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Quiet Mouthpiece

You haven't specified which sax, which does make a difference. The quietest mouthpiece I've found for tenor is the Zagar cool school. It's an older model of his, but they come up occasionally on Ebay for anywhere between $100 and $250. If soprano, Joe at Soprano Planet can make/modify a mouthpiece to your specification. Not sure about alto or Baritone.
 
I’m considering using one sax as a practice instrument and getting it repadded without reflectors, using the quietest mouthpiece I can find, so that I can practice at antisocial hours.
 
sizzzzler said:
I’m considering using one sax as a practice instrument and getting it repadded without reflectors, using the quietest mouthpiece I can find, so that I can practice at antisocial hours.
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That's a difficult thing to do, although practicing playing softly can be a really good exercise. To play with control is always desirable. Using as soft a reed as possible will help, but you won't want to play that way all the time. Soft long tones without wavering and on very low notes is a very good exercise. The reflectors won't make that much difference. There's another trick, but it's messy and temporary. You can put loose gauze in the neck that doesn't block the airflow, but dampens the sound enormously. It requires changing frequently as it gets soaked from your breath condensing on it. Have several "wads" of it ready to change every 10 minutes or so. It can be dried out and used many times, but is definitely messy. There are other tricks people use and lots of threads you can look up to check on them.
 
If you simply blow air through the horn without trying to vibrate the reed, it'll make a sound, which will change as you finger different notes. If you can work up from that to make the tiniest of sounds from the reed, it's an excellent exercise in itself. Controlling a whisper sound is difficult, but I've found it to be possible and I work on the basis that if I can do it...

Perhaps certain setups might heavily restrict this exercise.
 
sizzzzler said:
I’m considering using one sax as a practice instrument and getting it repadded without reflectors, using the quietest mouthpiece I can find, so that I can practice at antisocial hours.
Click to expand...

A cheap plastic Yamaha 'piece, one of their £30 things, may be what you're after. Naturally quite quiet anyway, that can be played quieter than the sound of your breath going through the instrument but without any intrusive sound of air or moisture.

Any 'piece can be played at whisper levels, however I think you'll find the ease of the Yamaha and the lack of extraneous noise may tip the balance towards this incredibly inexpensive option.
 
sizzzzler said:
I’m considering using one sax as a practice instrument and getting it repadded without reflectors, using the quietest mouthpiece I can find, so that I can practice at antisocial hours.
Click to expand...
CliveMA said:
I can play my tenor setup at whisper with my sleeping cat beside me so there's no need to repad. (I practice loudly in a wir btw).
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Yes, indeed.

Just a word of advice: I would NOT pay for a total repad and install rivet pads IF your goal is to make the sax 'play quieter'. You will be wasting your money, really.

Wade Cornell said:
The reflectors won't make that much difference.
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They won't, no. There will be no significant difference from a volume aspect as a result of doing that.

A suggestion: if you have a closet large enough, add some acoustical sound insulation to the walls and ceiling, and perhaps a (removable) raised floor platform with sound insulation in it as well....
 
We can all play quietly. Any mouthpiece can do it. But some are built to be quieter and hence can take a bit more welly without getting loud. I need to know which are they.
 
I'm wondering out loud how much of a difference there will be between a mouthpiece that can be played quietly (as you say, they can all pretty much do that) and a mouthpiece that can play quietly more easily?

If you google "loudest saxophone mouthpiece" you get responses, but google "quietest saxophone mouthpiece" and not a lot of marketing from mouth piece companies. I guess there's not a lot of call to produce the quietest mouthpiece in the market.

I get where you're coming from. Others have offered opinions on mouthpieces and setups. I'll add that I can play my PPT pretty softly. Softer and with more ease than other mouthpieces? I dunno, so not sure you'll get a definitive list here. If you do, then I'll be interested to read it.
 
Fluffing up a washcloth or hand towel and inserting it in the top portion of the bell reduces the volume dramatically---especially the high frequencies which vent through the bell opening. The response and pitch of the bell notes are affected the most.

A lot can be accomplished by practicing what I call silent playing. You finger and articulate the notes blowing an air stream that does not go into the mouthpiece. It is like playing an "air guitar" only on a saxophone. You are practicing your fingering technique, note reading, and articulation just as though you are playing the instrument. The only thing you are not working on is "tone production".
 

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