Kanee Alto Mouthpieces review - done with a Martin Indiana alto and a soft Bari Star plastic reed
I first encountered Kanee mouthpieces about 5 or 6 years ago, there was one going cheap on Ebay so I googled and found that someone in Wales was selling them (it may have been South Wales Woodwind). There was a range of different models, but the one I got off Ebay was the Z6 which seems to have been influenced by Theo Wanne's Kali or Durga. It's a pretty decent mouthpiece and I played it for a while but the Lawton 8*BB was better for general demolition work and room clearance, so the Kanee went in the box next to all the other failed contenders for the heavyweight championship.
Kanee mouthpieces faded from view and last time I saw any for sale they were remaindered stock being sold by Dr Sax and Junkdude in America a while ago.
:Last year I spotted some new Kanee mouthpieces on Ebay and became curious about them, so when this passaround started up I was interested to see what fresh delights Kanee had come up with...
first impressions...
All of them are nicely made and the engraving is nicely done, so they look very professional. I can't tell if the facings are hand finished or not, but from the player's perspective have no imperfections that hamper playability.
The beak profiles are all quite slim, which you may or may not like. Personally I'm happy with that - some mouthpieces are a bit of a gob full and aren't too comfortable over a long period, but these are very user friendly.
A normal 2 screw metal ligature fits them ok - there's a little bit of variation in the outside diameter with the NY medium chamber being slightly smaller and the Studio slightly bigger but well within the adjustment range of the lig - this may seem like a small detail, but it's amazing the amount of mouthpieces that have been made that don't fit a standard lig and the makers can't be bothered telling you what size Rovner will fit..
Likewise, these Kanees all fit my neck cork reasonably well... ok, I've not actually got a neck cork anymore, it's actually all PTFE plumber's tape, but it works for me. Again, some mouthpieces are made with little regard to standardisation and are very loose or too tight...
so, what are they actually like to play?
The NY Large Chamber
Similar to an Otto Link Tone Edge - fat and dark and conducive to sultry ballads and the loosening of morals and undergarments - that's how I think of my Tone Edge. Smooth dark chocolate comes to mind...
The Kanee is close to that, but a bit more controlled and with less harmonic richness, but it's still dark and fattening and it won't take long before you start plotting the seduction of your loved one and digging out all the old slushy ballads you can think of.
Comparing it to my Tone Edge, I'd say that the Tone Edge is a bit broader sounding, more spread and more complex, whereas the Kanee is a bit smoother and more buttery, but there's not a lot in it and on a brighter horn than a Martin the Kanee might have a bit more oomph and reveal more complexity..
The altissimo is slightly easier than the Link, although neither of them are brilliant in that dept - these kind of mouthpieces require a bit of work to get the most out of them so I reckon with plenty of practice I'd get there. But really, who'd want to do anything so vulgar as altissimo on this kind of mouthpiece?
If you like a nice leather armchair, a generous whisky and soda and smoke a pipe, then this is the mouthpiece for you.. riff raff need not apply.
after I wrote this I looked on the Kanee website and this mouthpiece is modeled on a Meyer NY Large Chamber and not a Link Tone Edge, but without a sizeable bank loan I'll never be able to find out what one of those actually sounds like..
tip opening is a 6 - .076"
The NY Medium Chamber
I've never played a Meyer, but I have got a Jody Jazz HR, so that's my benchmark for this kind of piece.
Awwl-riii-ght, the NYMC plays very nicely, zips across the registers, altissimo all there with little effort, nice beboppy tone that gets a bit edgy if you push it hard. I could play a gig on this no problem and if all I wanted to do was play like Jackie Maclean then this'd do the job with no complaint.
I dug out the Jody HR to compare the two..
Hmm, well in a blindfold test I'd be hard pushed to tell them apart, the JJHR is perhaps a touch warmer, but the Kanee maybe has a bit more focus and projection - maybe a touch more rollover to the baffle. Of the two I'd pick the Jody Jazz, but the Kanee is the one I want to go back to and explore - it's responsive and tonally flexible. You can shape it's sound with your embouchure and throat in a way that some mouthpieces won't do.
You'll not need to wear a tie to play this thing, but a fondness for rizlas and dark glasses might help..
incidentally my JJHR is a 6M .078 and the Kanee NYM is an 8 .084 but to me there wasn't any noticeable difference. The Kanee was very easy to play.
The Studio
I was saving this til last, since I like plenty of baffle to chew on...
I've never understood why bright high baffle mouthpieces are often called 'studio' mouthpieces, surely you'd want something nicer sounding in a studio and use this kind of equipment in a live situation when you need to cut through, but there again I don't know why they're called 'high' baffles when they're actually lower down and nearer to the reed when in use.. we could start a separate thread on things we don't understand about saxpophone terminology..
OK, this I didn't expect, after 15 minutes of fun torturing the neighbours with burning zoo noises I took a break and forgot which mouthpice was on the horn and then came back and blew it softly thinking it was the NY Medium and thought how sweet it sounded and how nice the subtone was and then discovered that it was the Studio. This thing will do paint peeling and other abrasive DIY tasks, but if you back off it'll sound rather pretty and you can play quiet delicate stuff on it in the altissimo register if that's your thing.
I compared it to my old Kanee Z6 and that was more strident and one dimensional despite it's large chamber, longer window and more rounded baffle. The Kanee Studio also has a large chamber but for some reason the flat baffle and bullet into the throat don't make it as aggressive as you'd expect, it's a more refined kind of aggression, like an old fashioned Bond villain.
A Jumbo Java sounded crude and thin in comparison and a Berg Larsen has more mid range growl. I like Bergs but the facings make them hard work in comparison to this.
My Lawton BB has more clout than the Studio, but perhaps a bigger tip opening would even up the score, this is only an 8 - .084", so I'd need one that goes up to 11..
I preferred the playability and versatility of the Kanee Studio to a Rico Metalite, Lebayle Studio, Brancher B27, Vandoren Jumbo Java, Dukoff M7 and some of the Berg Larsens I've owned. I expected it to be relentlessly bright and edgy, only suitable for cutting glass and shredding eardrums, but it's capable of more subtlety than that - it does quiet as well as loud and is sweetly viscious, like a leather clad angel in hob nailed boots.
The facing is good enough to do octave bends across the altissimo register and doesn't squeak as much as some high powered mouthpieces can. Multiphonics aren't as abundant as a Lawton, but they can be found if you look into the dark recesses of your soul... or fingering charts.
Recommended for bolsheviks, anarchists, troublemakers, depraved social misfits and fans of John Zorn..
in general I'm impressed by these 3 mouthpieces, for the price of £79.50 they're well worth considering - an Otto Link, Meyer or a Jody Jazz HR would cost you significantly more and the differences aren't that great. Admittedly I have my own peculiar tastes in the kind of response I want out of my equipment, so I'm not the typical end user for this kind of gear. But I've played quite a few mouthpieces and know how to push them to their limits and these seem like good examples of the mouthpiece maker's craft.
One good thing about this passaround is that people get to try mouthpiece types that they may not be familiar with, so not only does the maker get some feedback about their work but we get to broaden our experience of the tonal possibilities of our instruments.
It often takes a few weeks to really get into what any mouthpiece can do, so a few days isn't enough time to get a proper view of what's on offer, but there's enough potential here that may tempt a few of us to prise our wallets open.
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