Serpent Mouthpieces :

I make two types of serpent mouthpiece, church and a military style. These are based on a large collection of surviving mouthpieces from Paris. The church mouthpiece has a bowl shaped cup and a sharp throat and blends well with voices. The military mouthpiece is more conical and deeper, again with a sharp throat, it projects more  is more suited to outdoor or solo playing.

Both models are very light and have thin walls. The sharp throat dramatically improves tuning and stability compared with a “modern” shaped rounded throat. The sound is reedy which blends well with voices and bassoons.

These can all be made to any specification or requirement. Interestingly, the rims on these French mouthpieces are very narrow, I have been asked to make rims a bit larger which some feel is more comfortable. I usually suggest an outside diameter 8mm larger than the inside as a comfortable narrow rim.

I am very grateful to Volny Hostiou for sharing his research with me on the Paris serpents and their mouthpieces and to Nicholas Perry for his assistance in developing them.

I  make serpent mouthpieces in African blackwood, boxwood & exotic hardwoods.

£115