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Thread: Comfortable mouthpieces

  1. Comfortable mouthpieces

    I currently am playing on an Alliance DC3, before I played on a SM4 original.

    One thing I have always noticed is a red mark after playing, it fades after a few minutes. When I was a child I always thought it was normal, nobody told me anything different. I had braces shortly after starting to play, maybe that had something to do with it.

    After a 8 year break returning to playing, I want to address some of the issues that I didn’t when first learning, this one being excessive pressure.

    It never hurts to play, I used to manage several hours in a day, but have currently gotten to an hour at a time before needing to rest, but the red mark worries me that too much pressure is being used…

    Having always played on a sm4 or recently a dc3, I wonder if there are more comfortable mouthpieces that available that might help me reduce pressure while playing.

    Or should I try a larger mouthpiece? Or a more rounded rim?

    Any pointers on either mouthpieces, or the sort of things to look for would be helpful, thank you.

  2. #2
    I think most brass players come away from practice with a red ring. What you NEED to worry about is whether you feel any signs of the blood circulation being cut off. That might cause your lips to tingle (which can also happen via too much constant playing without short breaks). Or if you feel pain, of course, that is a problem, but you say that is not present.

    Ideally we use only enough pressure to ensure a good seal all the way around the rim. But that varies depending on range When you play high there is more air pressure, so it does take more pressure to seal. But it is easy (speaking from personal experience) to keep the extra pressure on for other ranges, or to press harder when you are tense about a passage or something.

    If you see a ring mostly on one side, then you have uneven pressure (probably) and you might want to adjust the angle to fix that.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. Ok… phew… it’s normal then… the problem with the internet is that so much information sends you in a self doubting tizzy… thanks David!

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