Matching Alto and Tenor Sax Mouthpiece "Feel"

[I. Fallon]

If your main sax is an alto or a tenor, but double on the other sax, shouldn't it be advantageous to have the outer dimensions of the mouthpiece matched to provide a similar mouth "feel?" I am not aware of any manufacturer doing this, but it seems to make sense ergonometrically (at least to me).

The smallest tenor mouthpiece that I can think of is the metal Berg, and it would seem that making a alto with similar outer dimensions would not be too difficult.

A similar argument can be made of soprano/alto and tenor/baritone, but the market might be too small.

[singlereed]

Sort of yes and no ... the dimensions of the piece, inside and outside, do move related to the size of the horn, but is you look at the different sizes of one make (e.g. a Jody Jazz), I see a very small soprano piece indeed with a small round chamber compared to the more square type on the other sizes. Also, whilst I am a fan of Vandoren V5 pieces on alto and tenor, the soprano beak is too narrow for me and even with a mouthpiece patch on, my mouth is not open enough to get the full sound I enjoy with other makes of mouthpiece. I do have a family of alto, tenor and soprano Selmer Metal Classics and these are favourites on all horns, though in this case, the design is very similar from one to the next size, and all of them feel and sound very good. With the abundance of choice, if you are for example looking for an alto piece that feels similar in your mouth to your tenor, you should be able to find one, but it might not be the best move for you as the embouchure and oral cavity do need to change according to the horn you are playing.