Hornmasters: Cousins on Mouthpieces

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.”

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. He continues,

Let us assume that we have narrowed our choice down to, say, three mouthpieces. It is time for a more public experiment (mindful that a player is never able to hear himself as others hear him, and that microphones, by their very nature, distort tone for better or for worse).

Two or more volunteer listeners are needed. They should stand at the far end of the room, or preferably hall, and be invited to give their opinions regarding ‘quality’ and ‘carrying-power’. In order to maintain an acoustical constant, the player and listeners alike must remain in the same physical position throughout. Such experiment will not necessarily lead to choice of the ‘perfect’ mouthpiece, but at least it may help towards it.

Another topic for Cousins was that of modifying mouthpieces, on which he has an interesting perspective.

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.

He concludes with a few more notes on trying mouthpieces.

Finally, any haphazard ‘preluding’ with first one mouthpiece and then another is likely to leave the player in a state of depression. The trouble is with any mouthpiece experiment is that the embouchure is quickly thrown out of gear. Note the fact well that every change of mouthpiece temporarily rests the muscles for the next mouthpiece by creating new lines of muscle contraction. Now this sometimes fosters the impression of a discovery, but the moment the new muscles tire, we are filled once again with doubt. Nevertheless experimentation should give some useful results.