Chips From the Lathe...
                                                                              

This issue :

An Allegory for Brass Players

  al'le-go'ry  n., pl. story in which  things,  actions, etc. are symbolic

 

Text Box: Imagine one day; opticians everywhere suddenly decide that they will no longer fill your doctor’s prescription for eyeglasses. Instead, it has been universally agreed upon by the “Optician’s Guild” that fitting every individual has been too time consuming. Furthermore, the financial strains of manufacturing custom eye ware, right on the premises was impeding their ability to provide equally accessible, and affordable service to all. In lieu of this, from this time forth, your local “Lenscrafters” et al, will stock only a few of their most popular prescriptions. Prescriptions that they have found over the years to work well for many people, even some very famous people! Imagine, you make your first trip to one of the new “Vision Marts”. The sales people there are quite friendly and encourage you to try out their fine, albeit limited, assortment. Whether you are farsighted, nearsighted or have an astigmatism, they have at least 2 – 3 models to choose from that they assure you should do the job nicely for you. You find a pair that seems to work okay. Some things seem better, and others…well, it’s hard to tell. You try to ask the optician for some advice. He is very understanding and knowingly explains that you will probably just need to take some time to adjust in order to enjoy the full benefit. After several weeks things seem to have gotten worse. So, you make an appointment to see the finest optometrist around. Upon your arrival, you complain that you are having difficulty seeing. The Doctor asks to see your glasses. You explain that the pair you’re using seemed to work in the shop, but now you’re not sure anymore. The Doctor, upon realizing which pair of glasses it is, seems confused. After all, it so happens that this particular model was patterned after his very own glasses. He sees perfectly with them. In fact, most of his patients use that very same pair as well, and they are doing fine with them. The Doctor finally decides to give you some exercises to do promising that they should strengthen your eyes and help you to see better. You go away feeling confused and maybe even a bit guilty for causing problems by being different than the other patients. Maybe you really didn’t try as hard as you could have to make these glasses work. Ridiculous, isn’t it? The thought of wearing glasses that had not been made to fit your particular physical needs seems absurd, doesn’t it? Yet, most brass players use a mouthpiece that they have purchased in much the same way as the poor soul above. You’re physically different from others, aren’t you? Your teeth, lips, tongue, oral cavity and lung capacity are unique to you, aren’t they? Then your mouthpiece needs to be too. Achieving your personal best on your instrument is not a matter of chance. The specifications of your mouthpiece need to be matched to your physiology and balanced to the resistance of your equipment. If you haven’t thought about these issues before, either you are one of the lucky few, or you’ve been suffering with the consequences.   Stork Custom Mouthpieces…when the need to exceed takes hold!   BACK