This is one way to think about just how important a well-balanced mouthpiece is for a soprano player. I started considering soprano saxophone and fuel injection while designing the OPEN SKY 2, but the idea applies to all soprano mouthpieces. … Read More
Getting Your Sound If you’re around players in person or online, you’ll come across folks who claim that all mouthpieces sound alike, all reeds sound alike, all setups sound alike. They’ll tell you that “there is no difference whatsoever between … Read More
Resistance and stuffiness on soprano sax is an important topic because so many players encounter it, using almost every mouthpiece and almost every horn. Almost always, too, they conclude that the tip opening is too small. So they get what … Read More
English jazz saxophonist John Surman has sent me short audio samples of him playing his Metropolitain and his Open Sky 2 mouthpieces. John uses # 4 reeds and plays a Yanagisawa 9930 soprano. It is very rewarding for me to … Read More
If you want a dark soprano sound, just ask. Now, you can chase all the esoteric ideas that a million players who have played 20 soprano mouthpieces in their lives and maybe 20 different horns (of course, not close to … Read More
We all use the term “response” in speaking about how an instrument plays and particularly about how a mouthpiece performs. So, what exactly do we mean by the term “response”? For me, the best way to approach such a subjective … Read More
This will be quick- not because it isn’t an important topic, but because the reason is simple and, for anyone who thinks about it for a minute, pretty obvious. Whether a vintage or modern mass market mouthpiece, it has been … Read More