Is a 500$ Mouthpiece REALLY Better Than a 50$ Mouthpiece?

➡ www.thomashaehnlein.com
➡ / thomas_saxophone
Have you ever wondered if it's really worth spending hundreds of dollars for a mouthpiece? In this video I'm comparing a 50$ beginner's mouthpiece (a Yamaha 4C) with a 500$ professional model (a Matt Marantz Slant Legacy) and take a look at the what exactly makes the professional mouthpiece superior - and what might be the advantages of the beginner's mouthpiece.
00:00 - 01:31 Intro
01:31 - 04:06 Testing both mouthpieces
04:06 - 09:08 Results
09:08 - 10:15 Tips for buying a mouthpiece
10:15 - 10:36 Outro
#saxophone #saxophonemouthpiece #musiceducation

[@ThomasHaehnlein]

Let me know if you agree with how I rated the mouthpieces!
Suggestions for saxophone mouthpiece-brands between 100 - 250$: Meyer, Otto Link, Vandoren, D'Addario and, most of all: Pillinger (they're hand finished but very cheap!)
Suggestions for saxophone mouthpiece-brands from 400$ and up: Ted Klum, Matt Marantz, Boston Sax Shop

[@ed.z.]

I agree with you 100%.I have the Marantz Legacy but keep going back to my V16 T7 for some reason I don’t understand.

[@w2tty]

I do not believe I am able to cast opinion on all of your points because some of these criteria are things you feel as the player. Compared to me, as a real amateur, you make both mouthpieces sound good. Thank you for this video and comparison. The best things you mentioned were the reasons why beginners should not just jump to a high end mouthpiece. I made this mistake and struggled with the mouthpiece until I put it away in a drawer and considered it a bad investment for now. Hopefully someday it will be a good investment. My hope was it would help me sound better. It did not. Struggling with a pro mouthpiece is not where I need to be right now. There is a lot to learn first.

[@ThomasHaehnlein]

Thanks for your comment Paul! You have a great point mentioning that you shouldn’t switch to a mouthpiece with a wider tip opening too early. Hope you’ll feel comfortable to change to the more advanced mouthpiece at some point :)

[@juwonnnnn]

👍

[@BsktImp]

At the extremes: are you aware of a player having mouthpieces individually crafted for them or is that not really a thing, and do you know of any professionals who play with sub-$100 mouthpieces?

[@ThomasHaehnlein]

There are definitely the cases were well- known saxophonists work together with a brand to create their signature mouthpieces (f.e. Drake mouthpieces). It’s also very common to go to a refacer and work with them on a mouthpiece until it suits exactly what you’re going for, this many professionals do.
About pro’s playing cheaper mouthpieces: The 100$ limit might be a bit low cause most mouthpieces cost more these days. But there are many pro‘s playing mouthpieces that cost between 100-200$. Hope that answers your question!

[@chrismills5110]

Thomas: I like your Channel but you are going wrong. You are young, you bite the mouthpiece, I can see from grooves in your patches; this is about the worst you could do, it is inhibiting. Why are you only on a 3 reed? Because you use the wrong embouchure. You should be on a double lip embouchure; you won't waste money on MP patches, and you will develop an upper lip. Biting, you simply never develop an upper lip, and your lower lip has insufficient support to work the reed properly. You really only have half an embouchure. Biting is like stabiliser wheels on a child's bicycle. I play Baritone on 4 reeds and 9 MP, and I play slurs which I don't think you could conceivably do, down to Baritone Low A, with a single lip, bitting embouchure. You are young, it is not too late to change. A Saxophone MP should not be bitten, absolutely not. You should not be encouraging Beginners in this defective set-up. You, I am sure, play great Saxophone! Just think where you might be if you adopted a proper lipping technique?

[@chrismills5110]

I have asked a good number of Saxophonists why they bite. Few have an answer, other than that is what their Teacher told them. One said "It is to support the Saxophone." It is what your upper lip is for, and a properly developed upper lip works way, way better than teeth. Without a fully developed upper lip, you cannot form the air funnel properly, and have inadequate control and insufficient power

[@ThomasHaehnlein]

Hi Chris, since we've already talked about most of these things in the comment section of other videos, just a short summarised reply:
- it is not wise to be dogmatic about things like embouchure. A double lip embouchure is not the holy grail and not widely used among pro players
- it is in general important to keep the upper lip relaxed (see f.e. the teachings of Joe Allard & Dave Liebman)
- playing hard reeds is not a necessity to have a great sound (Chris Potter, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, etc.)
- I'm not biting my mouthpiece; my upper teeth touch the mouthpiece patch with a slight pressure and they're very sharp, so after a while you see bite marks

[@chrismills5110]

With great respect, Thomas, You are not listening to what I am trying to teach you: That teeth are no substitute for a developed upper lip. What you do with your teeth should be being done by your upper lip, and in far more flexible and useful fashion. If Saxophone MPs were designed for teeth, they would have a groove into which you sit your teeth, but they do not. Harder Saxophone reeds sound better, pari passu, than softer reeds: That is an inescapable fact. That you can get a good sound on a softer reed, is neither here, nor there; You should be on hardest reed your strength allows you, and if you can't play a 4, at your age, then it is because you likely are not working hard enough. And it is not important to relax your upper lip, you are just wasting it by leaving it fallow. You say I am dogmatic, and I reply that you are without doubt using poor techniques, and, worse, passing these onto Beginners, just like when you were a Beginner you had some teacher who knew no better than to teach you biting. You should please try a double lip embouchure, and let me know how you get on with it. Technically, it is the only way to go. I am an engineer, and have invented a new Saxophone, its first major revision in 183 years, a prototype of which works way better than existing equipment. I know my stuff, I assure you. Saxophone is a very technical instrument, and it is vital to get those techniques absolutely correct @@ThomasHaehnlein

[@bradfordsmithmusic]

Chris Mills, can you post a video explaining your approach to double embouchure? And very curious about your new saxophone.

[@chrismills5110]

Thanks, Ucunbrad, sadly I do not do videos, I am afraid. A double lip embouchure is simple: Mouthpiece centres between two lips of equal musculature forming funnel for air column. It provides ultimate control and concentration of air a single lip set-up lacks. To properly work a reed with Lower Lip, Upper Lip must give equally flexible support and grip, letting Lower do its job of damping reed. I slur lines of notes which professionals give up on, too difficult. Teeth biting or resting on a mouthpiece achieve nothing but inhibiting ability to control, and a mini-industry in patches, with just two functions: 1) To eliminate unpleasant vibrations, which do not exist on a double lip embouchure. 2) To get a better grip, because teeth on a MP cannot grip at all. Good Thomas Hanlein a 'Pro', slits through them readily, with his sharp teeth. Teeth and shaporpteeth are destructors for destroying food/prey: Little else. With a double lip embouchure 1) is gone, and 2) Unnecessary. Biting was a military vice. Saxophone players late 19th/early 20th Century came taught though army bands: Bayonet enemy; bite MP. My new Saxophone presents publicly when I complete patenting. It is simple, or I would not have a prototype. Saxophones have hardly been developed in 100 years past. I have an American Conn 30m (1943) and a German Hammerschmidt (1938), both pinnacle of Saxophone design. Music is a conservative field. I have a modern Tenor Saxophone: Placed next to a vintage Tenor, what changed? Nothing. And we have lost finesse of micro-tuners. I have, acoustically, eliminated Saxophone's weak heart. Biting survived because most players begin young, too callow to question, they obey sad, old failed-musician-teachers' orders to bite. I did not pick up a Saxophone until I was 50: Biting its mouthpiece appeared ridiculous, completely pointless. I did not do it. There is little to be said for getting old, apart from wisdom it brings, which is fun placed against ignorance in youngsters and vested interest in geriatrics like Joe Biden @@bradfordsmithmusic