVE the pink. How much above the pink? Really doesn’t matter so much. The main thing is that it IS NOT IN THE PINK!
The reason your lips are a different color is because they have fewer layers of skin than your normal skin. This makes the lip tissue substantially less durable than regular skin. Another reason that you need to keep the ring out of the pink is because there are no muscles connected to the pink part of the lips. In order to play with control and strength, you must have some amount of regular skin tissue inside the mouthpiece in order to control your chops with muscles instead of just pressure.
The lower lip will need to be inside the cup as well, especially as you ascend into the upper register. Saying this, with thicker embouchures, the lower lip may not fit in the middle and lower registers. If this is the case, it is important to be able to adjust this lip in and out of the mouthpiece as needed. Sharp inner edges or bites of the mouthpiece rim can make it difficult to adjust the lower lip easily, so choosing a bit more rounded bite will aid in these types of adjustments.
Once you have found the proper cup diameter, this should not change no matter what depth or style of cup or rim shape you choose. This is your shoe size. Like a shoe size, if your feet are size 11, your golf shoes, running shoes, dress shoes, etc will ALL be size 11. This does not mean that you can only have ONE mouthpiece for all things… just as with shoes, you will find it beneficial to have equipment that is designed for the job at hand …but they all will be in YOUR size!
Many people find out what mouthpiece a favorite player of theirs is playing and immediately run out and get one for themselves. This almost always ends in disappointment. Not because the mouthpiece is bad, but because the mouthpiece is not in YOUR size. Just because Michael Jordan wears size 14 shoes, does NOT mean that you will play better basketball if you wear size 14 shoes. You can get the same advantages if you wear the same style or model of shoe that MJ wears in YOUR size. Now this is apples and apples.
Common Mistakes:
It is unfortunate that many players and teachers automatically go for the wide/deep cups to produce a big fat orchestral sound. It is interesting to know that some of the players that DEFINED the orchestral sound such as Harry Glanz played a Bach 6C through out his career in New York. and Adolph Herseth won his job in Chicago playing a Bach 7B. Herseth went to a larger cup later in his career in order to accommodate scar tissue that he had developed due to an automobile accident he had in the early 50’s which severely injured his chops. Funny thing… Shortly after Herseth made the switch to a larger mouthpiece (for physical reasons), orchestral players in Boston and New York began to go larger as well. I can’t help wonder what THEIR reasons were. hmmmmmmm
Automatically pushing students toward larger mouthpieces almost always happens because teachers do not understand how to correctly choose a mouthpiece size. Many college professors require all of their students to play on the same mouthpiece size no matter what. Usually a Bach 1C or something similar.
Again, I refer to the shoe analogy… If you know nothing about choosing the correct size for a student, it is always easier to recommend a larger size. As with shoes, a shoe that is large will allow almost anyone to get their feet in it, however, you will rarely win a race running in shoes that are loose. The best fit is one that is as small as possible while at the same time not restricting your embouchure. For young players, a Bach 7C has become a popular size. This has a fairly small diameter that fits younger/smaller chops pretty well …a good place to start. As a player grows, so does their embouchure size. A Bach 3C (diameter) is an average size for many adult players.
This is like saying that size 10 shoes fit most adult males. Where this is true, it can also be completely wrong for many feet. Be careful, use your brain, and really LISTEN to your sound. In the end, that is all that matters.
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Hi, Dave. Great blog! I played with Mark years ago. Not only was he a great trumpet artist but he had carefully considered pedagogy. We had some great discussions about how things work. I came away a smarter player. He discusses mouthpieces the same way; great stuff. Mike
Thanks Dave for your blog. You have a lot of great information here. I’m a HS Band Director for 28 years and play in a British Brass Band here in the State. Mark’s article is right on the money. I’ve found that alot of players love the 3C size, but not everyone. Some like a Schilke Style rim- if their chops are not text book esp. I got to spen some time with Mark one time on a tour of the circus. He is very knowledgable. Keep up the great work.
Another interesting phenomenon that I have encountered with mouthpieces is this: Students, when experimenting with new mouthpieces often tend toward larger mouthpieces because they find there is less resistance and much more body to the sound — usually with little or no drastic side-effects. However, in many cases, after playing these large mouthpieces for 3-5 weeks they suddenly lack the stamina to “keep up” with the mouthpiece. Endurance tanks, range tanks, accuracy goes out the window and the players are left feeling “weak” in the embouchure. Ultimately, it is decided that the initial comfort of the larger mouthpiece does not necessarily translate to a perfect fit. I have become a little more savvy in recent years in terms of recommendations for mouthpiece changes (usually VERY gradual adjustments yield the best over-all successes) but I still do not fully have my head wrapped around the process. What should the teacher/student/players be listening for, looking for, feeling for, etc.? (Of course, I ask these questions knowing that our perceptions can be deceiving!!)
What a great subject and I agree with your comments. Now just for the record whilst choosing a mouthpiece to start with I am amazed that many teachers etc whilst suggesting the 7C could be egnoring the full benifet of this discussion. I have discovered that in the Bach range of mouthpieces that the 6,7,8’s are all very similar sized mouthpieces. The main difference is that they all have a different rim style and shape. This information is very important because it gives the player or student a much better chance of finding a mouthpiece more suitable and comfortable for their particular need. Some rim designs can actually make a mouthpiece feel bigger because it allows the embochure to form and vibrate more naturally whilst another shaped rim may feel smaller and encourage one player to focus the embochure a little more. I feel that many player and student are not appreciating this feature offered by Bach mouthpieces in this size area. Look at the specs and you will see that the 6,7 and 8’s are all 16.20mm and most of the cups are similar but the big difference is the rim which can make an enormous difference to comfort, endurance and progress.
Richard Autenzio
An interesting article. But, while he rejects a single rule (“bigger is better”) for mouthpiece diameters he imposes another — only one rim size will work for you no matter what the style or musical demands.
Once I had discovered the secret of using sufficient air to support the embouchure, I found that I could change diameters rather easily. I currently use flugel pieces that range from an Oakes 0 to Oakes 3; cornet mouthpieces including Oakes 3, Wick 4 and Wick 2; C trumpet pieces GR 66 and Yamaha 14A4a; and Bb pieces the same as the C plus a Callet 10S.
To use the shoe size example: I buy one size larger than normal for open toed sandals so the extra sole protects my toes from stubbings. I buy at least a size smaller than normal for my figure skates, sacrificing foot comfort for complete control of the skate edges; summer hiking boots are at my standard size, but winter boots are larger and feel a bit loose to assure free circulation of toe warming blood. The point is that different uses can require different physical parameters.
Those who can adapt to a variety of rim diameters simply increase the array of tools that are available to accomplish whatever the present musical purpose may be.
Not changing size sould no more be dogma than any other parameter of mouthpiece selection.
Well played, Tom. I also use multiple mpcs with multiple sizes. I go into detail here, http://www.allthingstrumpet.com/equipment/thoughts-on-mouthpieces/