43. Close Copy & Fusion of my website.
Greetings MetalHeads,
I have closed the Copy & Fusion section of my website.
I'm sure you have several mouthpieces that you like.
From one, you like the comfort of the rim,
from another, the sound, another helps you with articulation…
thinking that if you combine the best of each into a single one, you will have the perfect mouthpiece.
Has this idea ever crossed your mind?
As an idea, it's good.
But, bad news: it almost never works.
Let's begin without further ado.
When you make a MIX of several mouthpieces, often none of them really work well for you.
It's simply "the best you've found so far."
When I create that fusion for you… that you think will work for you
and the result is not what you expect…
It was always my fault. That's why I made the difficult decision to close Copy & Fusion.
I'll explain the main problem with an
🎶🎶🎵🎵 imagination exercise 🎶🎶🎵🎵 that I think will help you understand better.
You want to build a chair.
You're not a carpenter, but you're very enthusiastic.
You have several chair parts that you like and you think that if you put them together, you'll have the perfect chair:
- 4 legs from different chairs
- the backrest from another
- and the seat from a third.
What will be the result?
Well, something that looks like a chair.
Will you be able to sit on it?
Certainly.
Will it be stable?
Perhaps not very.
However…
it could be artistic.
It could be original.
But it probably won't be functional.
And that's exactly what happens when we mix several mouthpieces.
In your head, everything is perfect, but reality is very different.
Do you understand what I'm getting at with this example??
🎶🎶🎵🎵 Now, I'll give you a real example of this type of work 🎶🎶🎵🎵
One of the most common requests is...
A musician wants the cup of a mouthpiece that they say gives them a huge sound,
but the inner diameter of the rim is too large.
And
They ask me for that cup, with a smaller rim from another mouthpiece.
We copy the cup, imagine it's this drawing in red, and we put the rim of another mouthpiece with a smaller inner diameter on it.
Drawn in blue
What will happen?
By narrowing the inner diameter of the rim,
we are also reducing the volume of the cup.
Result?
The musician's response when they try it:
“The rim size is good, it's what I wanted, perfect 🤩
but the sound is smaller and a bit brighter.”
Conclusion:
“The copy is not exact.”
And of course, it's not.
It's impossible for the sound to be the same, because by closing the diameter of the rim, we also reduce the volume of the cup.
And as you can imagine…
the sound will no longer be the same.
🎶🎶🎵🎵 Another real example 🎶🎶🎵🎵
The job consisted of:
Making a copy of the interior and rim, everything identical.
And only
modifying the exterior shape, copying another much heavier model.
I don't know the person who requested this work, and I don't know how they play, so I couldn't advise them.
the musician.
He was convinced that the weight of that heavier mouthpiece was what gave him good articulation.
When I analyze the interior of the heavier model.
It had:
A smaller throat and more air resistance in the internal shank part.
Almost certainly, for that musician.
That was what really gave him stability in articulation.
And
Not the weight.
I explain to him:
That articulation is not in the weight, or the exterior of the mouthpiece.
To modify articulation, we have to work on the throat and internal shank.
Well
The musician insists. He wants what he asked for.
And
We continue with the work, a copy of the interior with the heavier exterior.
Result:
“Failure.”
My experience tells me that
When the musician is convinced of something… that it will work for them
making them change their mind is very difficult.
Since it is NOT a rational decision, but rather one made from an irrational point of view, an assumption that only exists in your mind.
🎶🎶🎵🎵 Final reflection based on my experience 🎶🎶🎵🎵
When you are lost,
seeking a solution by cutting and pasting pieces is usually a bad idea.
For me, the best thing is to start from scratch.
Do a reset.
Take a deep breath and sit down for a moment, even if it's in the chair we built earlier.
and
ask yourself:
Is what I'm thinking truly what I need? Will it work for me??
Or is it just an impulse created by your mind?
If you are truly looking for your best mouthpiece,
you won't find it by mixing pieces that "more or less" might work for you.
It's about designing something that makes sense.
A mouthpiece designed just for you, CUSTOM, personalized, where every detail is analyzed and considered, I believe this is the solution.
I'm Toni Romera and I await your questions and comments.
Greetings and much music.