Re: Learning about Alto's
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My son is starting his junior year in h.s. Recently bought a Yanagasawa 901 for $1,100. Has a C* mouth piece, and a rovner ligature and uses #3 reeds from vandoren,or a #3 jazz reed.
Question is how can he achieve a richer, not so bright tone? Also, any tips on practice/improvisational skills is welcome
thanks
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There's a couple of ways to approach this. The cheapest but most difficult way would be to get your son to modify his embrochure to get the desired effect. I've noticed that if you open up your throat and mouth while playing, the tendency is to get a darker and more resonant (less stuffy) tone. That may not work for everyone. Having said that I'd also like to comment that perhaps you could try a different mouthpiece. Yanagisawas I find are centered in tone, neither particularily dark nor bright, though perhaps the 901 is a bit brighter than other yani's [nothing you should have to consider replacing it over]. Vandoren Reeds tend towards the dark end of the scale, as do Rovener Ligatures, but I find that the S80 isn't really that dark of a mouthpiece. It's made and used for concert band a lot, but I feel it is more accurately classified as a brighter concert piece.
I would recommend trying a Vandoren Optimum AL3 or AL4. They are notably darker than the S80 C*, or perhaps a Runyon Finesse or a Caravan or Morgan Classical mouthpiece. These get a lot of recommendations from their owners who like a dark sound for ensemble or quartet work. Make sure he tries before he buys! Or at least he should be able to take them out on approval.
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