Misty

[Anonymous]

if you started out with a yamaha 4c, you should after the amount of
time you’ve been playing be able to play a selmer size D with ease, its just slightly up from a yamaha 4c on alto

[Dazza]

Currently playing a Yamaha 5c so how does that compare to a Selmer D

[john]

no, a year and a half is a very short time for developing on the sax. and yes that will effect the sound quality but we need to spend a certain amount of time building up to a bigger mp.
next year for example, the ones you are now struggling with will feel better.
btw, you are sounding VERY good for that amount of time, just keep at it.
get to that shop asap and try the few he recommends (they all sound like quality mp’s) and choose the one that feels best to you.
and as much as I am into my Guardala, I think it’s a good idea to spend the first couple years or so developing on a HR mp.

[Anonymous]

a yamaha 5c compares well to a Selmer D – if you csn play a 5c a
selmer D shouldn’t be hard.

if you get the chsnce – try a srlmar solo D – for songs like misty, jazz, swing – its a really expressive mouthpiece.

i moved from a yamaha 4c after 11 months and borrowed a yamaha 5c for a couple of weeks, i didn’t like the 5c (it sounded like a louder 4c & didn’t get any feeling out if it – felt lifeless) then jumped to a selmar D – because i was 2 weeks away from my sax grade exam, i didn’t want to jeapordise the 3 songs i’d spent practicing for months!

i’m still using the D – my sax teacher says it has improved my performance! (he tells it like it is).

If you go too high, then you have the problem of getting used to it, like going up a reed stength!

If like me you are playing in other bands and doing solo performances with backing tracks –
then go with a mouthpiece you can hit the road with (get a D), don’t hit the road with something you’re struggling to get used to – save that for your own praxtice time!

[Dazza]

Thanks Johnny and James. Once again this site proves invaluable for advice you can’t pay for. I will report back on my choice. I am keen to see how a quality mp changes my sound.

[Anonymous]

i can only tell you about mouthpieces i’ve used, i’m sure other members can input info about other mouthpieces they’ve used after a 4c!

When you get in the shop, try and get a private room to try out the mouthpieces, away from irritating background customer noise. Try out your mouthpiece 1st to hear what it sounds like in the room, on your sax – you need that to judge agsinst other mouthpieces unless youre pitch perfect and can remember your own mouthpiece sound.

hopefully you’ll be lucky & find one thats easy to blow, and sounds great – just like that dream reed!
one sure indicator – if you find one, and you get the instant feeling “i want to play that again, and i don’t want to put it down!” – that could be the one!!!

if like me you are unlucky, either walk away ( i did that when i spent an hour trying out 6 guitars – i still prefered the sound of my own guitar tone)

if nothing floats your boat and you still want to buy a mouthpiece- i would go for middle of the road tone (not too bright sounding & not too dark sounding) that way you get the best of all ranges when playing.

too bright or too dark sounding can get you stuck in those extreme ranges – which is ok if you want that sort of thing – wouldn’t be a good idea for beginners though.

between me and my sax teacher thats whats happened to me, but i had the advsntage of having my sax teacher with me for feedback while trying out mouthpieces – i relied on his years of experience against my own personsable judgment soundwise!

[William Cingolani]

Great job Dazza on both videos. And congrats on being able to use “Band in The Box.”

[Michael]

Hey Dazza,
I was checking out everyone’s comments here…there’s no question that you’re ready for another MP besides the Yamaha that you’re using. That’s a great point you make about the invaluable feedback that we get here on Johnny’s site; as Member’s it was a real plus that Johnny added this aspect to his site…huge learning tool to help us improve. If anything, even going from a Yamaha 5C to a 6C can be good–it’s not too big of a jump but at the same time will help you continue to develop that awesome tone that you have and make it even better 🙂 Selmer MPs are very good too–Johnny speaks of them very highly in his ebook of how to play the Saxophone for beginners. What other MPs are available for you to try out there where you live? It may help to make some calls to local shops before you get there and let them know what you’re looking for, they may be able to provide other options to you. I was glad the local shop here where I live had the Claude Lakey to try out for myself. It was the farthest thing from my mind but I saw it and got very curious about it, Johnny did a review on it. Without being able to personally try it, I would have discovered it for myself.

[Dazza]

So I have a song I have been working on and thought I’d better put it out there for comment. An oldie I loved since watching “Happy Days” as a kid. I did this one before but I now have the home made backing track I put together so let me know what you reckon. Bit of a squeak on the high C I know and a couple of fluffed notes so I hope it doesn’t make your ears bleed!

[Anonymous]

I got my sax out yesterday & started practing amazing grace, as usual i made sure my sax was in tune using Johnny’s method, did the usual warm up session. etc ..

then i started playing it to the backing tracking track using more expression. The 1st note D sounded fine, then when i started rising the volume gently going into the G note, making the G note slightly louder – the G note just didn’t sound right in fact it sounded dreadfully out of tune, so i got the tuner out, and watched the tuner and was shocked to see my G note was miles out on the tuner when i was controlling the dynamic expression – to bring the G note back into tune, i had to use a lot more lower lip pressure than on the D note, and relax off after the G.

I recall Kevin saying a similar thing in the past about watching a tuner while learning a piece, for me i have to keep an eye on my G, could be my embouchure or a quirk in my sax.

I don’t know if you are using a tuner while practicing? For me when i jump around different notes that are farther apart, some need more/less lower lip pressure control than when playing with notes that are closer together.

To play a piece with little expression makes it very easy to play in tune in terms of embouchure (how to develop a lazy embouchure) but when you bring in expression (rising softer/louder, going slower/faster etc) then you have to start working those embouchure muscles (good none lazy workout) this is when some notes will initially start going out of tune higher/lower and make a note on the sheet and a mental note if where these notes are (in my case the G, sometimes it might be just be how the G sounds in one song and not in another)
Higher up the register sounded slightly out of tune to me (i think thats more to do with the cheap crap headphones i use to listen with)

hope my comments help and aren’t too harsh

[Author]

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