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74 of 75 people found the following review helpful.
Selmer = industry standard
By P. Petersen
As a professional woodwind instructor and player, I commonly commend the Selmer C* mouthpiece to all of my students as their basi “step up” from the beginner’s mouthpiece that came with their horn. When they buy or rent a saxophone, in particular these cheap new Chinese/Taiwanese horns like “First Act” or other brands, the mouthpiece that comes with the horn is normally substandard, ordinarily plastic, and is hardly sufficient for the beginner to get a sound out of the horn. Even so, a good mouthpiece may assuage some of the difficulties caused by an el-cheapo instrument.
Obviously, each student ought to always have the best possible instrumentation at his/her disposal, but even if the cost prohibits a student from buying a top-of-the-line pro horn, they must still invest the cash in a top quality mouthpiece. The mouthpiece and embochure form the foundation to tone production, and a good mouthpiece will make it possible to learn to invent a decent tone on even the worst-quality instrument. Conversely, the best instrument in the world is only going to sound intermediate if the mouthpiece is sub-standard. Garbage in, Garbage out.
Selmer has always had a good reputation for quality, and this piece is no exception. I’m not sure why they decisive to modify their nomenclature from C* to C1, but as far as everything I may find to read with regards to them, this is the frequent model S80 C*. The letter C refers to the tip opening, which ranges from A (narrowest) to H (widest) and the star refers to little deviations in tip opening that aren’t sufficient to warrant a whole letter. This mouthpiece, the C1 or C*, has a tip opening of sixty-five thousandths of an inch, which is a good mid-range intermediate which will give students a outstanding deal of control over the full range of the horn without sounding too bright (as with wider tip openings) or too dark (as with narrower openings). Most other mouthpiece manufacturers use numbers rather of letters, commonly 1 to 10, with 10 being the widest tip opening. The C and C* Selmers are roughly equivalent to regarding a 5, so just regarding medium. For this reason they’re good for students who are still manufacturing their sound – this piece will give them the most skillfulness and “growing room” for their money.
As with any purchase, each student ought to spend a lot of time playing a new mouthpiece BEFORE buying it to see if it’s right for them. Every mouth is shaped differently, and so galore mouths will naturally take to the shape of the Selmer while others might find a Meyer or Otto Link more to their liking. No matter what you read when it comes to how this or that mouthpiece is the one, THE TRUE TEST IS IN THE PLAYING, no matter what. Copy the following phrase down and memorize it:
The idealisti mouthpiece is the one that makes it easiest to achieve the sound you want with the minimum of effort.
Notice I didn’t say that this or that mouthpiece will make you sound like this or that. YOU are the major factor in what you sound like. Any player with sufficient control over their chops may make any saxophone sound like anything if they contort their face into the right position to make it take place through embouchure. The mouthpiece is shaped to make it posing no difficulty or harder to achieve a queer sound with less or more venture based on what the rest of your mouth is doing. But the overall tone quality is something YOU control by embochure, breath control, and concept.
So – when choosing a mouthpiece, it’s vitally indispensable to have an idea of what you want your tone to sound like FIRST, then undertake assorted dissimilar mouthpieces and compensate attention to how hard you’re having to work to get that desired tone. Some of the mouthpieces will make it having little impact to get your Preferred Sound, a lot of will make it harder. The one you want is the one that lets you sound like you with the least amount of “shape changing” of your embouchure.
With that in mind, it’s crucial to say that if you’re planning on buying a mouthpiece through mail-order, be sure you’re not affrighted to take vantage of the company’s return/exchange policy if need be. If you plunk down cash for a good mmouthpiece, and then you get it and play it and it’s not making it more comfortable for you to sound like what you want to sound like, don’t be frighted to send it back and interchange it for a better one. Sometimes it’s as simple as altering to a dissimilar facing. If a C1 doesn’t feel right, undertake a C2, etc.
And – don’t be affrighted to ask the counsel of a pro and take a lesson if you’re necessitating help. That’s what we’re here for.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
THE BEST
By Rudolph B. Jackson
Great mouthpiece for playing all types of music surperb shipping too! Great for intermediate player and pro’s.
2 of 2 humans found the following review helpful.
GREAT MOUTH PIECE
By designomatic
Finally, my primary review… Shipping was lightning fast and this mouth piece genuinely sings. I was told my assorted alto players that this was a great piece. Sure enough, it unquestionably beats my generic mouth piece that came with the alto. It plays well with 2 1/2!
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