How to go about trying a new mouthpiece.

Trying a new mouthpiece in order to get an accurate representation of how it plays can be far more complex than previously thought.

Reeds

For example I recently ordered some gleichweit mouthpieces from Austria to try, while the mouthpieces I tried played amazing, it was difficult to get an accurate representation of how they played because the reed was not responding as it should. At first I put on a reed that I had run in on my old mouthpiece, which was the first error. A reed that has been played for more than 10 minutes on a particular mouthpiece is married to that mouthpiece. This is because the fibers in that reed have gotten used to a particular amount of tension from the unique facing of the mouthpiece they’ve been run in on. Once I played the mouthpieces with fresh brand new reeds, they played completely differently.

As a rule of thumb, I have found that playing a new mouthpiece on a new box of reeds is best as the reeds will respond true on the different mouthpiece and vibrate in a way that more accurately represents the characteristics of that mouthpiece.

I like to briefly wet the reeds as though I am running them in, in water for about 5 seconds each and then rub the top side of my finger down on the reed as it’s on a flat surface. This helps acclimatize the reeds to moisture and seal off the pores of the cane which will allow the reed to be able to be played for much longer without getting waterlogged as quickly.

Tuning

Something that I have experienced while trying lots of different mouthpieces is a wide variety of tuning characteristics. Something that is often talked about is tuning of particular mouthpieces on a wide variety of notes. Something talked about less often however, is the tuning of a mouthpiece at different dynamics.

For example, something I have experienced often is a mouthpiece which is said to be tuned to 440HZ however it plays closer to 442HZ and when a note (particularly throat notes) are played at Piano or Pianissimo dynamics, the note goes about 20 cents sharp. This can be due to a variety of different factors, more often related to more open facing/tip opening of particular mouthpieces. This is because to keep the sound focused and less airy at soft dynamics we must bite down slightly more on the reed, which can cause it to go sharper. A portion of this can also be attributed to our embouchure not yet having adapted to the new mouthpiece.

Adapting to a new mouthpiece’

Over the years I’ve played on a variety of different new mouthpieces and each time I’ve selected a new mouthpiece it has taken at least about 4 months or so to completely get used to it. This because it takes multiple boxes of reeds to properly run in a new mouthpiece along with your embouchure needing to adapt to the facing and different characteristics of the new mouthpiece.

I’ve found that as my embouchure adapts, so to do the characteristics of my reeds, so you’ll find that you’re tone only starts to reach its final form on a new mouthpiece around 4 months into playing it.

On conclusion, when trying a new mouthpiece, take into consideration the above. And understand that save for being able to play in tune, (at all dynamics and ranges) you should look for characteristics of the sound and feel of the mouthpiece that you like, however understand that these will evolve/change and become far more comfortable in the coming months.