Selmer Super Session with an opening that suits your embouchure development. I've tried a lot of mouthpieces and keep coming back to the Super Session E as the best all around alto piece for me.

 

what didn't you like about the vandoren and meyer? which vandoren did you try, java or jumbo?

i'm also using a supersession. but i feel it's alittle restrictive. has a nice dark and lush sound. dont think that it's going to cut through like you want. i'm also looking for something. meyer 6, jumbo java a55, and rousseau jdx6 are my options right now

 

I tried the Vandoren Java. It sounded a little harsh for my tastes. The Meyer was just plain unresponsive. I think it was a dud because everyone in my section has a Meyer and they sound great.

 

Its been many years since I played lead alto but I used a meyer 6 in college (with a Selmer 6) and then switched to a Lakey 7 when I was playing with a top 40 band in St Louis. (Bob Kubans Brass if anybody's heard of him.) That was a bigger brighter tone but the intonation wasn't as easy as the meyer. I play 99% tenor these days but I do have a Jody Jazz 9 that I used with my Buescher alto when I mess around with that horn. It is almost as loud as the Dukoff 9 I have also but easier to play and keep in tune. K

 

Beechlers are great. I own both the bellite and the diamond inlay. The DI has a full, bright sound that is easily shaped by the player. Try some Vandoren Java or LaVoz or even Plasticover reeds on it and you definitely won't be disappointed.

I also carry the heavy burden of leading a huge sax section at school. We have about 10-11 in our "rehearsal" band, which only plays during after school rehearsals. However, our "festival band" is smaller, with only 6 saxes.

Try out the DI. Me and the bellite don't get along the way I had hoped we would. I can't play it without squeaking. However, the DI is an excellent piece with power, great sound, excellent projection, and very good response.

 

Diamond Inlay is a very good piece and is not expensive... I agree that the Belite is just too hard to control, it squeaks all over places and I had to let them go... I'm using a Lamberson handmade piece right now and it cut through everything! My band is a pop/rock band with 2 electric guitars and drums all over, and I they said that they hear my lead alto really well...

 

These are good recommendations. Also consider a Runyon Custom or a the similar Jody Jazz. You may also want to consider trying a PowerTone stick-on baffle in your Link. It will give a boost to your familiar mouthpiece.

 

I've been taught from the Phil Woods/Cannonball school of mouthpiece talk. They both played on a Meyer mouthpiece with no baffle. How did they get such a big sound? Longtones! I think it's the only way to go if you're real serious about wanting to customize your sound.

 

It's all about control. Lots of air and a strong embouchure. Controlling sound with your lips, tongue and lungs. If you want a big alto sound I would suggest at least a 7 Meyer. It might take a little while to get used to the tip opening if you've been playing smaller tip openings, but that's what practice is for, right? I'd go with at least an F if you're thinking of a Selmer.
Also, you have to make sure you've got enough mouthpiece in your mouth. A good frame of reference is to look at the mouthpiece from the side and have your top teeth about an 1/8th of an inch back from there. The way I learned to train the right amount of mouthpiece is to cut a mouthpiece cushion in half and put it on top of your other mouthpiece cushion (or your mouthpiece if you don't normally use one.) Have the end of the cushion be where your teeth should be as a reference point. If you start practicing with a new embouchure (ie. more mouthpiece) then you'll likely slide back to the old ways over the course of your practice routine. Having the marker there will help you stay in the right place.

 

For a BIG alto sound, see if you can get a vintage 105/0 rubber Berg.

 

Lakey

Personally, I think you should go with the Claude Lakey. You should try out different facings, but they all really cut through the rest of the band, at least from my experience. You may want to try a 5*3.

 

Jumbo Java A45

Does anyone have a recommendation for a ligature for this mouthpiece? Any advice you could provide would be appreciated.

Thank you.

GG

 

You think YOU've got a big jazz band. We have 16 saxes. (No auditions)

 

Are you guys recommending the small or medium chamber Beechler DI's? My best results have been with the medium. The two smalls I've have were sorta different. One had a VERY small chamber with intonation that wasn't so easy, as Keith diplomatically put it regarding his Lakey, though it had a lot of 'cut.' The chamber of the other one was not quite so small and it tuned better.

 

The best mouthpiece? The one you use when you get off the damn computer and do your fricken' LONGTONES with!!!!!!!!

Sorry to be harsh, but someone has to be...

 

Lakey

In 1985 I got my Claude Lakey 7*3. It woorks very vel when I play lead alto in "loud" big bands. . and after a lot of longtones it could sound almost as a Meyer with soft reed, - but you have the possibility to add more volume and more edge.

 

i wish you " you just need more air support or do more long tones" guys would just give it a rest! this is the real world and modern big band playing requires modern equiptment! runyon jazz custom i recommend

 

Agreed that long tones, etc, are not the end of the story My teacher recently suggested that I was ready to move on to better equipment and accompanied me to the store to give opinions. Previous Meyer metal 6 is now super session E (with hand facing) for small group work,because the tone is so sweet and easy to control, while a Yanigasawa 7 metal looks after big band stuff.
The number of pieces to compare was limited, but I'm real happy with these two.
Now if only I could find a Winslow lig for the SS, for less than a squillion dollars......
nicko

 

Big sound?

Long tones alone won't do it. You have to learn how to blow the air into the horn.

A good player will sound huge on a C*.

 

I agree with the long tones idea, but I think that this sort of thing requires A LOT of time on just one note. I've been varying my long tones practice this way, just playing one note, adjusting it to see how different I can make it sound, what I need to do to make it resonate. The only draw back is it takes a seriously long time and a ton of patience. Not quite the quick fix of a new mouthpiece, so I guess it depends on quickly you need that sound (like for a performance or a rehearsal). I once attended a masterclass given my Kenny Garrett. Someone asked him what he practices. He said, "I take one note that is great and try to match it to another note." Sounded so simple.

 

A MOUTHPIECE IS NOT A "QUICK FIX!" it is the lazy man's way out. Playing any istrument requires time and patience. It doesn't come easy though. Of course it requires a long time on just one note. That is why they are called "Long Tones." Kenny Garret was right, it's really simple actually, it just takes a hell of a lot of time.

And super20dan, the "more breath support and longtones" may not be what you want to hear, but it is the truth, anyone that has pulled themselves out of the toolbox and into the woodshed could tell you. The "real world" you speak of and the world that we live in must be two separate things. In the actually world, you have to work hard and make sacrifices. Things don't come with a *snap* of the fingers, or a mouthpiece change. You don't need "modern" equipment to make modern sounds.

Whew...I fell better now...

 

I think the term "big" can be confusing. To me it means a large dark sound (where a recorded Alto can even sound like a Tenor). I think most lead players need a controlled sound that has some depth but still can cut through. Being a bit older (59) I have played when the lead players used Soloist C* and Meyer 5M and had a very vibrant sound that could blow the roof off. Today I see most of the players using more of a Dukoff/Ponzol/Sugal type of piece with more baffle. This DOES cut through but I think there still needs to be more depth in the sound. For years I have used a Selmer S-80 D for most playing with a Meyer 6M for lead big band work. I recently got a Super Session and it fills the gap and now I use it all of the time. An overlooked lead mpc is the Brilhart HR (not Ebolin) or if you have some bucks a Tonalite (clear) as they have a nice ring.

 

I agree with those SOTWers WHO ACTUALLY ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION (as opposed to lecturing/preaching at you on the need to practice long tones like Kenny Garrett :| ) by suggesting a Claude Lakey--I have a 6+3 for my tenor and that baby will cut through walls, let alone big horn sections. The sound quality is, however, pretty iffy, especially in the upper register, and certainly in comparison with a nice playing Link. If you're like me (and not Egilf ), you won't enjoy practicing long tones (or anything else) on it because the sound is so "big" (more like "obnoxous IMHO ! )

This might sound a bit crazy, but to get an instantly "bigger" sound, you could try the "old trick" of using a tenor reed on your Link--this is what I do with my SA80 Alto + HR link set-up when I'm battling stage volume (my Rovner lig accomodates the tenor reed no problems).

Rory

ps. there are some existing threads on the "tenor reed on alto MP thing" in which a number of real players weigh in on this one.

ps.

 

(as opposed to lecturing/preaching at you on the need to practice long tones like Kenny Garrett :| )

The Kenny Garrett example wasn't intended as preaching, nor did he come across that way when I heard him. He really didn't spend much time talking about it. Someone just asked him what he practiced, he hesitated a moment to think, answered matter-of-factly, everyone went "Oh that's neat", then on to the next question (something like "What do you play on an Eb7 b9 chord"). No more, no less. It just struck me personally, and got me thinking about my own tone development.

 

Try those long tones on an RPC for alto. Rollover or high baffle, it don't matter, just get the tip opening you prefer (90 for rollover, 80 for high baffle). Huge sound, but not shrill in the least.