How to "Clock" Your Mouthpiece

[Branson]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8nsmV9cYLU[/youtube]
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[poketrum]

Nice.

I’ve been clocking my mouthpieces ever since I saw Bill Watrous do it, or at least perceived that I saw him do it, during a NYC brass conference concert years ago.

I now just line up the ‘11B4’ with the same spot on the leadpipe. Do I think it makes a difference? Absolutely not, but a little harmless bit of OCD can’t hurt. 🙂

I also clock my Bremner practice mute…🤫

[kehaulani]

[lipshurt]

Clocking is a very very real thing. It makes difference any time there is any kind of non-concentricity between the outer rim, inner rim, cup, or throat, and that is the situation with a LOT of mouthpieces.

Many people, possibly most players can benefit from having a different amount of bite on the top lip than the bottom lip. Especially very shallow mouthpiece players.

Sometimes if someone has a “magic” mouthpiece that they cant find anything as good, its because they have been “clocking” a certain way maybe subconsciously, and a “better”made piece that is very concentric can’t get then the same result. Usually this happens when a second operation is done like cutting the blank and then flipping it in the machine and cutting the cup without meticulously recentering it. By the way that has happened a LOT in the history of trumpet:) it does not take much to make a mouthpiece that should be “clocked”
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[TrumpetJoel]

Never, not even once, have I performed a clocking test for a colleague or a student that resulted in a "meh, they're all the same/I can't hear it." There is ALWAYS a difference, and nearly always a preference. I check for bias by playing multiple excerpts, I switch the order, I perpetrate other sneakiness; I don't tell my listeners what I'm testing, I just make sure they don't look and say to them "I'm doing a quick equipment test, can you A/B something for me real quick?"

It is one of the very few trumpet-isms in which I'm confident enough in my result to use the word "always."

BTW definitely make sure you have someone out front. Sometimes the difference you hear behind the bell is the opposite of what the audience hears.

I can't speak to clocking my Sshhmute but I'll ask the Bremners next time we're in touch!
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[Brad361]

This is a great reminder for me, I agree it’s not just placebo effect, and I tend to forget this. 🤦🏻

Brad
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When asked if he always sounds great:
"I always try, but not always, because the horn is merciless, unpredictable and traitorous." - Arturo Sandoval

[lakejw]

I thought it was BS for many years until Wayne Tanabe walked me through it at the Yamaha shop in NY. Now I'm religious about it - I even do it with my mutes 😅

In fact just last night I was playing a gig and wasn't feeling right. I looked down and my mouthpiece was about 45º out of alignment. Moved it back and voila.

I'm not even fully convinced that there's a "right" or a "wrong" position for it - what's more important is the consistency of having it in the same spot every time.
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[Billy B]

I use a Reeves sleeve. Should I be concerned with clocking the mouthpiece and sleeve independently?
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Bill Bergren

[MrOlds]

[thecoast]

[JWG]

I have tried "clocking" and have found no difference.

Maybe Mark Curry's mouthpieces that he made for Flip's Wild Thing have greater consistency than mass produced mouthpieces or maybe Flip trued mouthpieces himself before sending them to customers, but I neither feel nor hear a difference when rotating the mouthpiece to a different position in the receiver.

I do not plan on buying a bunch of mass produced mouthpieces to re-test the "clocking" theory.

However, physics dictates that clocking would have an effect only if a mouthpiece got manufactured "untrue" to the axis of the lathe or if the brass itself has impurities that cause it to weigh more in one direction than another.

Brass casting constitutes an imperfect science, because brass results from the mixture of copper and zinc. So, weight distribution during casting could theoretically play a factor.
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Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb and C with 1.5 TCC, XT, C, C-O, O, & L mouthpieces
Bach 183S (undersprung valves & straight taper pipe) with 1.5 Flip Oakes XF

[Gregory Gilmore]

I've been "clocking" my mouthpieces since I watched Jay Sollenberger do it after a Stan Kenton concert...

[hose]

[JayKosta]

[stuartissimo]