 The Fingering Forum
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Author: 62282
Date: 2002-11-12 18:17
Is the reed and mouthpiece the most important factor in tone and sound quality? I read that John Coltrane got such a powerful and thunderous tone out of his sax thru obviously years of practice but also reed and mouthpiece combonation. Does anyone have info on what type of reeds and mouthpieces produce what character of sound? Thanks
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Author: Benny B
Date: 2002-11-12 23:18
They are very important, but the ligature is also since it puts pressure on the reed. The vandoren company has an excellent explination on tone quality on mouthpieces.(WEBSITE?) Then again experience plays a role in tone quality. You can't pick up, for ex: a M13 Vandoren mouthpiece with German black reed and get a rich smooth dark tone if you don't have experience playing. But the reed and mouthpiece are the most important factor in sound based on tip and facings of the mouthpiece and strength of the reed to produce more gorgeous sound over bridges and high notes.
You should check out to see what kind of equipment famous music woodwind players use. Most I know use Vandoren V12 reeds.
Hope this helps!
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Author: Saxplaya
Date: 2002-11-12 23:42
Well there are many different kinds of mouth pieces depending on the sound you want. If you ask proffesional saxophone players about 80% would probably say a c*(SEE-star) yes thats how it goes but these mmouth pieces dont come cheap. I know cause I got mine for $120 which is pretty good compared to the price my fellow sax players got theirs at ($150). If Your talking About clarinet mouth pieces every clatinet player will tell you A vandorem B45.
What make the different sounds on sax is the way the interior of the mouth piece is shape. Exaple a c* has a perfect square which make it one of the best because it blends tremendously well with the rest of the band. Another acceptable mouth piece is a Carravan it is a little cheaper but the inner shape is a sort of trapezoid. Another example of what shape has to do with it a jazz mouth piece would have an upside down trapezoid shape to give it that jazzy tone.
When it comes to Reed (well at least single reed insturments like sax and clarinet) Vandorem is the best and depending on your level of skill depends on the size of the reed. On a c* a three and Three & a half are fine enough not any higher or lower unless there is a problem with your mouth because i got a friend that can only play on a four. The clarinet mouth piece B45 a three and a half would work the best but if your not at a good level of skill a three will do.
Hope this is enough info. and a reminder to others this is just an opinion of what i heard.
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Author: Theboy_2
Date: 2002-11-13 22:28
you have to remember, mouthpiece and reed are important parts, but the instrument makes the different pitches, NOT the mouthpiece. m/p's are important, if your talking about clarinet, Vandoren b45 is the best you can get in my opinion. as for sax, i wouldn't know, i only play on soprano. but the instrument is the most important part in making the tones pure, if you have a crappy instument, only a pro can make that sound good. better quality instrument, the beter the sound.
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Author: joe
Date: 2002-11-14 14:49
just a quick though to saxplaya...i have a c* and i only payed 90 bucks for it. the store woodwind and brasswind is where i got it... the site is www.wwbw.com
sorry that you and your friends got a such a raw deal.
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Author: Benny B
Date: 2002-11-14 21:41
OMG!!! That site is so like Music123.com
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Author: 62282
Date: 2002-11-15 16:56
Thanks for the input. I'm just starting out and I was told to use a 2 1/2 reed. After a couple days of playing a couple hours a day I can see the tip is thinning and getting a little splintery and the high notes make it buzz. Could I use a 3 or 4 already? On another note, I am looking for some inspiration on this brand new to me instrument and obviously looked to Benny Goodman. I like it but I was looking more for a quartet type jazz solo group with a clarinet, not big band swing. Anyone have any names? Thanks, great forum.
Mike
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