Monette Trombone Mouthpieces

Click Here for further reading about Monette trombone mouthpiece design concepts.

Monette trombone mouthpieces, like Monette trumpet and tuba mouthpieces, feature the acoustic innovation called constant pitch center. This means they require less adjustment in body and slide positions when changing registers or dynamic ranges. In addition to the pitch center improvements Monette mouthpieces provide, the standard Monette trombone mouthpieces also have significantly more mass than most conventional mouthpieces. This means more stability of response and improved sound placement and projection. A light body (LT) model, with about the same mass as conventional designs, is also available for all tenor trombone mouthpiece models. By popular demand, all Monette low brass mouthpieces incorporate Prana™ technology, at a special low price.

How to Select a Monette Mouthpiece
Because of the inconsistent playing qualities found in conventional mouthpiece designs, players have become accustomed to accepting compromises in mouthpiece size in order to maintain a given range and endurance in their playing. Monette mouthpieces are designed to eliminate these frustrating compromises and to promote an easier and more consistent approach to equipment selection.

Monette constant pitch center mouthpiece designs negate the old rules of choosing equipment, including how to pick the best size mouthpiece for a given musical task. One of Monette's primary goals in working with clients is to help them let go of old ideas about how they listen to themselves as they play, how they choose instruments, and how they choose mouthpiece sizes.

If brass players only had to play in the middle register and for no more than an octave in range, most players would be using a larger mouthpiece than they currently use. When choosing your first Monette mouthpiece, we generally suggest trying a size that is at least a little bit larger than you may be accustomed to. A slightly larger size in Monette equipment will actually enhance one’s upper register and fill out one’s sound because it encourages the player to play down into the center of the equipment in a way that is not possible on conventional equipment.

Not only do players find that using larger sizes is advantageous when using Monette mouthpieces, but they also find they can more easily change mouthpiece sizes for different styles of playing without suffering the usual acclimation problems.

All Monette mouthpieces come with larger throat sizes than most players of conventional mouthpieces have been accustomed to. The throat sizes for each model are optimized for each individual mouthpiece design. When larger throats are used in conventional mouthpieces, the upper register goes even flatter than it already does with traditional, mass-produced designs; with Monette constant-pitch-center designs, this is no longer an issue.

When playing Monette low-brass mouthpieces, it is essential to play without the physical adjustments we have learned to make for the inconsistent pitch center of conventional equipment. For more information, please refer to Monette's essay on Pitch Center, Body Use, and Resonance, and the Acclimation Guide.

Click here to read Norlan Bewley's excellent review of Monette mouthpieces.