Very nice playing on both horns, but I was surprised at how rich the Buffet-Link combo sounded for an inexpensive, student setup. Admit it -- Jim is really an alto player at heart.
I liked the P.Mauriat more. It had a warm, bigger, fuller tone with more complexity than the Buffett maybe a bit more highs in the sound making it more versatile. The Buffett was darker but for me a little stuffy, maybe due to the Otto Link mouthpiece? I had a modern Tone Master and tested it on my alto sax and found it was a little stuffy but that partially depends on how well it was made as some have slight defects like an unflat table or different size rails. It would have been useful to have tested both mouthpices on both saxes, like you did with your cheap vs expensive mouthpiece tests on a student and pro sax.
Buffet everyday for me personally! I had a P Mauriat and the build quality on the 67rul was poor, and the sound was very “thin”. However, I do think Aizen make some of the best mouthpieces around. They are well made and take any reeds. Definitely worth a try if you’ve never used an Aizen MP 😊. Great video, thank you gents 🙏
The BC sax setup reached expectations for the targeted tonal quality. Nice. The P.M. did not reach the expected and promoted "warm" sound. It was really nice & I liked it a lot, but it was not the "warm" sound that was built up in the presentation before the playing. It had a very nice "Michael Lington" type of sound to it.👍 The setup on the P.M. definitely has the great ability to transition from warmish to a clearer, edgier & brighter sound. If you want a darker tone, put on a Fred Hemke reed, keep the Rovner dark lig., and see how those change the tone. We all know the tone can be greatly adjusted by the interior cavity of the player's mouth (no option - you have what you have), the embouchure & how your bottom lip is applied (rolled over the bottom teeth or more relaxed style) to the reed, angle of air flow into the mouthpiece (think David Sanborn vs a 'classical' position), ... and the list goes on with the other variables. Thus, the often neverending quest for "that sound" and why all the mouthpiece, ligature, reed ... options ... frustratingly fun 😊. Thank you for a nice video and wonderfully played and very musical samples, as usual. My ears always enjoy your sound samples. Always a great melodic dessert after the verbal intro appetizer. 👍
I read that many guys prefer the Buffet sound.. I suppose that's the Otto Link that makes the difference.. Aizen are beautiful mpcs, but won't beat an Otto Link on the lush and fluffy side. Great video as always ❤
I’ve owned two Buffet 400’s. There is something magical about the sound. He calls it dark, warm, “fluffy,” and velvety. I agree that it is darker than contemporary horns with a nice warm edge and lots of beautiful harmonics/overtones (some would call this “sparkle”) to the tone. If you buy one of these (or the student version 100 which seems to have a similar sound profile). The only horns I have played with a similar sound profile were Buffet Super Dynaction and the Couf Superba 1. I wanted to keep one of these but ended up selling both. For me, the left-hand spatula keys were in an unnatural position (the G# key in particular was difficult to reach comfortably despite my large hands). The action was strangely inconsistent with some keys being snappy and others being undersprung. It was really uneven. Key heights were all over the place as well. I blame this on the poor quality control in the factory set-up. I had my pro tech spend a lot of time with each to correct these flaws, which helped. In the end, the quirks were just to much for me to get past. I was charmed by the sound, but the mechanical quirks were not charming. If you buy one, make sure you try it and make sure you buy it from a great place like SaxCoUK because they will help you get the set up dialed in.
Fair test would have been to play the Buffet with the Aizen as well. Great players sound great on cheap horns as well (assuming they're leak free), but ergonomics, reliability, adjust-ability, you'll likely get what you pay for. Law of diminishing returns though as the price goes through the ceiling!
Buffet, hands down. That's the ideal warm/lush/dark/core/pure sound. The P/Aizen combo misses- there's no "there" there. It lacks depth and complexity. Dunno if that was the horn or the piece. Would have loved to have heard both pieces on both horns. Not a huge fan of the "fluff" in Links, but I didn't really hear much of that in the clips. I play a '65 Super Dyn-Action with a Phil Barone medium chamber "Meyer", which does not give me this sound - I'm a bit brighter - but I know this sound intimately as a former legit player, Teal lineage.
Excellent video, plenty of food for thought. Personally of the two set ups, I preferred the Buffet 100. I wonder how it would sound with a Jody jazz custom dark mouthpiece and maybe one of the reeds Jim suggested? Another video perhaps…?
There are more than sufficient videos, pdfs, posts related to the production of what has been referred to as a dark sound. The instrument tested in this video does seem to have this much desired dark sound in the higher register. The lower register has the typical sound of all instruments characteristic of the Bombay Taxi Horn. This is to be expected as both these instruments have an identical structure in the conical tube resonator, an identical mouthpiece and reed and material of construction. Charlie Parker after his testing out of the most exquisite acrylic alto did declare that this horn sounded more desirably woodwindish than the usual instrument.All brass or nickel silver saxophones must have the over all sound colored by the natural resonance of the horn and this just cannot be avoided except that the material of construction be different from that currently used. Theobald Boehm seems to be the only researcher whose work on the effect of material on the sound has been publically available. His comprehensive work on the flute has established that nickel silver after the precious metals was the most suitable material, brass being the worst. A tryout of the Keilwerth SX90R would confirm or deny this finding.
This is a really amateurish question, but is the music played in the video a famous song, or is it an improvisational original phrase? Anyway, those were so impressive and beautiful sound.
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Jim sounded so good on the Buffet & Otto Link. So good and complete for a great price.
Very nice playing on both horns, but I was surprised at how rich the Buffet-Link combo sounded for an inexpensive, student setup. Admit it -- Jim is really an alto player at heart.
I liked the P.Mauriat more. It had a warm, bigger, fuller tone with more complexity than the Buffett maybe a bit more highs in the sound making it more versatile. The Buffett was darker but for me a little stuffy, maybe due to the Otto Link mouthpiece? I had a modern Tone Master and tested it on my alto sax and found it was a little stuffy but that partially depends on how well it was made as some have slight defects like an unflat table or different size rails. It would have been useful to have tested both mouthpices on both saxes, like you did with your cheap vs expensive mouthpiece tests on a student and pro sax.
Buffet everyday for me personally! I had a P Mauriat and the build quality on the 67rul was poor, and the sound was very “thin”. However, I do think Aizen make some of the best mouthpieces around. They are well made and take any reeds. Definitely worth a try if you’ve never used an Aizen MP 😊. Great video, thank you gents 🙏
Super useful thanks
Great idea for a video bro, I love the warmer darker sexier Alto sounds.
The BC sax setup reached expectations for the targeted tonal quality. Nice.
The P.M. did not reach the expected and promoted "warm" sound. It was really nice & I liked it a lot, but it was not the "warm" sound that was built up in the presentation before the playing. It had a very nice "Michael Lington" type of sound to it.👍 The setup on the P.M. definitely has the great ability to transition from warmish to a clearer, edgier & brighter sound.
If you want a darker tone, put on a Fred Hemke reed, keep the Rovner dark lig., and see how those change the tone.
We all know the tone can be greatly adjusted by the interior cavity of the player's mouth (no option - you have what you have), the embouchure & how your bottom lip is applied (rolled over the bottom teeth or more relaxed style) to the reed, angle of air flow into the mouthpiece (think David Sanborn vs a 'classical' position), ... and the list goes on with the other variables. Thus, the often neverending quest for "that sound" and why all the mouthpiece, ligature, reed ... options ... frustratingly fun 😊.
Thank you for a nice video and wonderfully played and very musical samples, as usual.
My ears always enjoy your sound samples. Always a great melodic dessert after the verbal intro appetizer. 👍
Another great mouthpiece for a dark sound is the Jody Jazz Custom Dark....
I read that many guys prefer the Buffet sound.. I suppose that's the Otto Link that makes the difference.. Aizen are beautiful mpcs, but won't beat an Otto Link on the lush and fluffy side. Great video as always ❤
Nice, just wish you kept the audio dry instead of fattening the sound with reverb.
I’ve owned two Buffet 400’s. There is something magical about the sound. He calls it dark, warm, “fluffy,” and velvety. I agree that it is darker than contemporary horns with a nice warm edge and lots of beautiful harmonics/overtones (some would call this “sparkle”) to the tone. If you buy one of these (or the student version 100 which seems to have a similar sound profile). The only horns I have played with a similar sound profile were Buffet Super Dynaction and the Couf Superba 1. I wanted to keep one of these but ended up selling both. For me, the left-hand spatula keys were in an unnatural position (the G# key in particular was difficult to reach comfortably despite my large hands). The action was strangely inconsistent with some keys being snappy and others being undersprung. It was really uneven. Key heights were all over the place as well. I blame this on the poor quality control in the factory set-up. I had my pro tech spend a lot of time with each to correct these flaws, which helped. In the end, the quirks were just to much for me to get past. I was charmed by the sound, but the mechanical quirks were not charming. If you buy one, make sure you try it and make sure you buy it from a great place like SaxCoUK because they will help you get the set up dialed in.
Fair test would have been to play the Buffet with the Aizen as well. Great players sound great on cheap horns as well (assuming they're leak free), but ergonomics, reliability, adjust-ability, you'll likely get what you pay for. Law of diminishing returns though as the price goes through the ceiling!
Great video as always guys - thank you.
Buffet, hands down. That's the ideal warm/lush/dark/core/pure sound. The P/Aizen combo misses- there's no "there" there. It lacks depth and complexity. Dunno if that was the horn or the piece. Would have loved to have heard both pieces on both horns. Not a huge fan of the "fluff" in Links, but I didn't really hear much of that in the clips. I play a '65 Super Dyn-Action with a Phil Barone medium chamber "Meyer", which does not give me this sound - I'm a bit brighter - but I know this sound intimately as a former legit player, Teal lineage.
Excellent video, plenty of food for thought. Personally of the two set ups, I preferred the Buffet 100. I wonder how it would sound with a Jody jazz custom dark mouthpiece and maybe one of the reeds Jim suggested? Another video perhaps…?
If I already have a sax... Can I swap out the mouthpieces in-between songs for different sounds? Or is that too much of a hassle?
To save even more money on the budget set-up I would suggest a Rico (D’Addario) Graftonite A5 mpc for under 30 quid.
What a great idea for a video. Thank you
Love the professional setup …. More doubts hahaha
There are more than sufficient videos, pdfs, posts related to the production of what has been referred to as a dark sound. The instrument tested in this video does seem to have this much desired dark sound in the higher register. The lower register has the typical sound of all instruments characteristic of the Bombay Taxi Horn. This is to be expected as both these instruments have an identical structure in the conical tube resonator, an identical mouthpiece and reed and material of construction. Charlie Parker after his testing out of the most exquisite acrylic alto did declare that this horn sounded more desirably woodwindish than the usual instrument.All brass or nickel silver saxophones must have the over all sound colored by the natural resonance of the horn and this just cannot be avoided except that the material of construction be different from that currently used. Theobald Boehm seems to be the only researcher whose work on the effect of material on the sound has been publically available. His comprehensive work on the flute has established that nickel silver after the precious metals was the most suitable material, brass being the worst. A tryout of the Keilwerth SX90R would confirm or deny this finding.
tip openings and reed strengths? If you said it I missed it!
This is a really amateurish question, but is the music played in the video a famous song, or is it an improvisational original phrase? Anyway, those were so impressive and beautiful sound.
Ok for Jim, ok for George, but when I will be listening to Michael as well? ;-)
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What reed did you guys use.. same on both?... oh spoke too soon. Thanks
D'Addario jazz select reed.
Is he trying to sign for the hearing impaired?
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