“If you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind”, attributed to William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin.

We set out to understand and analyze the saxophone mouthpiece using a strictly numerical approach. This led us to create a system that allows us to parameterize mouthpiece development in all its aspects. We developed software that automatically generates mouthpieces based on more than 50 parameters. This greatly facilitates the design of new models and the modification of existing ones.

By being able to quantify the mouthpiece’s shape, we can determine the effects of measurable changes on its performance and/or timbre.