Ligatures Anyone tried 3D printed custom mouthpieces?

[6441]

I wonder, can't plastic mpc be painted on the outside (not on any part that touches the reed)? I'm sure in small coat of paint won't kill the sound, but I sense that ten people will immediately say it will, even if no one's ever tried it 😛

 

[nigeld]

I wonder, can't plastic mpc be painted on the outside (not on any part that touches the reed)? I'm sure in small coat of paint won't kill the sound, but I sense that ten people will immediately say it will, even if no one's ever tried it 😛

Of course, the type of paint will affect the sound. Silver paint will be brighter, gold leaf richer, etc.

 

[6441]

What about black paint? Oh, wait...

 

[Targa]

Paint a Vandoren Jumbo Java A45 blue, does nothing for the sound but wonders for the price.

 

[saxyjt]

I wonder, can't plastic mpc be painted on the outside (not on any part that touches the reed)? I'm sure in small coat of paint won't kill the sound, but I sense that ten people will immediately say it will, even if no one's ever tried it 😛

I guess you have some interesting projects there as plastic should be tainted rather than painted. The trouble with paint is more about you eating it, in small quantities as you put the mouthpiece into your mouth!!!

If I wanted to do it, I'd use some nail varnish that's not toxic as they should be.

 

[6441]

Eating it what you've done when you paid $900 for a mouthpiece! <kidding!>

 

[aldevis]

Pillinger played with fillers and colours. I've seen the pinkest mouthpiece ever, in his workshop.
Also I seem to remember that the first PPTs were blue

 

[6441]

Several people have recommended this book, and I just opened it in the browser to this page:

 

[Al Ex]

Nice book, I’ve read this part a few days ago!

 

[saxyjt]

Nice book, I’ve read this part a few days ago!

Would you guys care to share what book that is?

Maybe I missed something earlier...

 

[6441]

Fart of the Saxophone

Damn you, autocorrect!

 

[Al Ex]

« The art of saxophone playing », by Larry Teal.

 

[6441]

That's the one, very reasonable as a Kindle book.

 

[brammelo]

We'll be starting the chat with Pauline in 30 minutes if anyone is interested. The phone numbers are listed above and the video will be here. I'll try to cover the common questions accumulated in this post.

Just listened to the recording - thank you very much for doing this, dear sir. And thanks to Pauline too, of course. Quite interesting. I saw there's a shop in Brussels that has a couple of SYOS MPs in stock, so I know what to do 😎

 

[6441]

I am eagerly awaiting one so I can go check out a new instrument at the store, along with my other pieces.

It arrived earlier but we have company! Will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon 🙁
I did put it on the sax and blew a few soft notes. It feels good, but I can't do the evaluation I want to do , including a waveform analysis against my other pieces. The opening is definitely right. It comes with a little pouch to protect it. Can't wait to to play. Ironic that it arrived just today! And I'm like a kid.

 

[Ivan]

I have moved between mouthpieces. If you own a few you can go back and revisit old friends to compare with your current favourite

Trying different styles from one maker can give you an idea of what you like. After a couple of mass produced makes I narrowed my search to Pillinger and Morgan Fry; there's something special in a handmade piece; real or imagined I don't know. If nothing else I find note stability, no squeaks or squawks, which I put down to a skilled finishing hand (that's what I tell myself anyway). Within just those two makes there are many options. A chat with the maker is a really good starting point because you can settle on a style and a lay that seems to match your requirements and then make considered alterations from that base

But the other variables need attention and experimentation too: choice of reed and the state of your embouchure

 

[6441]

Although Sysos was kind enough to send me a mouthpiece to evaluate, somewhat similar to the Selmer Prologue I used to practice, the fact that I just bought a brand new alto makes comparison of mouthpieces hard. I will say this right off, I love the way the ligature works. The Syos feels different in the mouth, due to the roughness of its surface finish, but not in a negative way, just different. So far my mouth hasn't turned pink .

Here's a look at chambers of four of the six I have tested. The Le Blanc came with my old alto, but I've never used it for any length of time. I also own a PPT that I haven't used enough to compare.

Eventually, I will be able to do a sound test on recordings, but for now that's all I have.

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

Did they mention whay model or "custom settings" the mouthpeice they sent you is?

 

[saxyjt]

It's a dolly nice Syos mouthpiece you have there.

Have you figured how to match your cloth to it yet?

Seriously, I'm very much interested by this Syos project but I can't figure where the to start the process. There are many artists on their site but only a few with sound samples and even then how can you tell if I'll sound like them on the same mouthpiece? Probably not.

In our last pass around, I've heard the Kanee Studio played by Karolis and it wasn't like me! Nowhere near it... So?!

What would be great is a simulator! A tool that guides you through the process of specifying your mouthpiece. Change this and hear it sort of thing.

I know it's unrealistic, but if we can't dream ones in a while...

 

[6441]

This is a personal story, but I think it may be of interest to some, especially newer players. There are answers to the two questions above this after my life story 😎

Yesterday I played around with 5 different mouthpieces, using the same reed, and Vandoren (blue) 2 1/2.
First, I used the Jazzlab Silencer on each to "warm up" my embouchure. By the way, this and the Saxholder are probably the two best accessory investments I've made. I also tried to record the waveform of an A on each with a spectrum analyzer. "Tried", because I didn't take a lot of time, and I couldn't get the parameters right to show actual differences with either the Silencer or playing them on the instrument. It's very hard to play one note at the same energy on all these different mouthpieces, having to pull each off, put on the next, fix the reed and get in tune. It may not be possible, but I'll try again soon, taking more care to find settings that work. Another thing the just now occurs to me is that maybe the choice of an A isn't the best way to show differences. Maybe something like a low D key and a high C + octave would be more significant?

The important result of spending an hour changing mouthpieces and blowing through them is that I discovered I could actually play notes on all 5. Two of these were problematic before, the PPT and the Vandoren V16 were both proportionally too difficult to play in previous attempts, but now I can see with work that can be mastered. As a beginning alto player (my one year anniversary is in 6 days), I've wanted to explore the possibilities of mouthpieces and reeds, but for my actual development, I have to stick with the one that allows me the most freedom, the one that plays and sounds the best for where my skill is right now. How ironic that the very first mouthpiece I ever purchased, the Selmer Prologue happens to be that one. I bought it when I rented the Jupiter, because I didn't care for the idea of using a rental mouthpiece.

(@Ne0Wolf7 @saxyjt answers about the Syos)

You answer some questions (there's an "other" field for other genres of music):

Then, there's a web gadget to specify the two parameters and colors. These were my guesses after choosing the beginner level of saxophone prowess. They also ask what your current favorite mouthpiece is.

Brightness
The brightness of the sound is the weight between high frequencies and low frequencies. Put the slider on max if you like sounds that are clear, sharp and metallic. On the contrary, if you like very dark, soft and velvety sounds, put the slider on minimum.

Power
The power of the mouthpiece is related to the response it gives when you blow air in it. Put the slider on max if you really like free-blowing mouthpieces, without any resistance. On the contrary, if you like to feel the mouthpiece resisting when you blow, put the slider on minimum.

This takes away from my current practicing, but it also gives me a wide experience I wouldn't get otherwise, so I accept the compromise.

In other news, my brother reminded me the other day that a guy he recorded with, Peter Ponzol makes mouthpieces. Maybe if I wrote him... nah, better not.