The French horn requires a mouthpiece capable of achieving a fine balance between stability, flexibility, and precision, while maintaining a rich tonal color. The instrument demands accurate intonation, reliable response across all registers, and the ability to shape the sound with finesse, from the most delicate playing to the most committed passages.
Our French horn mouthpieces are designed to offer a centered, round and homogeneous sound, with excellent stability in the middle and upper registers, without sacrificing the depth and warmth of the low register. The cup and rim profiles are carefully designed to support stable attacks, control of wide intervals, and comfortable endurance over time.
Each model seeks a natural balance between comfort, precision and tonal color, allowing horn players to find a mouthpiece suited to their instrument, their orchestral or solo role, and their musical sensitivity.
Choosing your mouthpiece
Choosing a mouthpiece means finding the right balance between diameter, cup, throat, and mass.
To support musicians in this choice, we have gathered several simple reference points, each explained in a dedicated section.
You can therefore:
– explore the most popular models, to discover the sound signatures that work best among musicians;
– choose your diameter, according to your natural comfort and your playing goals;
– choose your cup, to adjust your register, sound volume and the sensation of density in the lips;
– choose your plating, according to your feeling in contact with the metal and the level of maintenance you prefer;
– consult the cup information, to understand depths and their impact on the register;
– consult the mass information, which influences stability, precision and the way the mouthpiece responds;
– read our advice on how to play your mouthpiece, in order to obtain a free, regular and comfortable vibration.
These elements will guide you toward the model that best matches your playing style, sound aesthetic and way of shaping the vibration.
The models
The name of the models refers directly to the inner diameter size: the 170 therefore corresponds to 17.0 mm
The 170 – A simple and comfortable mouthpiece
The 172 – A versatile and comfortable mouthpiece
The 176 – A lively and present mouthpiece, V-shaped cup
The 176 X – A round and broad mouthpiece, U-shaped cup
The 178 Cor d’harmonie – A powerful and broad mouthpiece
Custom mouthpieces
DONAT is one of the very few workshops capable of offering true custom work. This demanding expertise is built on years of research, prototypes, and collaborations with musicians of all levels.
It is important to clarify that the DONAT workshop never makes copies: we do not reproduce mouthpieces from other brands, and we do not attempt to “imitate” external models. When a musician wishes to approach a particular sensation or aesthetic, the workshop guides them toward personalized work built exclusively from DONAT models.
Custom work is therefore not a blank starting point, nor the reconstruction of an existing model. It is a controlled variation, based on the acoustic stability of the catalogue. Starting from a specific model, we may adjust a rim, refine a cup depth, modify the cup–backbore combination, adapt a throat or a mass. These are subtle workshop gestures, precise adjustments that cannot be achieved through simple imitation.
To guarantee this balance, every custom project begins with a Premium Trial. The musician first chooses several catalogue models that approach their intention. These trials allow us to identify what works, what should be preserved, and what needs to be adjusted.
Only after this stage can the workshop create a custom model — work built on real playing sensations, not on an abstract idea or a requested copy.
The DONAT custom approach exists only because the workshop possesses:
– a large and coherent catalogue,
– a refined understanding of acoustic balances,
– rare craftsmanship and in-house manufacturing.
This is the rarity we wish to preserve: personalized work that remains faithful, respecting both the musician’s vibration and the DONAT sonic identity.