Choosing a trumpet mouthpiece can often feel like an endless cycle… You may be searching for sound, efficiency, stamina, or any number of other qualities. Players often feel as though each decision is a compromise to their musical intentions and will flip-flop between equipment that aids tone or range in what feels like it’ll never end. Much of the information available is a mind field of inconceivable numbers encased in flowery narrative and theories about playing that serve only to muddy the musician’s understanding. Number charts also omit vital design choices that the manufacturer has made, meaning that you could buy a few supposedly similar mouthpieces and have no two alike in cup, rim, throat or backbore.
My intentions when designing trumpet mouthpieces have always been the same. To create a mouthpiece that:
- creates a centered, characteristic trumpet tone with a solid core and plenty of overtones that projects well in acoustic settings.
- is more efficient than standard, traditional mouthpieces thus assisting with note production. stamina and range.
- draws inspiration from the research and work of Jerome Callet to assist those learning the TCE system, Trumpet Yoga, or using the Balanced Embouchure method.
Until now I’ve kept to exactly the same rim shape and size for all Neoteric Brass mouthpieces but with the intention of helping more players the Moksha model has been created with three different cup diameters:
- 60 – For those accustomed to a smaller diameter such as the Superchops 1SS or Bahb Civiletti’s TCE #3.
- 63 – My standard diameter, for those who want to downsize, or already have downsized, from standard equipment.
- 66 – A larger diameter for those who like a Warburton 4M, Bach 3C or Schilke 14A but want the benefits of a more efficient and comfortable design.
Buttons to purchase will be installed once stock has arrived! To register interest email shop@tonguecontrolled.info
About the design
In May 2022 I designed the CJ-Mod mouthpiece. It was my modern take on a Jerome Callet classic mouthpiece called “JAZZ” that was very popular in the 1980s and demonstrably inspired many mouthpieces that are very popular today. I’ve found myself and my customers using this mouthpiece more and more but there were challenges that I wanted to overcome – 1: The sound of the CJ Mod was too focused to be used in certain musical settings. 2: Despite my assertions that I had chosen the best size, customers want to decide that for themselves! So I set about adapting the CJ-Mod again to make it available in different diameters without compromising the easy playing and big sound. The newer design also features a new tri-taper backbore for easier blending and controlled note-shaping.
