3. The material I use to make all my mouthpieces is brass

 

Let's continue with a new blog post "Romera Barss ACADEMY" about a basic and very important aspect of mouthpiece manufacturing.

One of the questions musicians ask me most often is: What material do you use to make your mouthpieces?

The material I use for all my mouthpieces is brass.

Although we have tested stainless steel, plastic, titanium, aluminum... and some brands make them with these materials, they usually have a hollow sound that doesn't vibrate or transmit. That's why I decided to only make my mouthpieces out of brass.

Additionally, brass mouthpieces create a perfect union with instruments also made of brass.

For all these reasons, I decided to only manufacture my mouthpieces in brass, and you will only find them made from this material.

It's true that I also make plastic rims, but I only recommend them in cases of allergies or for playing in very, very cold places. Even then, it's only the rim, not the entire mouthpiece.

In terms of sound, for me, brass is by far the best.

 

Brass is an alloy basically composed of Copper and Zinc. The one we use has 58% copper, 40% zinc, and the remaining 2% are residual materials such as iron, among others.

This table shows the exact composition of the material:

 

This alloy gives us a timbre that I really like, a unique timbre.

But... don't think that I buy Copper and Zinc, melt them, mix them, and produce my own brass... no, no, no!

Brass is purchased from specialized material suppliers. I buy it in three-meter bars of different sizes. For example, if I make a tuba mouthpiece, the material will have a larger diameter, and if I make a French horn mouthpiece, I will use a brass bar with a smaller diameter, so I can use it efficiently and avoid wasting material.

 

This alloy that I use is very good for working on the lathe; the polishing turns out super, super well, almost like a mirror after polishing, and silver or gold plating adheres very well to this brass alloy.

When this material is struck together, it sounds like a bell; it's the resonance of the material, which not all brass alloys or other materials have.

 

Of course, this alone is not enough for the mouthpiece to sound good, but it's a good start, don't you think?

Well, friends, now we know what material I use to make my mouthpieces.

But before I finish, I want to add a small postscript:

When manufacturing mouthpieces, material is removed, creating a residue: brass shavings. We recycle this material; we don't throw it away. We resell it to the factory that manufactures the brass.

 

With these shavings, they will again manufacture the brass bars that we will buy and use for new mouthpieces—a circular economy cycle that benefits our planet.

 

In the next blog post, we will give the correct name to each part of the mouthpiece. Don't miss it!

Greetings and much music!