[Courtney Nero]

Recently I was checking out YouTube videos of players testing and demo’ing tenor mouthpieces....

Ever notice how a player is demo’ing a Wanne Ambika automatically starts playing “In a Sentimental Mood” at like 40 bpm? Or a player demos a Durga and jumps straight to his best Lennie Pickettisms? Or a 10mFan Boss demo often goes straight toward growling and Clarence Clemons?

Each mouthpiece probably has a strength in a certain sound concept to be sure, but here’s a request to show the diversity of the mouthpieces in some of these demos.

“But Beautiful” on a Durga....“Yes and No” on an Ambika.... “Confirmation” on a Ponzol M2..... “Quarter Master” (Snarky Puppy) on a 10mFan “Classic”....

Not a sermon, just a thought....

 

[turf3]

Why not just pick a mouthpiece you can use for pretty much everything, and then jump off the merry-go-round?

I've been pretty happy over the last 40+ years with Meyer Link and Selmer.

 

[10mfan]

Re: Don't Pigeonhole Mouthpieces; Show their Diversity

Courtney,
You just need to listen through more videos from each maker....

Since you mentioned me, here are a few from me of just two of my models...The Chameleon and the Robusto.

CHAMELEON MOUTHPIECE:

STRAIGHT AHEAD JAZZ:

RAUNCHY/BLUESY POWERFUL/BALLS TO THE WALL SOUND:

BALLAD:

ROBUSTO MOUTHPIECE:

JAZZ BLUES WITH ORGAN:

MODERN POWERFUL/BRECKER TYPE VIBE: IVAN RENTA LIVE

OLD SCHOOL/WARMER/VU VU STYLE JAZZ:

I won't take up anymore space, but I could fill pages and pages up showing the diversity with every piece, as other mouthpiece companies can too.

You need to just go listen to more videos from each maker.
Hope you're well, Courtney.

 

[1saxman]

I think these players are demonstrating how certain mouthpieces lead them in certain directions, or possibly they are playing mouthpieces that they found to be more suitable for the way they normally play. Most sax players cannot pull off different styles on the same mouthpiece to start with, so that's a big stumbling block to what you are asking for.

 

[Aquarian]

Recently I was checking out YouTube videos of players testing and demo'ing tenor mouthpieces....

Ever notice how a player is demo'ing a Wanne Ambika automatically starts playing "In a Sentimental Mood" at like 40 bpm? Or a player demos a Durga and jumps straight to his best Lennie Pickettisms? Or a 10mFan Boss demo often goes straight toward growling and Clarence Clemons?

Each mouthpiece probably has a strength in a certain sound concept to be sure, but here's a request to show the diversity of the mouthpieces in some of these demos.

"But Beautiful" on a Durga...."Yes and No" on an Ambika.... "Confirmation" on a Ponzol M2..... "Quarter Master" (Snarky Puppy) on a 10mFan "Classic"....

Not a sermon, just a thought....

I think a good mouthpiece and good embouchure can do anything.

That said, I think in many people there is a very strict concept of what sound is allowed in what style. Classical has an extreme case of this but jazz too, there is a strong cultural thing about what a "swing" sound is or a "fusion" sound or a "bebop" sound. And mouthpieces definitely have certain characters. If you pick up a metalite and play classical, well, some people will complain. That being the case and a lot of people being interested in making music in a certain way (imitating a certain player or sound), I think it's inevitable.

I personally also find this silly, but I'm not gonna argue with everyone who thinks a meyer is the perfect classic jazz (whatever that is) alto mouthpiece or who thinks a metalite can't sound sweet.

My personal take after going on a bit of a mouthpiece journey is that you can play classical with a metalite if you want, as long as your embouchure and technique are there it will sound good. If it sounds weak it is more likely you than the mouthpiece. But beyond that, I think mouthpiece reviews are somewhat limited just because of how varied even good players are in their embouchure, reed setup, etc.

What you like or what works for you is ultimately only something you can find out by doing, I guess. Unfortunately that's an expensive proposition when it comes to mouthpieces.