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A trumpet player who used to play in our community band played one of those things. They are good for one thing only... a seat in the 'louder and higher' club.

http://www.asymmetric-mouthpiece.com/john_lynch.htm

Well, if I could get one for the price in the ad....

MA

They are still around...

http://www.asymmetric-mouthpiece.com/

I seem to remember seeing some pictures many years ago (maybe in an old T.U.B.A. journal?) of some tuba mouthpieces that weren't asymmetrical per se, but the rims had been formed in a curve to match the facial structure of the player's face. So, instead of the player having to conform to a flat plane of rim, the rim would follow the contours player's embouchure. Some were asymmetric in the strict sense in that they were wider than they were tall. Imagine if you took a plastic funnel and squeezed the opening into an oval, then curved the rim to match the curve of the player's face.

I guess these weren't worth a crap, since I haven't seen any since that time. If they were any good, someone would be making them today.

MileMarkerZero wrote: I seem to remember seeing some pictures many years ago (maybe in an old T.U.B.A. journal?) of some tuba mouthpieces that weren't asymmetrical per se, but the rims had been formed in a curve to match the facial structure of the player's face. So, instead of the player having to conform to a flat plane of rim, the rim would follow the contours player's embouchure. Some were asymmetric in the strict sense in that they were wider than they were tall. Imagine if you took a plastic funnel and squeezed the opening into an oval, then curved the rim to match the curve of the player's face.

I think that there was a thread here on tubenet a while ago in which Art Hovey talked about his mouthpiece, and it was pretty much what you described.

MileMarkerZero wrote:They are still around...

http://www.asymmetric-mouthpiece.com/

the rims had been formed in a curve to match the facial structure of the player's face. So, instead of the player having to conform to a flat plane of rim, the rim would follow the contours player's embouchure.

Do these seem to be what you're thinking of?
http://www.wedgemouthpiece.com/

some partially relevant links

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33533&hilit=art+hovey#p294756" target="_blank" target="_blank

look down to #19
http://galvanizedjazz.com/tuba.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

H. N. White had a version in the 1930's as well.

Dr. Dave Harrison will do tuba mouthpieces. But plan to spend a chunk of change.

I think it's a fine idea, but most people will probably pass it by because they look different.

Can't we just slant our horns?

HGillespie wrote:Can't we just slant our horns?

If the overbite/underbite is not too severe, yes. My overbite is just enough I ended up tilting the receivers up on my Besson and my 186 about 10 degrees. Much cheaper than purchasing a custom mouthpiece, and retains the ability to try different mouthpieces.

There have been a variety of slanted mouthpieces over the years. One of the earlier posters is correct. They did not seem to gain much popularity.

The Asymmetric mouthpiece made by John Lynch is a new design with certain advantages for some players. It has a small following in the trumpet community. There is no model for low brass.

The Wedge mouthpiece has been around since October 2007. It is a completely different approach from other non round mouthpieces. It is not designed to conform to the shape of the embouchure, but to provide a more biomechanically efficient interface with the embouchure. It is played like a regular mouthpiece. Although it was originally designed for trumpet the rim significantly improves the performance of low brass as well. We are currently selling about 50 mouthpieces per month. Five of those this month were trombone mouthpieces. I currently have orders for 2 tuba pieces.

Cheers,
Dave Harrison
http://www.wedgemouthpiece.com" target="_blank

Hi Hal,

I do provide screw rims for trumpet mouthpieces and French horn mouthpieces. I have also machined screw rims for Elliot mouthpieces and can machine any large brass mouthpiece. I have done a Hauser Titanium as well. I am about to introduce my own line of trombone mouthpieces, but for now I can machine a Wedge rim on any existing mouthpiece.

Cheers,
Dave