[Dixielandjazz] More on Saxophones and mouthpieces

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

I was talking more for pro players and I haven't tried the Yanagizawa horns
or mouthpieces.  I understand the horns are very good.

Usually anything is OK for students except the Rico.  IMHO Rico's are pretty
dismal.  Students are not capable of demanding anything out of their
mouthpieces but when a player starts demanding things like volume,
intonation at all levels and excellent tone along with ease of playing is
where most mouthpieces especially the student variety fall short.  Students
need a well centered easy to blow mouthpiece that can take them into
intermediate playing.  Most student model mouthpieces are OK for this.  I
did pretty well through high school with stock mouthpieces but when I
started playing with rock bands they just fell flat and I had to upgrade.
The only kids that I would have play a Rico (black) is one who does not take
care of their instrument and knocks it around.  They are just about
indestructible and that is what they are designed for.  Too bad they didn't
design them for music.

Students who are moving from beginning to intermediate or better players
need a good teacher who has several mouthpieces that they can try and can
help them move up.  On alto I play a Meyer 3 which is a good intermediate
mouthpiece but it falls a little when you try to push it.  I really need to
change it but I don't do a lot of alto playing.

Some mouthpieces are OK for some things but if you have to play at extreme
volume levels (both soft and Loud) while holding tone and intonation they
start falling apart.  It just depends on what you want to do with a
mouthpiece.  They are like cars.  Some give good adequate transportation but
couldn't handle the autobahn at 175 mph.

The bands I play with go from mellow oldies to screamers.  I have to be able
to play above some pretty powerful amp systems and big bands so I need a
mouthpiece that can handle it and still be able to play in tune with good
projection and sound good too.

Mouthpieces are like tooth brushes - very individual and personal.  What
works for you may not work for me.

Hard rubber mouthpieces give a somewhat more mellow tone than metal or
plastic.  Again it depends what you are doing with the mouthpiece.  Metal
makes a poor choice for concert work but makes sense if you want an edgy
tone for jazz or rock.  Rubber mouthpieces have a nice traditional tone and
usually a little on the dark side.  My clarinet mouthpiece is a custom made
Wells hard rubber and it has a great sound.  It takes all the edge off of my
clarinet and rounds the tone.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edgerton, Paul A" <paul.edgerton at eds.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: "Russ Guarino" <russg at redshift.com>; "Larry Walton Entertainment"
<larrys.bands at charter.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:06 PM
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] More on Saxophones and mouthpieces


Larry Walton wrote:
> A rule of thumb if it has a horn manufacturers name on it don't
bother.

Opinions vary.  My wife is a middle school band director.  She
recommends her beginning saxophone students get a Yamaha rubber
mouthpiece.  They're cheap and consistently well made.

I have used stock hard rubber Yanagizawa mouthpieces on soprano, alto,
tenor and baritone for most of the last 15 years.  I haven't heard any
complaints about my tone quality.

-- Paul (What's that you say?) Edgerton