Gear
Ligature for Wanne mouthpieces
I love my Theo Wanne mouthpiece. It’s absolutely the best tenor piece I have ever played. The inside geometry of the mouthpiece with the subtle baffling and big chamber combined with a very precise and well researched facing curve make for a great playing experience. Theo’s design is based on solid science backed up by years of empirical experience.
But I just don’t buy the ligature. The Wanne ligature is a refinement of the original Link ligature (which most players don’t use). Like the Francois Louis ligature, it has a pressure plate that is supposed to hold the reed in place on the table. Both Wanne and Louis make claims that this design concept allows the reed to “vibrate more freely”. Theo goes a step further and says he has improved on the concept by attaching his ligature to the mouthpiece at only two small points. This is voodoo science in my book.
Let’s try a little thought experiment. Take a flexible ruler and hold it over the side of a table, so that about 1/3 is on the table top and 2/3 hang over the side. Now hold the 1/3 portion down firmly with your hand, and pull down the free end and let it go. You will get a nice sharp twang. Now try the same thing, but only hold the ruler to the table with a couple of fingers. If you apply enough pressure to hold the ruler steady, you will still get a good twang. If you don’t, the sound will be muffled.
You can apply this directly to the case of the reed sitting on the table of the mouthpiece. If you screw it down tight enough, the ligature will hold the reed in place, so that the business end vibrates properly. However, if you don’t, and you get vibrations of the butt end on the reed on the table, it stands to reason that the vibrations at the other end will be muffled.
To my way of thinking, the ideal situation is one where the reed and mouthpiece are a unified piece. Since that is not practical (because the reed’s vibrating characteristics deterioriate over time), the next best thing is a simple device to hold the reed firmly in place on the table, and nothing does that better that a traditional two-screw metal ligature.
In practice, my own experience bears this theory out. I had a lot of trouble with the Wanne mouthpiece in the beginning. Part of that was due to the fact that the mouthpiece’s thin rails make it very sensitive to uneven moisture in the reed. A Rico moisture control reed case solved that problem. However, beyond that I had a lot of problems with squeaking reeds and with reeds wearing out very fast. Just to see if it made a difference, I tried a Selmer 404 ligature – a simple silver two-screw ligature and the one preferred by many Link players. This was an immediate improvement. The mouthpiece somehow feels more secure, when I am playing it. I don’t worry about some reeds squeaking anymore, and reeds seem to last longer.
I mentioned this to a friend of mine, who plays a Wanne Kali in rock bands. His experience has been similar. It would be nice if Theo at least acknowledged that his “enlightened” ligature isn’t for everyone and offered a traditional alternative.
Reeds
I don’t think woodwind players ever get tired of discussing this subject, because the search for the perfect reed is so elusive. I don’t like synthetic reeds. I just don’t think you can get the same sound from a synthetic. They seem too artificial and buzzy to me–no warmth. There is something in the organic quality of a cane reed that is at the heart of a good saxophone sound, but that same organic quality is what makes finding and maintaining reeds so frustrating. Two of the best articles I have read on reeds are from Tom Alexander and Tim Price. Check out the respective links. Also, The Art of Saxophone Playing by Larry Teal has an excellent chapter on caring for and balancing reeds. Every serious saxophone player should have this book.
The best reed for me can vary from year to year and seems to have more to do with who has the best batch of cane this season rather than a specific brand. At the moment, reeds from Rigotti are working very well for me. These include Regal Queen, Francois Louis and Roberto’s Woodwind private label reeds, which are also by Rigotti. You can’t get them at your local music store, but they are readily available on line, and Roberto’s Woodwind in New York City sells them. Of the “name brands”, I have had the best luck with Vandoren, particularly the relatively new ZZ cut. I use mainly number 3′s on both alto and tenor.
Mouthpieces
When it comes to mouthpieces, my favorite at the moment is a Theo Wanne Amma. It’s like the best Link you ever played with just a little more brightness. I love the sound and volume control I can get with this piece. It took some getting used to. All of Theo’s pieces have relatively thin rails, and that makes them a little less tolerant of uneven reed moisture. I first got my Amma in the middle of winter when humidity was very low, and I had my share of squeaks and hard blowing after some minutes of playing. A Rico Reed Case w/Reed Vitalizer that Tim Price gave me solved all my problems.
I am also a big fan of Fred Lamberson. Fred is a true artist and makes every piece totally by hand using high quality hard rubber blanks, wood and a white material like Delrin. Unfortunately, Fred has stopped making mouthpieces, so if you have one, hang on to it. I have several different Lamberson tenor pieces, but my favorite is my newest piece, a white 7DD. This has a fairly long baffle that opens up into a big chamber. It gives you the ability to really cut through when you need it, but it is still very controllable at lower volumes. It’s fairly bright, but not thin. You can get a nice, fat subtone with it as well.
For alto I play a Lamberson FMaj7 that I bought from Tim Price. It was actually a prototype that Fred sent to Tim to try. I love this piece. It just matches the Mark VI perfectly. It has no baffle and gives me a nice dark sound when I lay back, but it still has plenty of oomph when I push it. I can cut through a big band on lead alto with no problem. One of the things that make all of Fred’s mouthpieces stand out is the precision of his facings.