[AmandasDad]

So we looking for a 'Jazz' mouthpiece & got a few to see if they qualified.
Still have 2 more coming soon!
I wanted to record most of the decent ones Amanda has.

I will identify each soon, but for now just the sound track with generic mpc 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 names.

This was Amanda's first time playing the tune (after some practising) so it could probably be 'cleaned up' a bit, but this about the sound of the mpc.

Some info.....Yamaha 61, G1 neck, Fibracell Medium. If the mouthpiece came with a special ligature, we used that. Otherwise a Rico H ligature was used.

Here are the clips:
Mouthpiece1
Mouthpiece2
Mouthpiece3
Mouthpiece4
Mouthpiece5
Mouthpiece6
Mouthpiece7
Mouthpiece8

Thank you for your input & expertise.

 

[collegestationsax]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Out of the eight mouthpieces, I personally like the sound of #3 or 7 the best. Most any mouthpiece can be a "jazz" mouthpiece too. The lead alto player at my high school uses a s-80 c* for jazz with a vandoren v12 strength 3 reed. I personally prefer pretty much the exact opposite, favoring an open facing and a soft reed versus a closed facing and a hard reed. The jazz sound comes more from style. I think the most important thing in choosing a mouthpiece is whatever is comfortable and controllable for the player. Amanda sounded the most full and rich on numbers 3 and 7 and seemed to be more comfortable on those than the others, but this is obviously a very personal decision.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Let me apologize up front for NOT answering the question that you asked. I'll be blunt. There is no such thing as a jazz mouthpiece. Amanda should choose the mouthpiece that she likes the most and that she feels most comfortable with. She should decide which one sounds the most like her concept of the jazz sound she wants (assuming she wants a jazz sound), and the one that she feels she has the most control over.

 

[CooolJazzz]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Agreeing with both previous responses, sort of. At Amanda's stage of development I really don't think she needs to be worrying as much about getting a jazz sound as she is about finding the mouthpiece (as others said) that is the most comfortable for her to play and the easiest for her to control...period...the one that gives her the cleanest sound with the ability to apply proper articulation cleanly and easily. She needs to find that and stick with it. If it turns out that the most comfortable to play and the easiest to control gives her more of a classical sound than a jazz sound...that's still the one she should stick with for now. Out of the mouthpieces demonstrated here, if the one that gives her what she thinks is the best jazz sound isn't the one that's the most comfortable for her to play ALL kinds of music on, then it's not the one she needs. That's just my opinion (for what little it's worth) based more on what these clips say about where she is in her development on the instrument rather than about the kind of sound each mouthpiece is producing. For what it's worth...#7 is the one that sounds to me like she's struggling the least with. It just "sounds" like it's the easiest one for her to play. The sound can be deceiving though. Only SHE knows which one was really requiring the least effort.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

I also agree, there is no "jazz mouthpiece", just as there is no "jazz sound". Once she aware of which of the multitude of different "jazz sounds" she is after, then would be a good time to test out different mouthpieces.

 

[milandro]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Let me apologize up front for NOT answering the question that you asked. I'll be blunt. There is no such thing as a jazz mouthpiece. Amanda should choose the mouthpiece that she likes the most and that she feels most comfortable with. She should decide which one sounds the most like her concept of the jazz sound she wants (assuming she wants a jazz sound), and the one that she feels she has the most control over.

Hear , Hear!

I can only say that I liked the #4 best of all, on another note (pun!) a Jazz sound comes mostly from playing and wanting to play Jazz, not from your equipment. When I came to SOTW one of the nicest post that I’ve read was that a Jazz mouthpiece is the one you play Jazz with........

 

[AmandasDad]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Thanks for the responses.

I started writing a response to the comments but deleted it as this takes us in another direction, away from listening to the clips and into a discussion on "types" of mouthpieces.
Slippery slope where I wouldn't want this thread to take.

Maybe fodder for another thread?

 

[Dave Dolson]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Most mouthpiece discussions are subjective to the max. I agree with the thought that Amanda needs to settle on a set-up and "work" it.

So many players and listeners confuse tone with style. Assuming Amanda gets a nice, stable in-tune sound from her saxophone, then she may play music in a jazzy way (that too being subjective) or stick to the written notes. If she sounds good and is in tune, then the whole jazz-thing is moot. DAVE

 

[AmandasDad]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Thanks collegestationsax.
And thanks to all the other responses.

I need to apologize, I only wanted to hear what others thought of the different mouthpieces and if 1 or a few had the sound for playing Jazz.
Yes I know this is very subjective, and many are not 'voting', but rather voicing a reason why they can't (and maybe why others shouldn't either?).

I'm know they have valid points, but can we keep to the intent of this thread?
Maybe the title of the thread should be something like, "Which mouthpiece would you use in a Jazz Ensemble"?

 

[Sigmund451]

You dont need to apologize. There are a lot of players who think this way. The great thing about jazz is exploration. You can (and should) explore with your own voice.

That being said 7 sound like she is comfortable.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

"Which mouthpiece would you use in a Jazz Ensemble"?

That's easy, I would use the mouthpiece I choose to use after trying many. I couldn't possibly choose by listening to soundclips of somebody else playing mouthpieces.

A "jazz sound" is not really connected with the sound of a mouthpiece, and a good jazz sound can vary from being very warm to being very bright, thin and focussed or fat and spread.

 

[Tenortones]

#7-
PS there's a clicking noise in the R.H that needs to be adjusted
F,F#,E

 

[AmandasDad]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Pete PM sent.

Tenortones, thanks, very helpful.
I'll take the sax in to be checked out ASAP.

 

[hakukani]

Re: Sound Clips. Any of these considered a 'Jazz' sound?

Some of the pieces sounded brighter or darker than others, one sounded distinctly stuffy, one edgy.

Which one does Amanda like?

 

[gary]

I'd probably go with #4. It seems to have enough body to it while having a bit of an edge to the sound to cut through when needed.

@Amanda - a lot of what we might call the jazz sound has to do with one's phrasing, attitude and articulations. Keep working on them and keep listening to your favourite sax player with that in mind.

 

[AmandasDad]

Thanks Gary for your input.....including your original post.
Personally I couldn't agree with you more on that!

 

[alljoe]

so tell us what they were please when you get enough answers.

four seemed nice as others have said. i dont like real edgy sound though. i think i liked 5 the least.

i still think its about what you like.

 

[Dave Dolson]

Just to play this game, I listened to about half of each clip, but quickly lost track of which one had which quality. I went back to 4, as Gary picked this one, and I suppose I can agree with that.

But honestly, AmandasDad, you are asking us to spend a considerable amount of time reviewing each clip, and then report back - a process that would require note-taking if we wanted to respond in such a manner as to not make YOU mad.

True, we don't have to post, but there is nothing wrong with what was posted. I think you were out of line in your reply to Pete, and to all the others who didn't bother to play your game but did take the time to offer opinions (and valid they were).

You see, this site doesn't necessarily work the way YOU want it to work. There is no law that says we have to reply directly on point. Many times a thread will take an understandable and reasonable left or right turn, or bring up unintended issues, and the responses that follow are often interesting and enlightening. So what if some posters didn't do exactly as you directed? You still received some meaningful replies. Amanda could probably use any one of those mouthpieces to great advantage, and play music with them. Back off a bit and maybe apologize to pete for your rude post. DAVE

 

[bakkiemetkoekie]

Why not ask the theacher?

 

[hakukani]

Definitely 4 or 7. The first three sound stuffy to me 5, 6 and 8 too bright or edgy. I thought the best for big band lead would be 4.