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Now and again there are threads asking what sort of mouthpiece will help an alto to get a deeper huskier sound, more like a tenor sound. I've always gone for a deeper sound with lots of lows on alto but I have found what I consider to be a possible solution for some people. This might help tenor players that only play alto occasionally or are just looking for a darker concept on alto than is common in mainstream alto mouthpieces (Meyers et al).
A while back I got a Conn Steelay mouthpiece from a fellow forumer. The tip opening was around .052". I sent it to Erik Greiffenhagen and asked him to open it up to .080" and make it project but still retain the dark qualities of the mouthpiece. He also bored out the shank a bit to fit modern neck cork sizes better and duckbilled the beak a little to make it a more comfortable fit in the mouth. The mouthpiece has scooped sidewalls, a huge round chamber, and a small rollover baffle near the tip that is slightly trough-shaped a la saxscape mouthpieces. It is a very fine mouthpiece and I am still getting used to it but I feel a lot of potential in this design.
What I noticed is that the alto responds a lot like a tenor now, since on tenor I play on larger chambered otto link mouthpieces. This mouthpiece also takes a huge amount of air to play, a lot more than my meyer, and the sound is more mellow and has more potential to be dark and sultry. I couldn't see myself using this mouthpiece when I play lead alto or in funk/cover bands, but as maybe 2nd alto and in jazz soloist and jazz sax quartet settings, I think it's a real winner. Because of its emphasis on the dark side of the spectrum it is very useful on gigs where I have to play softer, like my regular sunday brunch gig. Playing the meyer on that gig required painfully soft dynamics, but with this mouthpiece I can sing a little bit and still be well within the realm of tasteful volume/projection. I feel like with plenty of time spent and long tone work, it might be useful in a lead alto setting or with louder bands, but for now I'll use my Mojo meyer for that.
So, for those of you looking for a more tenor-like sound on alto, this might be a good avenue to go down if you can find one of these old conn mouthpieces. The only thing I might've done differently was have it opened to a little less, maybe .075". I chose .080" since that is the same tip as my meyer, but it feels a little larger because of the large chamber and smaller baffle. Good luck!!
A while back I got a Conn Steelay mouthpiece from a fellow forumer. The tip opening was around .052". I sent it to Erik Greiffenhagen and asked him to open it up to .080" and make it project but still retain the dark qualities of the mouthpiece. He also bored out the shank a bit to fit modern neck cork sizes better and duckbilled the beak a little to make it a more comfortable fit in the mouth. The mouthpiece has scooped sidewalls, a huge round chamber, and a small rollover baffle near the tip that is slightly trough-shaped a la saxscape mouthpieces. It is a very fine mouthpiece and I am still getting used to it but I feel a lot of potential in this design.
What I noticed is that the alto responds a lot like a tenor now, since on tenor I play on larger chambered otto link mouthpieces. This mouthpiece also takes a huge amount of air to play, a lot more than my meyer, and the sound is more mellow and has more potential to be dark and sultry. I couldn't see myself using this mouthpiece when I play lead alto or in funk/cover bands, but as maybe 2nd alto and in jazz soloist and jazz sax quartet settings, I think it's a real winner. Because of its emphasis on the dark side of the spectrum it is very useful on gigs where I have to play softer, like my regular sunday brunch gig. Playing the meyer on that gig required painfully soft dynamics, but with this mouthpiece I can sing a little bit and still be well within the realm of tasteful volume/projection. I feel like with plenty of time spent and long tone work, it might be useful in a lead alto setting or with louder bands, but for now I'll use my Mojo meyer for that.
So, for those of you looking for a more tenor-like sound on alto, this might be a good avenue to go down if you can find one of these old conn mouthpieces. The only thing I might've done differently was have it opened to a little less, maybe .075". I chose .080" since that is the same tip as my meyer, but it feels a little larger because of the large chamber and smaller baffle. Good luck!!