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Farquharson Cousins in On Playing the Horn opens his discussion of mouthpieces with this most interesting statement.
A box of mouthpieces is a fascinating possession and potentially fatal. The hornist’s beatitude could well be: “Blessed are they who start with a good mouthpiece and stay with it.”
Tactics toward finding a mouthpiece
As to selecting a mouthpiece, “There are two approaches to this most difficult and ultimately important matter: either we can observe the shape, size, depth and rim of mouthpieces used by leading players and try to deduce basic principles governing choice, or we can consider the findings of an individual who has deliberately experimented and acted upon them.” As to the first tactic, if you were to look at the mouthpieces of some to the leading orchestral horn players in the world you would according to Cousins observe that
…almost all use a relatively thin-rimmed mouthpiece. How thin is ‘thin’, you may ask. The answer is to observe for yourself…. Generally it will be found that 1st and 3rd horns have a smaller and thinner-rimmed mouthpiece than their 2nd and 4th horn colleagues.
He observes that there is an embouchure difference visible between successful players who play on mouthpieces with a smaller inner diameter compared to those who play on a larger inner diameter. The smaller mouthpiece demands an embouchure with more of a “stretch” to it and the larger demands more of a “bunch” of the lips.
What about modifications?
Another topic for Cousins was that of modifying mouthpieces, on which he has an interesting perspective, but one clearly from the day when screw rim mouthpieces were a novelty.
This brings us to the final and most exciting mouthpiece sin: altering the rim. Whether by lathe or by hand this is a dangerous business. What is scraped off cannot be put back. And yet … a slight ‘taking down’ of an offending lump, or a slight rounding-off of a too sharp inner edge, can make a great difference. My past is littered with ruined mouthpieces. I urge you most earnestly not to alter a rim unless it is absolutely necessary.
Today we really have little need to modify rims, a wide variety are available as screw rims in several lines. Giardinelli was an initial leader in this, and their threads are the most common style used in the USA.
When the series returns the topic will be that of horns
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