[Ken Ken]

Hi, I have been using a Meyer NY 6 mouthpiece for the past 3 years and wanted a bigger tip opening to get a bigger sound. After some research I purchased a DAddario Select Jazz M7. However when trying to tune with band the pitch is high, I have to pull out the mouthpiece almost to the tip of the sax neck which is not good because it is not stable as it’s too lose. What should I do? Different reeds, which one, I tried Vandoren 2.5 and Hemke 3. Thank you

 

[jazzbluescat]

Does one of the pieces have a much longer shank than the other?....

 

[Pete Thomas]

Seems like that new mouthpiece may not be the best one for you. The bigger sound is more down to you working on getting a big sound rather than relying on the mouthpiece for that. Might be worth sticking with the in tune Mayer and working on your air support. Also no harm in trying different reeds.

I have found that a bigger tip opening doesn’t necessarily equate to bigger sound.

 

[jazzbluescat]

Seems like that new mouthpiece may not be the best one for you. The bigger sound is more down to you working on getting a big sound rather than relying on the mouthpiece for that.

I have found that a bigger tip opening doesn’t necessarily equate to bigger sound.

Yes. [I usually stayed with the same family and just went up or down a number/size.]

 

[lydian]

Some tend to bite down on the bigger tip, bending the reed to get the opening down to what you're used to and making it sharp. If you want to keep that piece, you're going to have to change your technique.

 

[ROARII]

What type of horn are you playing?/Are you playing a vintage horn? If vintage then your horn could have a larger truncation volume than what was designed for by the new mouthpiece and it will never work.

 

[Ken Ken]

Does one of the pieces have a much longer shank than the other?....

Thank you, the Adario appears to be shorter but does not appear to be a big difference

other?....

 

[dirty]

Yeah, you gotta learn to loosen up. The smaller tip is probably easier for that. I used to tune with my Link pulled waaaaay out on the neck cork on my Yamaha tenor. After an embouchure rebuild and then many years of working to get it to stick, that same mouthpiece on the same horn is pushed in about 3/4 of an inch further and I'm much better in tune. Now most horns play pretty well in tune for me.

I really set myself back deciding that I should be playing a 7* back in high school. If I had gotten a 6 and built good habits with that, I probably would have been playing in tune a lot sooner!

 

[StylesBitchly]

Phil Woods played a New York Meyer 5M that he got in the 1950's. Phil had a great sound, and in mo way wimpy. A bigger tip opening does not equate to a bigger sound. I tried a 7M Meyer on my alto years ago, and I went back to my 5M. Look elsewhere for getting a bigger sound and playing in tune, and that does not mean a harder reed.

 

[Ken Ken]

What type of horn are you playing?/Are you playing a vintage horn? If vintage then your horn could have a larger truncation volume than what was designed for by the new mouthpiece and it will never work.

Hi I play a Yamaha 875, it’s modern

 

[Ken Ken]

Yeah, you gotta learn to loosen up. The smaller tip is probably easier for that. I used to tune with my Link pulled waaaaay out on the neck cork on my Yamaha tenor. After an embouchure rebuild and then many years of working to get it to stick, that same mouthpiece on the same horn is pushed in about 3/4 of an inch further and I'm much better in tune. Now most horns play pretty well in tune for me.

I really set myself back deciding that I should be playing a 7* back in high school. If I had gotten a 6 and built good habits with that, I probably would have been playing in tune a lot sooner!

Thanks, makes sense. Will try to make embochure adjustments or go back to former mouthpiece,

 

[Ken Ken]

Yeah, you gotta learn to loosen up. The smaller tip is probably easier for that. I used to tune with my Link pulled waaaaay out on the neck cork on my Yamaha tenor. After an embouchure rebuild and then many years of working to get it to stick, that same mouthpiece on the same horn is pushed in about 3/4 of an inch further and I'm much better in tune. Now most horns play pretty well in tune for me.

I really set myself back deciding that I should be playing a 7* back in high school. If I had gotten a 6 and built good habits with that, I probably would have been playing in tune a lot sooner!

Thank you, will try to make adjustments, it’s very common for players to get bigger open mouthpieces as they progress. Maybe I underestimated the adjustments when making the jump in tip opening

 

[Dr G]

Thank you, will try to make adjustments, it’s very common for players to get bigger open mouthpieces as they progress.

True enough - and then later they often go to smaller tips when they learn to play more efficiently.

Maybe I underestimated the adjustments when making the jump in tip opening

Maybe you should see about getting a checkup for your mouthpiece - or consider a similar style with a better facing, chamber, and baffle.

Not all mouthpieces of the same tip opening are the same - even within the same style.

 

[scrollshank]

I agree with what some of the others of the others are saying, you might be biting. There are other things that it could be and it's impossible to diagnose this over the internet though.

What reeds were you using with the 6M? If I had made the jump from the 6M to the 7M, I would have started with reeds that were a half strength softer and then gone from there.

 

[Aquarian]

I have a D'addario Select Jazz D6M for my Yamaha 62 alto.

First, the Daddario sits (for me) about in the center of the cork when tuned. The position of the mouthpiece on the cork is proportional to its interior volume, or in other words a big open mouthpiece has to be pushed further in and a small chamber high baffle mouthpiece sits further back (some are deceptive but the volume is what matters). The Select Jazz actually has a medium baffle and a medium small chamber, so it will sit further back. If your cork has gotten old and compressed you may need to replace it so you can fit the Daddario properly. If it's actually "barely on" that's a problem, but if it's "halfway on" that's exactly where they sit normally, at least in my experience. The earlier ones had a very small bore and I've heard they corrected that.

Second, as others have said, you may be biting. You just went up a fair bit in size, the Meyer 6 is .076 and the Daddario 7 is at .083. That is about a size and a half. I would suggest dropping your reed strength a half strength first. Generally speaking larger tips need softer reeds to be played comfortably. If you're worried a soft reed is "bad" because some people say so, remind yourself Cannonball Adderly played #2 reeds on a Meyer 5. I have a tendency to bite with harder reeds that I don't have playing softer ones, which is why I suggest this. If you are closing off the mouthpiece you are biting.

There may be other issues but those are the ones that seem most likely.

 

[adamk]

5 months ago I went from a 3.5 to 3 to 2.5 to 2 finally 1.5 reed. Concurrently I pushed the mpc in little by little and changed the pitch center.
Used to have 1/2 the cork covered now only 3/16 of an inch shows. I can play really softly over the full range.

 

[Ken Ken]

I agree with what some of the others of the others are saying, you might be biting. There are other things that it could be and it's impossible to diagnose this over the internet though.

What reeds were you using with the 6M? If I had made the jump from the 6M to the 7M, I would have started with reeds that were a half strength softer and then gone from there.

Yes thats pretty much right on, I can see the evidence of biting on the mouthpiece, I am not an everyday player either so I guess that does not help, thanks

 

[Ken Ken]

I have a D'addario Select Jazz D6M for my Yamaha 62 alto.

First, the Daddario sits (for me) about in the center of the cork when tuned. The position of the mouthpiece on the cork is proportional to its interior volume, or in other words a big open mouthpiece has to be pushed further in and a small chamber high baffle mouthpiece sits further back (some are deceptive but the volume is what matters). The Select Jazz actually has a medium baffle and a medium small chamber, so it will sit further back. If your cork has gotten old and compressed you may need to replace it so you can fit the Daddario properly. If it's actually "barely on" that's a problem, but if it's "halfway on" that's exactly where they sit normally, at least in my experience. The earlier ones had a very small bore and I've heard they corrected that.

Second, as others have said, you may be biting. You just went up a fair bit in size, the Meyer 6 is .076 and the Daddario 7 is at .083. That is about a size and a half. I would suggest dropping your reed strength a half strength first. Generally speaking larger tips need softer reeds to be played comfortably. If you're worried a soft reed is "bad" because some people say so, remind yourself Cannonball Adderly played #2 reeds on a Meyer 5. I have a tendency to bite with harder reeds that I don't have playing softer ones, which is why I suggest this. If you are closing off the mouthpiece you are biting.

There may be other issues but those are the ones that seem most likely.

Thank you, very interesting will experiment with softer reeds. I stayed with the same reeds Vadoren 2.5 and Hemke 3

 

[dirty]

it’s very common for players to get bigger open mouthpieces as they progress.

It's very common for kids to grow and need bigger shoes, but it's not like every single year is shoe_size += 1 for your whole life.

 

[saxoclese]

You could try opening the teeth more when you play. Another idea would be to practice playing everything 10 cents flat for a period of time to relax the embouchure. You might check the pitch on the mouthpiece alone playing as you normally play to find out the "input pitch" going into the saxophone. Actually playing on a lower "input pitch" (looser embouchure) will boost the harmonics in your tone and give you a "bigger sound" as the reed travels farther in its cycle.