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Re: David Shifrin, B40 type mouthpiece

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-10-25 17:54

I do not know the dimensions of the mouthpiece used by David Shifrin, but I CAN tell you that you can get a big, beautiful sound on just about ANY mouthpiece using your air correctly.

You need to push the air from your core using your abdominal muscles (just taking a full breath is not enough, the air needs to be actively pushed out).

You then need to ensure it flows unobstructed, in a quick and focused manner all the way to the tip of the reed/mouthpiece (the business end of the sound production). A key element here is to either leave your tongue in a natural, relaxed stance OR shape it as you would to say the sound "EEEEE."

This stands in stark contrast to some advice out there (though well intentioned I'm sure) to form the inside of your mouth as if you were saying "AHHHHH." The theory for "AHHH" is that it gives you a bigger oral cavity and this supposedly relates to bigger sound. Unfortunately it does two really bad things. The first thing is that it UN-FOCUSES the air were you need it focused most (the tip of the mouthpiece) AND most importantly it partially stops up the top of your trachea with the back of your tongue. This is most commonly referred to as "open throat" but it is actually "closed throat."

The final bit which is really quite necessary to finish off the focused airway is to tongue the reed by using the very tip of the tongue (as tip as you can get anyway) to the very tip of the reed (the best imagery is to draw a dot at the very center of the tip of the reed just touching the curve of the cut). This not only ensures that the air is perfectly focused to this point, but it also achieves a very clean and easily controllable articulation. If you tongue further down the reed with a point further back on the tongue, your first attempts at this will feel buzzy and uncomfortable to the tongue. After a week or so this feeling goes away. I HIGHLY recommend tonguing tip to tip.

The B40 is a fine mouthpiece but in no way does it represent a certain sound. Every player finds for her or himself a mouthpiece that tunes well, responds well (articulation wise) and allows them to achieve the sound they desire (by that I mean doesn't 'get in the way').

.............Paul Aviles

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