Mouthpieces

I'm always on the look out for something that will make the art of playing the saxophone easier.  And dear readers I have found it.  A mouthpiece from JodyJazz, by Jody Espina, read on.......

I have been on the lookout recently for a new mouthpiece for myself.  I tried all sorts and the one I liked the most was a Lawton metal #7, as I made more enquiries as to the price I was a bit weary as I would be stuck with it if I didn't like it.  I have been in touch with Jody Espina, who is based in New York and I decided to try one of his mouthpieces.  The compliments from other musicians about his product I found very reassuring.  I bought a Ruby Red, as above, which comes with a 'Rovner' ligature and cap.  The service was first class, (I was offered a return service if not satisfied), so I was keen to try it out.  

Now the best bit - I needed a mouthpiece with which I could play loud and in a brash style but I needed the ability from the mouthpiece to also be able to play soft, smooth and gently without changing reed or to another mouthpiece.  Also I have been having problems reaching the harmonic register with my old setup, but an email to Jody reassured me that I will be able to reach as I wanted, any problems and I could return it.  Nothing to loose and everything to gain. 

I have been astounded with the versatility of one mouthpiece,  the first thing I noticed is that it produces a very loud and positive note.  This was important to me, also to be able to play with ease the high and low notes, and the harmonic register.  I can now do this effortlessly and with confidence.  The tone, roundness and overall performance of the JodyJazz mouthpiece is outstanding and I feel like a kid with a new toy.  The price is not expensive!  Congratulations Jody and thanks.  Here is a link to Jody- Jazz. www.jodyjazz.com  go and see for yourself. Chris Spelman.

*Tip ~ Expensive mouthpiece and a cheap saxophone to learn with*

General

If you are wanting to see if the saxophone is the instrument for you, then the above tip is a good one. We can spend thousands of pounds on a good saxophone so in my view it is important to make sure that you want to play one before investing a lot of money. A decent saxophone and a good quality mouthpiece will be more than adequate for most beginners / students.

It is you, the mouthpiece and reed combination which produces the airflow through your saxophone, it is you that operates the keys to open and shut the pads on and off the holes that change the notes. Sounds easy?  It is with controlled practice, like learning to walk before you can run.

As with most things, trial and error play a big part. This aspect of the saxophone is no different. Students and beginners first.

I've found that the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece is the most suitable for beginners and new players to start on. If you have an unsuitable mouthpiece you will find the instrument difficult, if not impossible to play. [As I did when I first took up the Sax]. If you struggle to play a note you can get disillusioned very quickly indeed. For a complete beginner the 4C mouthpiece makes producing your first notes a simple task, with help from a tutor of course.

Numbers and letters.

Mouthpieces are identified by numbers and letters. For example; on my Tenor I use a Selmer Classic F and on my Alto, a Selmer Classic D. The F and the D relate to the tip openings. The higher the number or letter the larger the opening and they are more difficult to play if you are beginning. Eg:4 5 6 7 8 9 etc. and C D E F G H etc. You may also see 90, 100, 110, 120 etc. this also works in the same way, the bigger number, the bigger opening.

Mouthpieces can be made of either metal or ebonite [hard rubber]. Which you choose is up to you. It is all about what type of sound you are wanting from your saxophone.

Makes. Selmer, Yanagisawa, Yamaha, Berg Larsen, Runyon, Lawton, Vandoren, Otto Link, Rico. All these companies and many more manufacture their own brand of mouthpiece. You know that you are getting the best with the first three of these makes.  Try some, what suits me may well not suit you.

I recently tried and bought a German Made Zinner "Ajustotone" mouthpiece for a Baritone.  It has a sliding baffle inside which adjusts the tone of the instrument while you are playing without having to change mouthpieces. Great invention, but the best I have found on the market is from Jody Espina at www.jodyazz.com see write up at top of this page.

Price. Well you may be surprised to know that you can pay easily up to £150.00 for a good metal mouthpiece. Buying second hand is a cheaper option. A Yamaha 4C should cost around £20/30.00. Always test before you part with your cash and make sure that you buy a mouthpiece that is for your make of saxophone. I do have a friend who was sold a baritone mouthpiece to go with his tenor sax, the thing didn't play too well and he had parted with over £100.00. Ask, as advice is free.

What Happens To The Reed? (From Rhythm, June 1939.)

There's more to it than just squeezing and blowing  by Henry Nicholls, B.Sc.

If we agree, as I think we must, that tone-production is the basis of sax-playing, or indeed the playing of any musical instrument, it is amazing that saxophone players should have devoted so little time to the accurate study of reed movement and its control.

The reed is the source of all vibration, and therefore of all tone, in any reed instrument, and the accurate control of the reed's vibration must, therefore, be of the utmost importance.

I will endeavor in as short an article as possible to show that a real and conscious control of the reeds vibrations through embouchure and breath control will enable the sax player to get a full and correctly balanced tone and perfect intonation, always presuming that he is using a rational mouthpiece and that the intonation of the instrument is not faulty.

First we must consider how the reed moves and how various reed movements produce different notes and tones. To get a correctly balanced tone the first essential is that the reed shall vibrate in perfect sympathy with the natural resonance of the air-column of the instrument. This will only happen if the instrument is perfectly in tune so that the note has not to be humored in any way by a false or exaggerated embouchure, and the reed and mouthpiece match so as to allow of a correct vibration of the reed in itself.

Every note on the sax has its own individual reed movement. The amplitude of vibration is different for every note , decreasing gradually as the higher register is approached.  Thus for bottom B flat the amplitude of vibration is at its maximum, and for top F if is at its minimum (neglecting for the moment notes above the normal range, these being a study on their own).

Diagram A shows clearly how the actual amplitude of movement decreases as the notes go higher. The lower position represents the reed before the embouchure is applied.

As soon as the embouchure is applied it is slightly closed up to the mouthpiece face so that the lower part of the lay becomes inoperative. At the same time the shape of the bottom of the lay curve is important, as the bending of the reed over this part of the lay produces a tensioning of the fibre in the heart of the reed which has a very definite effect on the resonance of the tone obtained.

As various notes are played the reed as a whole vibrates at the frequency of the fundamental of the note. Thus, for the middle F sharp on alto the reed will make 439 complete vibrations- that is 439 movements towards the mouthpiece and back again, each second. But  this movement called the primary reed-movement , affects only the fundamental frequency, and consequently the pitch, but not the quality of the note.

The quality of the note depends entirely on the production of harmonic vibrations or upper partials, these being in turn the result of secondary reed-movement. Secondary reed-movement is the movement of parts of the reed independently in itself. Thus - the reed does not vibrate to and from the mouthpiece-lay in one simple movement. The flexible reed-tip is capable of, and actually does, vibrate independently of the reed-heart. In other words, the reed-tip can act as a separate short reed attached to the reed as a whole.

Again , the wings of the reed - that is, the even more flexible corners at the tip. In actual fact, vibrate rather like the wings of a butterfly. The diagram below will show what I mean by this.

So you see there is a lot more to this business of reed movement than one would at first be led to believe. And study the primary and secondary reed  movements we have only touched on the fringe of a very complex subject, but it will suffice, I think, to show clearly what I am getting at. That is, that the control of the reed's movements is an absolute essential to the complete sax player.

Let us now link up this business with the actual tone produced. In a balanced saxophone tone there are four octaves of upper partials present. Now, for the first time, we can link the production of these upper-partials with the movement of the reed, and the control of that movement by the player.  The fundamental frequency, or vibration. as we have seen, is produced by the vibration of the reed as a whole, i.e., by the primary reed-movement.

The first two octaves of over-tones, which are directly responsible for the resonance or timbre of the tone, are the result of the secondary movement of the middle tip and heart of the reed immediately near the tip.  The extreme upper-partials are produced by wing movement. This is where the so-called "edge" in the tone comes from.  How, then, is the player  to know when he is playing with a correct reed vibration?  This is a complex and difficult question. Unfortunately the only way is to go to an expert and have your tone criticised. If your tone is wrong, then you are not playing in such a manner as to produce the necessary vibration of the reed. The rest is up to you.

Only by practicing for the correct formation of an embouchure and perfect breathing control can you ever attain a good reed-movement and consequently a good tone.  Let us now consider how the embouchure and breathing affect the reed.

In the first place part of the reed is vibrating while actually in contact with the lower lip. This part of the reed, known as the heart, is, therefore, moving under a condition of damped vibration. And as the movement of the heart is responsible for the timbre of the tone it is obviously essential that the embouchure in contact with the reed at that point should be sufficiently flexible to allow a good movement. This is particularly important when one considers that the timbre or resonance of the tone is what gives it its carrying power. A thin edgy tone with no resonance will be lost long before it reaches the ears of the dancers at the other end of a large dance-hall.

The embouchure must, therefore, be flexible. That does not, however, mean that it must be loose. Far from it. It must combine flexibility with firmness. Sufficient firmness, that is, to give a good degree of control. Without this measure of control intonation will undoubtedly suffer.

So far so good. But what about  that part of the reed that is free of the lower lip and is vibrating freely in the mouth of the player? this is controlled entirely by the air column  and the player's playing pressure.  The actual pressure of in the players mouth is literally holding the reed-tip up towards the mouthpiece the whole time, and it is the velocity of the air-stream past the reed-tip that is responsible for the tip's vibrations.  Indeed it is the movement of the tip in the first place that is transmitted to the rest of the reed. This only takes the smallest fraction of a second, of course, at the beginning of a note. Only when a reed is attacked by means of the tongue can the reed start to vibrate as a whole right away.

The important thing is that for any particular note  there is only one position in which a reed can vibrate to produce a  correct tone. And that position is determined in part by the embouchure and in part by the breathing.

So our first conclusion is this. For the production of a good tone the reed must vibrate in perfect sympathy with the resonance of the air column on the instrument, and it will only do this if the movement is correctly maintained by a perfect co-ordination between the embouchure and the breathing.

As I said before, the embouchure must be flexible yet firm. This can only be attained by building an embouchure in which the lip muscle that is touching the reed is very elastic while the muscles supporting the embouchure are tensed and firm.

Rocket science? No just an in-depth account of what happens when we blow into our saxes.  Don't be shy, blow hard  and hear what is going on.