Peter Holmes


For more than 60 years, I have been combining my love of brass music with my love of engineering. Starting with a brass band and quickly into Dixieland, I then earned well when dance bands were all the rage in the late 50s. At the same time, orchestral took its place, alongside a cathedral brass ensemble and all sorts of pit work. I finally retired into a wind band where I now relax and play what comes.

From the 60s onwards, I have studied extensively in both ancient and historical brass but ancient ultimately took over when I decided to put my mind to serious study. Being an engineer, making instruments has always sat alongside studying and playing and, as I write this, I am in the process of finishing an Iron-Age salpinx in steel – a new challenge.

The world of ancient brass is, indeed full of surprises, it still surprises me after all these years of immersion. This blog, as extracts from my many journeys through the ancient world of brass, will hopefully shed an interesting light on how the world of brass music came to be what it is today.

Dr Peter Holmes, BSc, PhD, CEng, MIMechE


Posted by Peter Holmes

40
Graeco roman Greco roman Games agon

When the Romans replaced the Salpinx with the Tuba

Peter Holmes May 03, 2023

For many centuries, the salpinx held its position as announcer in the Greek games or agon.

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The War Trumpet Myth: The Salpinx and the Tuba in the Graeco-Roman Games

The War Trumpet Myth: The Salpinx and the Tuba in the Graeco-Roman Games

Peter Holmes May 01, 2023

Like me, you’ve probably read about the ancient ‘War Trumpet’. However, while there’s no doubt that the ancient high brass was used in all sorts of military contexts, it is also clear that they also filled many other roles in ancient societies, those up to the end of the Roman Empire.

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41
Mouthpieces

Download your Mouthpiece: The Open Mouthpiece designer

Peter Holmes March 19, 2023

In March, we introduced a free site that offered an online mouthpiece designer.

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39
Mouthpieces

Introducing: The Open Mouthpiece designer

Peter Holmes March 19, 2023

Introducing an exciting new site that allows you, as a brass instrument player, to design and 3D print a mouthpiece for your instrument, starting from one of the pre-designed models on the site.

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38
Sumerian Roman Romanian Ethnographic

PUKKU, pututara, putarino, bucina

Peter Holmes February 02, 2023

Throughout the ancient world, there are many names given to brass instruments which incorporate the pu/bu sound.

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37

Rock Gongs Why do Ringing Rocks Really Ring

Peter Holmes December 01, 2022

When a solid rock is hit by a striker, the area of concussion is compressed by the blow.

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37

Ringing Stones and Rock Gongs

Peter Holmes November 15, 2022

OK, this is a bit of a diversion from brass instruments but, when I was attending a conference many years ago and sat through a really boring presentation, I began thinking about a question a colleague had asked just before a session.

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36
Music archaeology Vikings

Vikings: Making Brass from Wood - Part 1

Peter Holmes November 15, 2022

Part 1 of 3 Despite their reputation for rape and pillage and the signs of their presence over much of Europe, the evidence for the Viking horns or trumpets comes from their heartland in the western Baltic.

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35
Music archaeology

Music Archaeology: the Early Days

Peter Holmes January 08, 2022

Music Archaeology: the Early Days Music archaeology didn’t burst upon the scene.

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34
Music archaeology

Early Music Archaeology in Ireland and the UK

Peter Holmes December 30, 2021

Early Music Archaeology in Ireland and the UK The modern story of the Irish Horns started in 1726 with a second edition of Gerard Boate’s book.

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33
Music archaeology

Music Archaeology in Scandinavia and the Baltic

Peter Holmes December 15, 2021

Early Music Archaeology in Scandinavia and the Baltic Region The reported modern story of the bronze lurs begins in Brudevaelte, Denmark in 1797 when a letter dated June 19th 1797, was penned to accompany the first find of lurs on their journey to the Royal Exchequer.

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32
Music archaeology

Music Archaeology of the Palaeolithic/Mesolithic/Neolithic

Peter Holmes October 28, 2021

Sounds from Silence: Music Archaeology of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic

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31
Music archaeology

Music Archaeology of the Mediterranean and Middle East

Peter Holmes October 26, 2021

Music Emerging from the Texts While musical archaeology studies in the Mediterranean area and the Middle East have examined the physical evidence and iconography, written sources have always also played a key role.

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30
Music archaeology

Music Archaeology up to the 1960s

Peter Holmes March 30, 2021

Music Archaeology up to the 1960s Brass instruments underwent monumental changes in the mid nineteenth century with the adoption of valves and one of the workers in the field at the time was Victor-Charles Mahillon, a Belgian musician, instrument builder and writer on musical topics.

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29

Music Archaeology in Recent Times

Peter Holmes December 14, 2020

What we Learn from our Predecessors Each generation of music archaeologists enjoys a huge advantage over its predecessor as technological developments offer the opportunity for greater exploration of the material available.

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28

Animisation: Breathing Breath into Brass

Peter Holmes July 22, 2020

The term animisation is used to describe the process where inanimate objects are granted animate powers.

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27

When the Brass is Gender Fluid

Peter Holmes June 28, 2020

Ethnographic evidence tells us that gender was attributed to sound tools in various ways, some of these being based only obliquely on the physical characteristics of males and females.

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26

What is a Natural trumpet?

Peter Holmes June 03, 2020

In many ways, the term ’natural trumpet’ is a bit strange as it doesn’t refer to a trumpet which grows in the soil or is dug up from the ground but just one which has no devices on it such as valves or slides or fingerholes.

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25

What Instruments appear on Coins in the Ancient World?

Peter Holmes May 23, 2020

Coins are an important source of information for music archaeologists. They may be small but the skill of the ancient die maker who makes the two dies which contain the impression of the two sides of the coin was amazing.

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24

When is a Lur not a Lur

Peter Holmes May 14, 2020

When the great, curved Bronze-Age horns were found in Scandinavia and the Baltic Region, no-one knew how old they were or what they might have been called.

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23

When did the Trumpet and Keyboard First Get Together?

Peter Holmes May 11, 2020

We can’t say exactly when these two instruments first came to be played together but it certainly didn’t take long after Ktesibios invented the first keyboard instrument.

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22

Enjoying the Craic: The Irish Horns

Peter Holmes May 10, 2020

One of the highlights of the Bronze-Age brass is the Irish Horns, over one hundred instruments which were found all over Ireland.

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21

Spain’s Unique Iron-Age Brass

Peter Holmes April 28, 2020

Although instruments throughout the Iron-Age world differed, there was considerable similarity both in instrument form and usage.

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20

When did Brass first Appear in Brass Instruments?

Peter Holmes April 25, 2020

Cast Brass Reproductions of the Pompeii Cornua Support-Bar Bosses Despite their name, brass only appeared in brass instruments relatively recently.

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19

Who Studies Ancient Brass Instruments?

Peter Holmes April 19, 2020

Well, lots of people, really. However, it’s music archaeologists who study all aspects of music in the ancient world.

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18

A Night in the Museum - just me and the Lurs

Peter Holmes April 17, 2020

In June 1975, we set off for our Scandinavian/Baltic tour, my wife and I and two sons.

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17

Who Lived in the First Brass Instruments?

Peter Holmes April 15, 2020

The earliest brass instruments which have survived from Europe are the sea-shell trumpets which are often referred to as conch-shell trumpets - although I prefer to call them sea-shell trumpets.

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16

When were Musical Instruments Not Musical Instruments?

Peter Holmes April 11, 2020

The mention of the word Music will likely bring about a series of mental processes in which you relate the context of the word to your own experiences.

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15

When did the Cornett(o) earn its Fingerholes?

Peter Holmes April 05, 2020

There’s a couple of answers to this really, depending upon whether you stick to an instrument which had that particular name or whether you mean fingerhole instruments in general.

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14

What were the Main Structures of Brass in the Ancient World?

Peter Holmes April 02, 2020

It’s easy to think of ancient brass design as following that of modern instruments but that was simply not the case.

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13

When the Air goes Round and Round

Peter Holmes April 01, 2020

Today there are, in the main, just two brass instruments in which the air goes round in circles, the French horn and the Sousaphone although others, such as cornets have, in the past, been made in this way.

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12

What is the Natural Harmonic Series?

Peter Holmes March 29, 2020

This is the range of notes played on any brass instrument when no valves, slides or finger-holes are utilised.

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11

What did the Greeks use their Trumpets for?

Peter Holmes March 28, 2020

Strangely, the answer is simple, they used their salpinx (that’s what they called their trumpet) for pretty-well everything.

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10

Spreading Brass on your Toast

Peter Holmes March 26, 2020

The bronze lurs are among the most-characteristic instruments from the Late Bronze Age in northern Europe.

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9

Why was the letter J popular among Iron-Age Brass Players?

Peter Holmes March 25, 2020

Of course, it wasn’t the letter itself which made its claim of importance to brass players during the long, logo-ago European Iron Ages - between around 1000 BCE to sometime quite a lot later!

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8

What were the two Tutankhamun Trumpets?

Peter Holmes March 24, 2020

In 1922, British archaeologist, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankamun, one of the richest ever found.

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7

When did the brass ensemble first appear?

Peter Holmes March 22, 2020

Brass instruments had been around for a very long time before we see different instruments used together.

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6

What’s in a name: Cornu?

Peter Holmes March 20, 2020

The name cornu (plural cornua) appears in Roman literature, describing their instrument which encircled the player.

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5

When Louis Met Me

Peter Holmes March 19, 2020

When I started playing the cornet, my two heroes were Louis Armstrong and Eddie Calvert.

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4

The Oldest Brass Instrument?

Peter Holmes March 18, 2020

There’s quite a bit of talk about which is the oldest brass instrument around but, for my money, it terms of continuous tradition, it’s the instruments of the first Australians.

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3

Why is iconography relevant?

Peter Holmes March 17, 2020

The term iconography refers to all manner of illustrations and we rely on these to fill in information about instruments when the physical remains are either lacking or fragmentary.

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2

What’s in a name: Lituus?

Peter Holmes March 12, 2020

The term ’lituus’ is one applied to a ‘J’-shaped instrument used by the Romans.

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1

Where did the first mouthpieces appear?

Peter Holmes March 11, 2020

In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, during the late Bronze Age mouthpieces were developed to an astonishing degree.

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Stem Taper Parameters

Stem Taper Parameters

Peter Holmes January 27, 2020

The stem or what is sometimes also called the shank is the portion at the downstream end of a mouthpiece which fits inside the instrument’s receiver.

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Getting Adventurous

Getting Adventurous

Peter Holmes January 22, 2020

So far, in the previous Getting Started pages, we’ve looked at the parameters which are accessed via the simple setting on the product design page.

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Organological View

Organological View

Peter Holmes January 20, 2020

This page explores the role of the mouthpiece from a bit more of a technical perspective.

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Player’s View

Player’s View

Peter Holmes January 20, 2020

This page is an exploration of the mouthpiece from a player’s perspective and how different mouthpieces feel different when being played

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Modifying Your Mouthpiece

Modifying Your Mouthpiece

Peter Holmes January 20, 2020

If you’ve had a read through the Selecting a Mouthpiece page, you’ll know how to do some basic navigation so, in this section, we’ll edit a mouthpiece to create our own version which meets our particular requirements.

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Glossary

Glossary

Peter Holmes January 19, 2020

Click the first letter of the term you’re looking for to jump down the list or simply scroll down.

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Inflection Points

Inflection Points

Peter Holmes January 17, 2020

The inflection point is the point in the cup at which the slope changes from being concave to convex.

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About this Site

About this Site

Peter Holmes August 03, 2019

This site, the result of many years of work and many, many more years of research, is designed to let you design and then get your own mouthpiece.

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Outer Style

Outer Style

Peter Holmes July 18, 2019

The PeakTone mouthpiece model provides five different decoration styles for the external surfaces of the mouthpiece.

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Overall Length

Overall Length

Peter Holmes July 18, 2019

The Overall Length of a PeakTone mouthpiece is the dimension between the top face of the cup and the end face of the stem.

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Stem Type

Stem Type

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

Most mouthpieces are provided with a stem size which is appropriate for only one instrument.

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Backbore Upper Profile: Bottom

Backbore Upper Profile: Bottom

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The Upper Profile: Bottom Setting defines the surfaces where the lower part of the upper backbore runs into the lower part.

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Upper Profile: Top

Upper Profile: Top

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

This setting varies from zero to one and has no dimensions.

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The Backbore Barelling Depth

The Backbore Barelling Depth

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

In order to provide a way of changing the shape of the backbore, several controls are provided, the Backbore Width Setting being one of these.

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Rim Thickness

Rim Thickness

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The Rim Thickness is the height of the rim from its top surface to the underside of the lip.

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Rim Peak Position

Rim Peak Position

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The Mouthpiece Rim Peak Position This is a term used in these pages to refer to the position of the peak of a mouthpieces’s rim.

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Rim Rise

Rim Rise

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The Mouthpiece Rim Rise This term is one used on this site to describe the extent to which the rim of the mouthpiece rises above that expected from a flat rim.

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Rim Bite

Rim Bite

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

This term refers to the nature of the radius between the upper face of the rim and the side wall of the mouthpiece’s cup.

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Throat Depth

Throat Depth

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

While most mouthpieces have a throat depth of zero, where the cup runs directly into the backbore, it is also possible to place a parallel (cylindrical) section between these two features as shown in grey in the diagram below:

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Throat Radius

Throat Radius

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The Mouthpiece Throat Radius The term throat radius is used on the mouthpiece.

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Throat Diameter

Throat Diameter

Peter Holmes July 17, 2019

The narrowest point of the mouthpiece’s Cup’s is referred to as its throat.

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Shoulder Angle

Shoulder Angle

Peter Holmes July 05, 2019

The Shoulder Angle is defined here as the angle at which the cup walls meet the rim radius.

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Outer Shape

Outer Shape

Peter Holmes July 01, 2019

Opinions differ and will continue to differ on the effects the outer contours of a mouthpiece have on its performance.

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How a Mouthpiece Works

How a Mouthpiece Works

Peter Holmes June 07, 2019

A suggestion for the physics of brass instrument operation by someone whose physics degree textbook is so old that its index doesn’t even contain the word ‘transistor’.

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Stem-Receiver Depth

Stem-Receiver Depth

Peter Holmes July 26, 2018

The illustration below shows the dimension referred to on this site as the Shank/Receiver Depth.

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Digital (Vernier) Calipers

Digital (Vernier) Calipers

Peter Holmes July 22, 2018

Digital Calipers are measuring devices used to measure lengths, diameters and depths to considerable accuracy.

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Fixing a Top-Seating Mouthpiece

Fixing a Top-Seating Mouthpiece

Peter Holmes July 15, 2018

There’s several ways a mouthpiece might fail to sit snugly in an instrument’s receiver and this page discusses the way a mouthpiece may be trated which fits tightly in the top of its taper but is loose at the bottom.

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Fix a Badly-Seating Mouthpiece

Fix a Badly-Seating Mouthpiece

Peter Holmes July 15, 2018

In the past, there has been no fixed standard for the taper on mouthpieces and, even today, there seems to be great variation between different manufacturers.

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Frequency

Frequency

Peter Holmes June 27, 2018

Frequency from the perspective of musical sounds is a measure of the number of times a peak or trough in the sound wave pass a given point in one second.

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Tutorials

Tutorials

Peter Holmes June 26, 2018

There is a series of tutorials which take you through all the features of the software which lead to the creation of your own mouthpiece.

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Tutorial – 12: Rim Width

Tutorial – 12: Rim Width

Peter Holmes June 25, 2018

This feature controls the width of the mouthpiece’s rim. It is controlled from the Rim Width Slider.

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What is Organology

What is Organology

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

A page by

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Selecting a Mouthpiece

Selecting a Mouthpiece

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

Welcome to the all new Mouthpiece Store. Here, we’ll introduce the basics of interacting with the site – how to select basic options such as decoration and material and end up with the mouthpiece you want.

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Stem

Stem

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

The stem or what is sometimes also called the shank is the portion at the downstream end which fits inside the instrument’s receiver.

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Backbore

Backbore

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

The shape of the backbore can have a profound effect on the performance of a mouthpiece and combinations of size and shape make the tone darker or brighter, raise or lower the pitch in one or more registers, increase or decrease volume.

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Parameters – Throat

Parameters – Throat

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

The throat is the opening leading out from the cup into the backbore.

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Parameters – Cup

Parameters – Cup

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

The mouthpiece cup is the cavity which you blow into.

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The Mouthpiece

The Mouthpiece

Peter Holmes June 23, 2018

This page sets out to tell you a bit about the mouthpiece but reading this first may not be your style.

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Parameters – Rim

Parameters – Rim

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

The rim is the portion of the mouthpiece which is in contact with the player’s lips, the section around the cup.

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Trombone

Trombone

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

While the numbering system of PeakTone trombone mouthpieces is based upon a system developed for the Mouthpiece Project, it has many points at which it overlaps with that developed by Vincent Bach.

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Vincent Bach

Vincent Bach

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

The Vincent Bach Mouthpiece Numbering System The numbering system of PeakTone mouthpieces is based upon that developed by Vincent Bach.

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Trumpet

Trumpet

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

While the numbering system of PeakTone trumpet mouthpieces is based upon a system developed for the Mouthpiece Project, it has many points at which it overlaps with that developed by Vincent Bach.

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Backbore Width

Backbore Width

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

In order to provide a way of changing the shape of the backbore, several controls are provided, the Backbore Width Setting being one of these.

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Stem Lower Diameter

Stem Lower Diameter

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

The Stem Lower Diameter is the diameter of the mouthpiece which is slid into the instrument.

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Mouthpiece Cup

Mouthpiece Cup

Peter Holmes June 22, 2018

Cup Diameter In general, smaller instruments, such as trumpets and cornets, utilise smaller diameter cups than their lower-pitched, larger counterparts.

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Cup Depth

Cup Depth

Peter Holmes June 21, 2018

Cup depths for different instruments vary enormously, the major factor being the pitch range over which they are designed to play.

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Cup Diameter

Cup Diameter

Peter Holmes June 21, 2018

The cups on mouthpieces designed for different instruments differ enormously for many reasons, the major one being the pitch at which the instruments play.

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