Friday 9 April 2010

Tools of our Trade: my saxophone setup

Some people can get extremely fascinated by the tools of our trade. I'm actually not one of those people (at least not to the extreme) and my set-up has changed only marginally.

Nevertheless, for those that want to know what instruments, mouthpieces and reeds I'm playing on, here is my set-up:

Soprano: Yanagisawa S992 - 00236xxx

Mouthpiece: Selmer C* and D (mostly D)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3 - 3½

Alto: Buffet Crampon Prestige - 33xxxE

Mouthpiece: Vandoren A28, Selmer C** and D (mostly Vandoren A28)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3

Tenor: Selmer Series 3 – N. 603xxx

Mouthpiece: Selmer D, Vandoren TL3, and Meyer 5 (Meyer for Jazz Band; mostly Selmer D)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3½

Baritone: Selmer Series 2 – N. 545xxx

Mouthpiece: Vandoren B35 and Selmer C** and D (mostly Vandoren)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3 - 4

Please note:

Let's not forget what Paul Brodie had to say about the importance of having the right mouthpiece (85% of the sound) over having the right instrument, and invest in several extra mouthpieces to ensure you're working on the most efficient one.

Paul Brodie: 
The mouthpiece is 85 percent of what one will get out of the instrument. If one uses a cheap mouthpiece on a good instrument, one will diminish the potential of the instrument to produce a good sound.Therefore, even if one has a good student instrument and puts on a professional mouthpiece such as a Selmer square-chamber mouthpiece, a Couf, or a Vandoren, one will improve greatly the potential of the instrument. (Classical Sax: David W. Roe, "Classical Sax Conversation with Paul Brodie", Music Educators Journal, Vol. 70, No.7. (Mar., 1984), pp. 41-43.)