Embosure by Tom Hooten

TL;DR: This tool gives excellent feedback as to what's happening inside the mouthpiece. You can use that feedback to improve ease and efficiency in your playing. Watch the instructional videos before you try to use it. I bought this because I'm trying to improve ease and efficiency in my trumpet playing. Unfortunately for me, that means I need to very slightly adjust my mouthpiece position. I tend to play off center to the left due to my dental structure, and I have the tendency to let things drift further to the left as time goes on. The result was that my aperture sat too close to the mouthpiece rim which caused the rim to attenuate the vibration of my aperture. I was compensating by using excess pressure and tension. The Embosure is the tool I needed to find my optimal mouthpiece placement. When I have everything setup properly with the Embosure, I can produce a clear, focused, and nearly effortless buzz. This transfers directly to easier and more efficient playing when I move to the horn. In my daily practice, I start with the Embochure before picking up the horn to make sure I get my setup right. Since I'm trying to make a slight embochure change, I check in with the Embosure a few times during my practice sessions to make sure I'm maintaining that optimal setup. The Embosure is a really fantastic tool. However, it may highlight the need for an embochure change. Be careful with that. I found that the adjustments I needed to make are fairly minor, but the benefits are huge in terms of efficiency, ease of playing, and tone quality. Finding that sweet spot would have taken me months or maybe years of experimenting without the feedback I get from the Embosure. Finally -- WATCH TOM'S VIDEOS!!! I don't think the Embosure will do anything to help you at all if you don't watch Tom's instructional videos. Watch them all before you even get the thing in your hands. Use the time between when you order it and when it arrives. Then watch videos 1-3 again when you have it in your hands. Play it with the backing tracks when your comfortable. Take it slow, and take it easy. The build quality is fantastic. The only real downside is that I'm afraid the cost of this thing will scare people away or make it inaccessible. On the other hand, it's cheaper (and, in my opinion, better for you) than another mouthpiece safari. The box it came in is too big to be conveniently carried along in my trumpet case. It would be great if they offered a padded pouch or some sort of small case to make it easier to carry.