Question:
Which tip opening for Soprano
Hello to everybody,
I've used closed tip openings for some years for Alto and Soprano, around C* for both (more precisely 0.071-73 for Alto)
Lately I've switched to a more open tip for Alto (0.085) and it is much better in terms of projection, expressiveness, etc (for me)
I have tried to do the same also on soprano trying the Selmer metal F (0.057)and the Bari rubber 64 (0.064) but I'm not still decided which opening work better for me :?
I would like to try another tip opening, a 0.070 ...
Do you believe that is too much wide reported to the 0.085 of Alto?
Thanks for every precious suggestion!! :)
Regards

Answer:
Kenny: I've always liked the bigger tips on soprano, but who knows how you or anyone else will react to that issue?
I've loved my Super Session J's over the years and before the SS hit the market, played S-80's in G and J. I MUCH prefer the J over the slightly smaller I-facing on the Super Sessions. The SS-J is listed at .069.
I recently bought two Morgan Vintage pieces from Junkdude and like them, too. The Morgans are the #6 and #7 tips (.065 and .070). I like the Morgan #6 on my curved sop (Yanagisawa SC902) - it takes out some of the harshness of the little beast. The #7 seems to play okay on my straight Yanagisawa (S992) but the last time I tried it at a gig, I had to go back to my SS-J on the S992 because I had not yet sorted out the reed combos.
EVERYONE's mileage varies. Trying to answer your question is impossible. YOU must take the leap, buy (or accept for testing, or go to a store with them and try them) and evaluate the results yourself. DAVE

Answer:
i am opposite of dave and find small tips for sop work better. eaiser to blow and intonation isnt quite as much of a struggle.

Answer:
Up until recently, my main sop mpcs has been a Metal Selmer E that I play with Vandoren (Blue Box) 3.5 reeds. The only time it wasn't sufficient was when I played an arrangement of Vissi D'Arte from Tosca that had been transcribed for Sop Sax with Symphonic Band. I needed to switch to a Metal Selmer G in order to reach the dynamic levels necessary to carry in (mostly) out-door venues (no soloist microphone) over the 60-70 piece ensemble.
I still like the "E" opening for just about everything I do on sop....

Answer:
Kenny -

Thanks for posting this thread. I've been wondering the same thing. I like alto mouthpieces is the .080-.083 range, and have had trouble finding a soprano piece that I'm comfortable with. I'm waiting to receive a Selmer Super Session H (.065) that's on its way from another SOTW member on approval. I'll let you know my thoughts after I get it.
Frank

Answer:
Trying to answer your question is impossible. YOU must take the leap, buy (or accept for testing, or go to a store with them and try them) and evaluate the results yourself.
Of course Dave, with my question I mean to find a solution that can give me the same "feel" on both instruments... I don't know properly how to explain it, maybe saying the same "proportion" of opening for both?
I'm waiting to receive a Selmer Super Session H (.065)
Frank, I wait for your impressions about it:)
According to WWBW table, it seems the "I" has a .065 rather than the H
(.063) ;)

Answer:
Your question is one we all have to answer but finding the answer is not easy. There are several factors - your style of play, the type of music you usually play, your preference in reeds - natural cane, plastic, hard, soft, etc. We are all our own worst enemies in this sort of trial because we can subconsiously make what ever equipment we have sound the way we "expect" it to sound. This all makes it difficult to choose with trials the "best" mouthpiece. Last year, with 6 month's experience on sop (and 30 years' experience on tenor) I thought I could try three different tip openings for the same mouthpiece design and pick the best one. I tried Selmer Supersessions in the sizes F, G and I. (There is an increment of .004 inches between each of those sizes). I had been playing a Selmer S-80 E for 5 months using Vandoren 2.5 ZZ reeds. I picked up a box of 2.0 ZZ reeds before the test. My music style is light jazz and ballads. I spent 8 hours the first day trying all three variously. Then i devoted a day of 6 hours to each one. I kept notes on each trial, written as I thought of things during the trial.
The very first thing I noted was that I liked the feel of the F model. It gave me enhanced articulation compared to the S-80 E. The others were "interesting" but required more effort and were tiring. After 5 days I chose the I model and returned the other two. I thought I could learn to play it with improved tone, articulation and dynamics. Three weeks later I realized I had made a mistake. I returned the I model and bought the F model. I have been happy with it but have been trying other models too and recently found I favor a Runyon Custom in the 6 size (between the Selmer E and F designation).
It takes time. With time you change in that your chops improve but your expectations and desires also change. Don't forget about all the other variables you must check - bent neck or straight, type of reed, type of ligature, etc, etc.
Don't be in a rush. Enjoy the chase. Spend at least a couple of months with every mouthpiece you decide to try. The obvious rule is not to spend much money until you nail down the size of the tip and the design of the piece you like. Stick to the hard rubber pieces for the present time.

Answer:
Kenny: There may be a correlation among various sized saxophones and preferred mouthpiece tip-openings. I like larger tips on alto and clarinet (Super Session F, the largest Selmer SS, on alto) just as I like the larger openings on sop.
But one still must go through the drill to find the good pieces . . . there is much more to a mouthpiece than the tip-opening, even though tip-openings are the only thing I judge before trying a piece.
I've come to learn that if a piece has anything but the tip in the sizes I like, I don't get along with it. Even after using that criteria, I still may not like the piece I'm testing. I've found no one factor beyond tip-openings that is common among my favorite pieces. DAVE

Answer:
I find soprano to be the outcast as far as tip openings. I have been fooled playing a mouthpiece that is a lot more closed than my normal E facing. I played on a Vandoren that was quite closed and actually thought it was more open. A Yanagisawa 5 plays as a closed mouthpiece to me but is more open. A lot has to do with the chamber dynamics so try a lot of them. I like the Selmer E in a Super Session for all around playing.

Answer:
There was a thread somewhere on the forum (and I can't find it again) were there was alot of agreement that people found 0.020 between each of sop, alto and tenor when they look back at what their preferences are.

Answer:
Originally Posted by KennyZ Frank, I wait for your impressions about it:)
According to WWBW table, it seems the "I" has a .065 rather than the H
(.063) ;) Interesting, two charts I looked at said .065, and now I've found a couple that say .063.

Answer:
Tom Goodrick
There are several factors ...
This all makes it difficult to choose with trials the "best" mouthpiece ...
I spent 8 hours the first day trying all three variously. Then i devoted a day of 6 hours to each one. I kept notes on each trial, written as I thought of things during the trial.
It takes time ...
Don't forget about all the other variables you must check ...
It is really true, this it is exactly what I have done for Alto when I bought more than a dozen of mpcs with the same opening around.
I also bought all the various brands of reeds, 2-3 strength for each, besides several ligatures.
This has cost MONTHS of tests, comparisons, etc and I had to trust to all my experience (more than 30 years) to decide which for me was the best, which reed was the best for each and the proper ligature
focusing the attention for a non-conditioned embochure without adaptations
Has been very useful, amusing but I don't wish it anybody!!

When I've finished, since sometimes I like to change my sound, I have selected 3 mpcs, 3 different types of reeds and 3 ligatures
I am still selling mpcs (around 0.70-73) that I don't use anymore but I have decided to hold my favorite pieces, 2 Morgans (Jazz and Excalibur) a Rousseau SJ and a Rovner Wilkerson)

When have decided to change opening on Alto I have bought CAUTIOUSLY an inexpensive piece, choosing a Claude Lakey 6 * (0.085) and...all right!! Although is mpc around $ 50 I have to say that it doesn't have disappointed me at all
Anyway, I have decided to use no more metal mpcs, (I believed that only their could have an edgy tone) I definitely prefer the comfort of the ebonite
super20dan
i am opposite of dave and find small tips for sop work better Little Sax
when I played an arrangement of Vissi D'Arte from Tosca that had been transcribed for Sop Sax with Symphonic Band. I needed to switch to a Metal Selmer G in order to reach the dynamic levels Dave Dolson
I've always liked the bigger tips on soprano
Personally, I prefer also to use a mpc more open for Soprano and Clarinet.
I have taken this decision when I had to play in a dixieland combo.
I still used a Vandoren B40 (.047) (later I have taken a John Pierce and a 5JB, around .055-57), but I had to abdicate the clarinet because I didn't succeed in affirming on the brasses.
I picked up a Soprano for lent (a student model) and there I found a metal Selmer F and I played it
I resolved my problems and I have noticed in general a good projection, dynamics, volume, but also intonation and control ... I thought that student model needed a wider opening to play better
When I bought my YAS875 I immediately bought a C * metal but when I compared it with the other, the F, I immediately understood my mistake...
same differences ... I have found better qualities said before...
this way I think that I won't use a more closed mpc and will I try to depart from the opening and trying first a less expensive piece (Lakey?)
bruce bailey
I played on a Vandoren that was quite closed and actually thought it was more open. A Yanagisawa 5 plays as a closed mouthpiece to me but is more open
I have tried many mpcs but I have not found really this particularity
Yes, due to different chambers a more brighter or more dark sound, also the performance changes with a different brand of reed but I has always found necessary the same strength of reed (comparative according to the various brands) for the same opening. Your impression is perhaps given by some light difference (.001 - 2) of opening?
Chris J
There was a thread somewhere on the forum (and I can't find it again) were there was alot of agreement that people found 0.020 between each of sop, alto and tenor when they look back at what their preferences are.
I have had the same thought,
departing from a .085 on Alto, we can suppose a .065 for Soprano, less than .060 for Clarinet, .090 for C-Melody and .105 on Tenor

An interesting scientific system would be find a Correlation Factor (what we will call "CF") among the mpc opening and the air volume of the instrument.
We need to know the air Volume of bodytube (in ml) that we will call "V" and the mpc opening (in mm) and that we will call "O"

This way CF = V/O

Now that we have found the Correlation Factor of our primary instrument,
we can find the relative mpc opening in relationship to the volume of another instrument

So,
O = V/CF
more than science, science-fiction!!
:D Just kidding :D
Regards to everybody and sorry for my mistakes in English language

Answer:
Well, FWIW I have had a SS H and have gone back and forth between it and a Morgan Protone, which is smaller. The Protone works for me and the H is at the large-limit of what works for me in a soprano mpc. As a point of reference, I play a .83 on alto and .105 on tenor.