"In preparation of a CD recording of my trio-ensemble Donax I had studied a lot. The concerto Champêtre van Tomasi was to be recorded. I kept changing between my two bocals (a Püchner B2 and a Heckel CD1). During my career at the marinesband of the Royal Marine I played those great bocals. But both of them had their limitations especially in the upper range. Then the idea rose in my head of making my own bocal. After my years of duty I started a goldsmith training, just for hobby. The knowledge and techniques I learned were very usefull for making a bocal.
After a lot of measuring, google info, again measuring and above all a lot of thinking the first bocal was born. The result was surprisingly good and motivated me to go on improving my work, which resulted in a bocal that exceeded all of my expactations. Professional collegue's tried them, gave feedback. I kept improving with their great help!"
Important to know is that they can be adjusted to personal wishes. We do that with reeds, so why not with a bocal?!
The way I built a bocal differs from the conventional modern methods. The base material is much thicker. After pulling and bending the brass I start filing and sanding. The whole process is a really labor-intensive but so worth it! No fancy benchmachines but oldfashioned handwork: walsing, soldering and blacksmithing! The inside of the bocal withholds the secret of the great projection of the open sound you can achieve!
I am now able to build bocals that both fit beginners and professionals. It's so easy to play throughout alle registers, espacially the heighest ones. So you no longer need that extra bocal you had for the The sacre du Printemps! ;)