Warming up on a metal mouthpiece compared to a plastic/rubber

[Jonathan Hurst]

I have been playing plastic and rubber mouthpieces for the 5 years of my playing. I just got a mouthpiece, it has A-7 on it, dunno what that means.
I cannot seem to get the sound like I do out of my usual mouthpiece. How do I warmup on a metal to achieve the same great sound?

[Z]

A metal mp can be tough to figure out if you’ve been playing on hard rubbers. I switched from hard rubber to metal with horrible results at first. It squeaked horribly, and I could only get a sound out if I blasted. I then switched to a different reed, I went with a whole new brand and went down a strength. (I was using java 3’s, and I switched to Rico jazz 3 soft) the piece played beautifully and I’ve been using it ever since. Id experiment with mainly getting a thinner reed. On a hard rubber piece, I used a 3 or 3 1/2 for the classical stuff. Playing on a metal, you need to go down to about a 2 or 2 1/2. What kind of reeds are you now using?

[Jonathan Hurst]

Well I am more into jazz so I’ve been using a Selmer S80 rubber, with Rico Jazz 2M Reeds.

[Z]

It might just take some practice because that’s already a really soft reed. If you know it’s a good mp (as in good/professiona quality), then I’d just keep playing around with it.

[Dazza]

I pulled out my metal STM Otto last night and placed a new Rico Royal 2 1/2 reed on it and gave it a blow. A few months ago I did that and put it straight back in the case as I couldnt get a sound out of it. This time it was far different and the sound was full and controllable. I was blowing hard and soft and keeping it under mostly control which was vastly different than before. It required a lot more work and I could feel it after half an hour. Problem though I have just a little squeak comes out from time to time to time on some notes but I really feel I cant make any better seal. I noticed the tone on the whole range of the sax heaps better and when I went back to the Meyer 5 I couldnt stand the sound. It was thin and the low range was not as pronounced. Any one had a similar experience. I am thinking do I stick full time with the metal and hope the squeaks sort out over time because the MP’s are so different in shape it feels odd when I swap back to the Meyer as it is fatter than the metal Otto. Any thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Dazza – i have the same problem. My rubber mouthpieces are much much wider than my metal mouthpiece, i have no problems playing either, but when i swap to the metal it has the occasional squeaks on some notes higher up. It must be a case of getting used to the metal, as i saw a classical pro, try out a theowanne mouthpiece on youtube, and he was squeaking all over the place, in fact he couldn’t play it without squeaking, in the end theo got another pro that was used to that type of mouthpiece to demo it perfectly.

perhaps JF has some ideas?

[Dazza]

This is a quick excerpt from my first go at the OTTO in which you can hear a few squeaks. I think maybe it might be a lack of control in finishing off the notes that squeak. Funny how tunes come into your head. I played a couple of notes near the end and suddenly occurred to me it sounded like Heartbreak Hotel and felt for the other notes off the cuff. That was pretty cool for that to happen.

[Anonymous]

Dazza – i could hear the squeaks, thats exactly how mine sounds squeakwise. my daughter squeaks a lot on clarinet if she doesn’t play it often enough! it must be embouchure, i think thats why my teacher says stick to one mouthpiece all of the time.

[Dazza]

I just spent two hours practicing and went back to my meyer 5 as i just dont think I am ready right now. I do get a good tone and good control on the HR Meyer and dont find myself squeezing my embrouchure so hard. Will keep working on that and maybe just step up to a bigger meyer soon. After stepping back to the Meyer after the Otto 6* it felt really closed but I think becasue I was playing with the tension I needed with the OL. Anyway, youare right stick with one and grow with it for now.

[paddy jordan]

just an idea Dazza i never got along with rico royals, try a lavos med it may be just your choice of reed.but nice sound developing there.

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