User Evaluation of 3D-Printed Personalized Saxophone Mouthpieces

Along with the skill set and the anatomy of the saxophonist, the design of the mouthpiece is a determining factor for the eventual performance of the instrument. Hence, the expectations and needs of saxophone mouthpieces are diverse and personal. Therefore, the ability to tailor a mouthpiece to the personal needs of a saxophonist becomes a valuable asset. Digital manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing and computational design tools, enable providing such on-demand and personalized products affordably. This study employs the previously proposed mouthpiece personalization method that benefits these technologies to personalize saxophone mouthpieces. This study aims to assess the ability of personalized mouthpieces to answer the players’ needs and to understand the experience of players in this process. For this purpose, a two-phase user study is devised, where players first co-create their personalized mouthpieces, then test and evaluate these. Five saxophone players from the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp participated in the study. The players in the user study confirm the performance variance in seven out of ten cases, and they prefer personalized mouthpieces in four out of five cases. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of saxophone mouthpiece personalization, and the players’ experience in this process.