[sycc]

I settled on the yanagisawa 5 mthpc w/ a 3 reed for now. I like the darker tone quality of the stock rampone that came w/ the Rampone nino but w/ a 3 reed it is a jaw breaker due to the more open tip. A 2 on the rampone is a little too soft.(I will try alexander 2.5 when they come in at wwbw.com) What mouthpiece/reed combos are you guys using out there on nino????Ligature choices as well. I just ordered a brancher lig from Sax Forte to try!!!

 

[Little Sax]

Yani metal 7
Vandoren 3
Brancher Lig (was using anything that fit)

 

[monzamess]

I read somewhere that the Rovner "extra small" soprano lig works on the sopranino mouthpiece, so I bought one. It almost works. It does tighten enough to secure the reed (on my plastic mouthpiece) BUT it's too tall so that it hangs off the end of the mouthpiece. If you move it up so that it's not hanging over, it chokes the reed too much, at least for the way I play.

For those of you with the Yani mouthpiece: did it come with a ligature? How does it compare to the Brancher or other ligatures?

 

[Grumps]

My VI came with a Selmer C* (on the table) mouthpiece, but I picked up a modern Selmer F mouthpiece about a year or so ago and prefer the more open piece. I had been using Eb and Bb clarinet reeds, but recently picked up a box of Vandoren sopranino reeds, so no more slumming it.

 

[amoram]

Selmer S80 E and Yani 5
Vandoren 2.5
I use elastics as ligature, it works very well

 

[Little Sax]

I read somewhere that the Rovner "extra small" soprano lig works on the sopranino mouthpiece, so I bought one. It almost works. It does tighten enough to secure the reed (on my plastic mouthpiece) BUT it's too tall so that it hangs off the end of the mouthpiece. If you move it up so that it's not hanging over, it chokes the reed too much, at least for the way I play.

For those of you with the Yani mouthpiece: did it come with a ligature? How does it compare to the Brancher or other ligatures?

Yes the Yani mpcs come with ligs, but neither the stock Yani ligs nor the Rovner lig I have really fit; they're too tight. With both types, I've had to loosen the ligs completely and then mash them down on the reed and mpc, yet they still hang slightly over the vamp.... The Brancher actually fits so I'm happy with it.

 

[sycc]

The brancher is a nice lig.

 

[monzamess]

For anyone who's tried both: Can you compare the Yani metal 5 to the 7?

I can't find the specs online.

I found a fairly comprehensive comparison chart but it only has Soprano through Baritone. For S-A-T-B, the Yani metal 7 isn't much bigger than the 5 (compared to the difference between other manufacturer's size intervals) so I guess the same would hold for the sopranino.

 

[Little Sax]

For anyone who's tried both: Can you compare the Yani metal 5 to the 7?

I can't find the specs online.

I found a fairly comprehensive comparison chart but it only has Soprano through Baritone. For S-A-T-B, the Yani metal 7 isn't much bigger than the 5 (compared to the difference between other manufacturer's size intervals) so I guess the same would hold for the sopranino.

I have both. I started with a metal 7 (because that's what came with my horn when I purchased it used). I couldn't play it. I purchased a 5 and wasn't particularly impressed so I used a HR Yani 5. That seemed to work. I picked up a few Selmers (vintage and modern) D and Es. These played pretty well (the vintage was better than the modern, but not by much) but the Yani gave me a better sound and more control...

Ironically, after spending quite a bit of time on baritone, I went back to my Csop and realized I'd been approaching that instrument incorrectly. I backed off on the tightness of my embouchure and spent a lot more time trying to control that horn's sound with my throat (with my throat being much more open than previously attempted). When I thought of the horn as a bari, intonation just started to click. So at that point, I pulled out the 'nino again and sounded "funny". I switched back to the Yani 7 and everything just clicked. I'm nearly swallowing the mouthpiece, forgetting about the reed completely, and using a much looser embouchure than I ever thought would work on such a small horn.

I don't have a tool to measure the difference between the two metal Yanis I have. All I know is that with the Vandoren 3s, the metal 7 is working quite well for me.

FWIW - The guy who sold me the horn was using Vandoren 4s with that mpc.

YMMV

Good Luck.

 

[EZ]

Yani HR 5. A Yani metal 9 if I want to "get my oboe on".

A piece I have tried and think very highly of (but don't yet own) is a modern Selmer F. A little mellower sounding than the Yanis - sounds "most like a saxophone" - which is to say it's timbre seemed to me more in line with a full (but higher pitched) soprano sound in the classical sense.

Vandoren 2.5 and 3 reeds.

 

[monzamess]

Little Sax, what mouthpiece did you play on the Pink Panther sound clip on the C soprano page?

EZ, if I I play my stock whatizit mouthpiece the way Little Sax described (take a lot of it in, ignore the reed), I sound just like an oboe... a very out-of-tune oboe. Oboe brings back painful memories trying to play it in school, so that's definitely NOT the sound I'm looking for.

 

[Little Sax]

Little Sax, what mouthpiece did you play on the Pink Panther sound clip on the C soprano page?

EZ, if I I play my stock whatizit mouthpiece the way Little Sax described (take a lot of it in, ignore the reed), I sound just like an oboe... a very out-of-tune oboe. Oboe brings back painful memories trying to play it in school, so that's definitely NOT the sound I'm looking for.

That was a Yani metal 7 with a Vandoren 3 reed. I don't remember if it was the stock Yani lig or a Rovner.

Now that I've gotten my Brancher, I'm really happy with my set-up: Yani Metal 7, Vandoren 3, and Brancher.

I use Rovner ligs in general since they are relatively cheap and consistent. I'd be happy to use one on 'nino if it actually fit my silly mpc. Since the Brancher fits, I'm happy with it. On every everything else (Csop through Bari) I use Rovner dark ligs and Legere reeds.

 

[Little Sax]

Little Sax, what mouthpiece did you play on the Pink Panther sound clip on the C soprano page?

EZ, if I I play my stock whatizit mouthpiece the way Little Sax described (take a lot of it in, ignore the reed), I sound just like an oboe... a very out-of-tune oboe. Oboe brings back painful memories trying to play it in school, so that's definitely NOT the sound I'm looking for.

What strength reed are you using? I don't have an extreme level of experience with the 'nino, but what I've found so far is that if a player is using a reed that is too soft, they usually sound like a dieing puppy dog...

 

[monzamess]

(erased dupe post)

 

[monzamess]

Little Sax, I'm going back on forth on the reed. Part of the problem is chasing down leaks on the sax (found on G# and the lower octave vent)--I mistakenly attributed some of those leak problems to the reed at first. I mainly have been using Vandoren sopranino reeds size 2. Since I have them handy, I've also tried Rico Soprano 3 and a couple of different Bb clarinet reeds. The soprano reed works pretty well and visually (FWIW) appears to fit my whatizit mouthpiece even better than the narrower sopranino reeds.

I'd been using 3-3.5 reeds on my alto and clarinet for years, but then I got mouthpieces with more open facings and went back down; weaker reeds were also suggested to help with my low note problems. I definitely like the weaker reed + more open mouthpiece combo better on all my instruments, just gotta work harder on intonation on the high notes.

So when I got the sopranino, I figured I would get the size 2 reeds as well, especially since (so I've heard) a Vandoren 2 is about the same as Rico 2.5 or maybe 3. Problem is I still have what is probably a fairly closed-tip mouthpiece. That's why I'm looking into the Yani 7.

 

[Little Sax]

[...]I definitely like the weaker reed + more open mouthpiece combo better on all my instruments, just gotta work harder on intonation on the high notes.

Others may disagree with me, but I've found that stiffer reeds can really help tame my high notes on the smaller saxophones. Before I got the mpc I'm currently playing on my Csop, I had been using a closed tip Metal Selmer with Vandoren 4s for this very reason.

In the case of my 'nino, I'm a little more in the middle. I had been trying Vandoren 4s with a HR Yani 5 with some success, but the Vandoren 3s with a Metal Yani 7 has really been doing the trick for me.

YMMV

 

[sycc]

Little sax I agree w/ the stiffer reed trhing. I use 3s on nino(yani 5) and 3 1/2s on soprano(super session E or C**).