Bach 'Embouchure Correcta' Visualizers
In the mid-to-late 1930s, Vincent Bach developed and introduced the first mouthpiece visualizer, the ‘Embouchure Correcta,’ for use as a teaching tool for teachers and students. This innovative audiovisual aid quickly became a popular diagnostic tool for assessing lip placement, tongue position during the attack, and other critical aspects of correct embouchure.
Over time, embouchure visualizers have become an invaluable resource for musicians of all levels, helping beginners on brass instruments establish good playing habits and aiding experienced players in honing their brass playing skills.
This ‘Embouchure Correcta‘ New York-era example of this teaching tool was manufactured in the Bronx factory (1928-1953) by the Vincent Bach Corporation. This is the earliest example of this teaching tool developed by Vincent Bach that we have seen through our BachLoyalist research
Example of a New York era, Vincent Bach “Embouchure Correcta” manufactured at the Vincent Bach Corporation factory located in the Bronx.
source: from the personal collection of Benny Wiame
” Teachers will do well to use at the very first lesson, the “Bach Embouchure Visualizer” (described on page 80) for checking the student’s embouchure. This precious gadget should be in the possession of every student so he can check his embouchure placement at frequent intervals. Unfortunately, the majority of beginners start without a teacher and thereby drift into all kinds of bad habits. Many have the tendency to jam the high and middle register, pinching the lips too tightly together, which prevents a free vibration. Others press the mouthpiece too hard against the lips instead of playing with ‘the lightest possible pressure. Excessive pressure not only injures the lip muscles and nerves but also cuts off the blood circulation, thereby paralyzing (if only temporarily) the lips, preventing flexibility and endurance, and causing the tone to sound fuzzy and nasal. and lifeless.
– 1954 Bach Embochure & Mouthpiece Manual, page 12
New York / Mt. Vernon example
This ‘Embouchure Visualizer’ example has the handle, which is stamped with New York 1953, and a Mt. Vernon rim, which would have been during the move to the Mt. Vernon factory.
The rim is marked ‘MV1‘, indicating it is the rim size of a Mount Vernon 1 mouthpiece, with a diameter of approximately 17.00 mm. The stamp on the rim is different than the earlier New York examples. Click on the images below for a more detailed view of this visualizer.
The "Bach Embouchure Visualizer" in the 1954 Bach Embouchure & Mouthpiece Manual referenced the name of this teaching tool as a registered trademark. We have been unable to find any record of this name being registered as a trademark.
From the 1954 Price List of Genuine Bach Mouthpieces and other accessories. The Bach Embouchure Visualizer models included:
- For Trumpet (Cornet) or French Horn
- For Trombone
- Double Set – One end trumpet, the other end Trombone Rim
Vincent Bach embouchure visualizers are currently available in the Bach accessory catalog. Trumpet teachers still use this visualizer with beginning brass instrument students or when players adjust their embouchure.
Embouchure visualizer trumpet, cornet, French horn, and trombone models are from the 1996 Selmer Accessory catalog. They are still available in the Conn Selmer catalog and their dealers.
source: Chris Belluscio, with a 1940 Bach Mercury trumpet & case. source: from the BachLoyalist collection
source: from the personal collection of Benny Wiame
