REED MY LIPS

An even more intimate musical relationship than that between a string player and their bow (Letters, April) is that of the wind

player and their mouthpiece. Consider the intimacy involved in placing the mouthpiece against or into one’s mouth: it is almost a lovers’ kiss. The facial and teeth structure, as well as the way the player forms an embouchure, can demand a most particular pairing. Brass players often search long and hard for the ‘right’ mouthpiece – some spend hours having the right one created specially for them – and reed instrument players are famously fussy, forever reshaping and wetting their reeds before playing. Peter Sudbury, Ontario, Canada