First thing to say is I have been playing alto 2 years 8 months and soprano, a year and a half. My alto is a Yamaha YAS-480 and the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece came with it. Like many "serious" beginners, I got the itch to try other mouthpieces and see what they were like. The first was a Vandoren V16 6M. It seemed great in the store, then very hard to play at home. I eventually had it refaced to reduce the opening, but that's another story. I tried at least one other before seeing a bunch of bright colors on a rack in the local music store. I was immediately interested. After some back and forth on the Syos site, I asked them to make me a custom mouthpiece based on my uneducated "wishes", something with an opening between the 4C and the V16, a "dark" sound for ballads, etc. After a helpful back and forth of emails with one of the designers, he sent me this:
Internal Geometry: straight baffle, with a small chamber
Characteristics: quite dark, focused, neat and clear sound
Tip Opening: - 1.70mm
Brightness: 2.5 / 10
Power: 8.0 / 10
Several people have commented on various sites about the finish (or lack thereof) of the surface. One detail of being a beginner is that I didn't notice or care about this. In the world of wine tasting, we speak of "mouth feel". The Syos, all three of mine, feel perfectly comfortable in my mouth. You notice a thin cushion, which comes with Syos products. I also have the thicker BG one on the other mouthpiece. I think these are a good idea.
I was immediately at home with the alto piece, and went to to try a confusing number of reeds from Vandoren 2; 2/12; 3 to Plasticover 2.5 ; 3, to Legère from 2 to 3 and a BARI. My go to reeds are still Vandoren 2 1/2, that's what Eric Marienthal uses, by the way. However all the former are used at various times and they all work well with the Syos pieces. (EDIT: no, in fact the bARI, the first synthetic I bought, has never been worth playing on any mouthpiece. It's unusable for me.)
Having gotten up my nerve to go a little wider, I ordered a brighter, louder blue piece:
Internal Geometry: step baffle and medium chamber
Characteristics: very powerful and bright sound, edgy, free blowing and easy to play
Tip Opening: - 1.85mm
Brightness: 7 / 10
Power: 8 / 10
When recording, this piece is definitely louder than the first one.
The "wave" ligatures came later, but I've added in the photo as I like the look of it.
When I bought the cheap curved soprano, I wasn't able to get decent notes anywhere on it with the standard mouthpiece that came with it. Syos came through with a mouthpiece for it that works very well with 1 1/2 cane and 2 Plasticover reeds. I don't practice it as much as I should, but the Syos soprano mouthpiece saved the day for me. I don't have to tell you that the embouchure change is radical between alto and soprano. Also, note the rubber mouthpiece cover in this photo.
Whether bari, tenor, alto or soprano, I would recommend getting a good idea of the tip opening that you will be comfortable with before trying to order a 3D printed mouthpiece. The baffle and other details are up to you on the custom, but you can also choose from an existing name design. I didn't consider ordering any name players models. I'm very pleased with every aspect of my Syos mouthpieces. Even though I have other pieces in total (4 other alto name brands, Yamaha, Vandoren, PPT, Jody Jazz) I still play both Syos every day as a part of my routine. There is a noticeable difference, even between the two Syos designs, but my playing adapts during the changes. If I absolutely had to choose one mouthpiece, I'd choose the blue, because it's probably the most flexible for where my playing is right now. It can do anything I want to do, and that's what you want from the hardware, right?
Internal Geometry: straight baffle, with a small chamber
Characteristics: quite dark, focused, neat and clear sound
Tip Opening: - 1.70mm
Brightness: 2.5 / 10
Power: 8.0 / 10
Several people have commented on various sites about the finish (or lack thereof) of the surface. One detail of being a beginner is that I didn't notice or care about this. In the world of wine tasting, we speak of "mouth feel". The Syos, all three of mine, feel perfectly comfortable in my mouth. You notice a thin cushion, which comes with Syos products. I also have the thicker BG one on the other mouthpiece. I think these are a good idea.
I was immediately at home with the alto piece, and went to to try a confusing number of reeds from Vandoren 2; 2/12; 3 to Plasticover 2.5 ; 3, to Legère from 2 to 3 and a BARI. My go to reeds are still Vandoren 2 1/2, that's what Eric Marienthal uses, by the way. However all the former are used at various times and they all work well with the Syos pieces. (EDIT: no, in fact the bARI, the first synthetic I bought, has never been worth playing on any mouthpiece. It's unusable for me.)
Having gotten up my nerve to go a little wider, I ordered a brighter, louder blue piece:
Internal Geometry: step baffle and medium chamber
Characteristics: very powerful and bright sound, edgy, free blowing and easy to play
Tip Opening: - 1.85mm
Brightness: 7 / 10
Power: 8 / 10
When recording, this piece is definitely louder than the first one.
The "wave" ligatures came later, but I've added in the photo as I like the look of it.
Whether bari, tenor, alto or soprano, I would recommend getting a good idea of the tip opening that you will be comfortable with before trying to order a 3D printed mouthpiece. The baffle and other details are up to you on the custom, but you can also choose from an existing name design. I didn't consider ordering any name players models. I'm very pleased with every aspect of my Syos mouthpieces. Even though I have other pieces in total (4 other alto name brands, Yamaha, Vandoren, PPT, Jody Jazz) I still play both Syos every day as a part of my routine. There is a noticeable difference, even between the two Syos designs, but my playing adapts during the changes. If I absolutely had to choose one mouthpiece, I'd choose the blue, because it's probably the most flexible for where my playing is right now. It can do anything I want to do, and that's what you want from the hardware, right?
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