Abstract: A woodwind mouthpiece has a tone chamber with a bottom surface and a window. A table extends along an outer surface of the mouthpiece, and a pair of side rails extends from the table along opposite sides of the window. A removable tone chamber insert is disposed in the tone chamber in contact with the bottom surface and the interior surface of each side rail. The tone chamber insert modifies at least one of a tone chamber width defined by a distance between the interior surfaces of the side rails and a bottom surface width defined by a distance between the interior surfaces of the side rails at the bottom surface. In addition, a v-shaped notch extends into the table from the side rail top surfaces at least about 50% of the length of the table. the v-shaped notch defines an angle of at least about 15 degrees.

Abstract: A mouthpiece for woodwind instruments that generally comprises a body defined by a window opening at one end, a annular opening at another end, an internal tone chamber, and an internal bore, and a baffle positioned within the body at precisely the interface between the tone chamber and the bore. The body is generally cylindrical with a tapered front section that is substantially flat on one side and a tapered rear section designed to attach to a woodwind instrument in a conventional manner. The baffle is located within the body perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the mouthpiece and serves to generate a standing-wave on an attached reed in order to improve the response, tonality, and power of an instrument. Elements of the present invention are economically fabricated of conventional materials, and are scalable and capable of being fitted to all existing woodwinds.

Abstract: A reed for single-reed woodwind instruments formed of natural cane wood and comprising a heel section and a tapered tip section. The heel's top surface comprises the bark of the cane, and the remainder of the reed constitutes natural cane wood fibers or “grain.” A plurality of slits are cut into the top surface of the heel section in a direction consistent with and parallel to the grain of the cane wood. Each slit extends through, and along the length of, the layer of cane bark, creating a discontinuous bark structure (but preferably not disturbing the underlying cane wood grain). This discontinuous bark structure prevents the cane bark from causing the reed to warp as the wood fibers expand (more rapidly than the bark) due to the absorption of moisture during each initial period of use. This prevention of warping allows the reed to maintain its response, tone, and power.

Abstract: An improved ligature is provided for use on a mouthpiece of a woodwind-type musical instrument. The ligature comprises a flexible, trapezoidal body having two longitudinal slots, and a pair of ferrules terminating each end of the body. The body is a rubberized fabric with one side being smooth and the other defined by a textured pattern. A tightening mechanism draws the ferrules together and thereby tightens the flexible body about the mouthpiece of the instrument. Each of the ferrules is formed with a longitudinal notch, and the ends of the body terminate inside by crimping and/or gluing the body end inside. The operation of the tightening mechanism within the ferrules in combination with the flexible nature of the body serve to effectively isolate the instrument mouthpiece from direct contact with the ferrules, thereby improving tonal response.