metal or rubber?

[Anonymous]

just read an article by some sax professor, the reason why metal mouthpieces sound different to rubber mouthpieces to a LISTENER is because on average rubber mouthpieces are externally larger than metal mouthpieces – this causes the player to open their oral cavity more – which makes the players sound sound less bright – the difference in material has minimal effect.

he did go on to say that a sax player will hear both mouthpieces differently – due to the sound being conducted through bones etc..

went on to say this is one of the reasons why band conductors insist on all metal or all rubber mouthpieces are used on the sax’s.

he conducted an experiment comparing the long tone sounds of 2 identical mouthpieces one rubber, one metal – microphones couldn’t tell the difference, listeners couldn’t tell the difference.

[john]

interesting stuff JB.
I didn’t get “why band conductors insist on all metal or all rubber mouthpieces are used on the sax’s”

[Anonymous]

well if the rubber mouth piece players sound too dark and the metal mouthpieces sound to bright, i guess it makes sense in an orchestra not to mix up the saxes when they play in unison!

classical stuff tends to be more dark sounding – annoying reason i had to change my setup for classical grades.

its only recently i can tell the difference in sound between my dark & bright mouthpieces.

another interesting thing he said, some conductors look at the sax section, and think this is the part of the band that is the most difficult section to get all the sax players sounding alike.

i guess if 10 violin players play the same note, and 1 violin player plays the wrong note – he can pick that up straight away.

i guess i’ll find another article that ssys the opposite – i’ll keep an open mind. lol

[john]

right, when I was at university I was told to play on a hard rubber to get that more darker classical tone. I didn’t like it but I was there and so had to play their game…which for me didn’t last long.

[Anonymous]

Here’s an image of my new Selmer Alto Classical silver mouthpiece. Note the large chamber.

They say :-

Selmer Paris mouthpieces have been the gold standard for several generations now. The reason is their consistency, their ease of playability, and most of all, their unsurpassed tone quality. What you will find in each mouthpiece series is the characteristic Selmer Paris sound-beautifully warm and sculpted with a sweet center. Articulation is easier, dynamic range is increased, and maximum expression is allowed on these incredibly stable mouthpieces.

After playing it for 2 hours I have to agree. It sounds wonderful!!!

[Author]

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