We live in a very fast passed world which includes constant innovations in all areas of our lives. Artificial Intelligence has changed the way we collect information, advancements in medicine is prolonging our lives as well as improvements even in our automobiles and manufacturing practices. But who could have predicted that printing in 3D would be helpful in prolonging my Trumpet career?
During a recent biopsy of my right upper lung, I was told that I had developed cancer. That was not the information I was hoping for but during this same procedure, I also incurred another disappointment. During the biopsy, the medical staff injured my upper lip, forming a large hematoma which lasted for a week. Once the swelling receded, I noticed when I returned to playing, the swelling returned after a short amount of time and prevented the lip from vibrating within the mouthpiece.
The reality of the end of my Trumpet playing was not what I had expected. I had been constantly performing for more than seventy-five years and due to the negligence of my medical staff, I realized that it could now be ended. Slowly my attention turned to alternatives in my musical future. I have always enjoyed playing Trombone so it might be time to hang up the Trumpet and begin practicing on its larger cousin, the Trombone.
Eventually I began analyzing my situation and came up with a possible solution to my problem. If my lip continued to swell within the Trumpet mouthpiece, playing on a larger mouthpiece may have some advantages. The Trombone mouthpiece gave me no problems, so my thought turned to a possible alternative. Could an oval shaped Trumpet mouthpiece rim work?
Our grandson is a very intelligent and talented young man well versed in the practice of 3D printing. For those not familiar with this production technique, we will turn to our AI (Artificial Intelligence) source for an explanation-
“3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating three-dimensional objects from a digital file. Unlike traditional manufacturing methods that remove material through cutting or drilling, 3D printing builds objects layer by layer, adding material until the object is complete”.
When asked to duplicate my favorite Trumpet mouthpiece and alter the rim to an oval shape, rather than a round shape, he replied with no hesitation, “sure”!
Within a short amount of time my grandson presented me with the first model of my newly designed Trumpet mouthpiece.
As you can see from the photo, the rim is placed vertically on the lip which offers more upper lip in the mouthpiece. This increased area of “meat”, even when the lip swells is enough area to sustain a buzz
In our next post, I will share with my readers how this modification could possibly sustain my Trumpet playing for at least a few more years.
