baritone with tenor reed

[ralph lh]

I've looked for this topic since it seems to me that it would have been covered but can't find anything so, if you can point me in the right direction or provide a response, it would be appreciated.

I have recently been playing a new mpc on my bari and I have noticed that the side rails are much narrower than my other baritone mpcs. In fact, bari reeds overhang each side and the total difference in width is about 95mm.

Given this, I have two questions. First of all, with an amount of overhang along each side of the rails, will that affect the vibration of the reed? And if so, presumably the tone will be affected also????

Secondly, I've tried tenor reeds on the new mpc and they fit perfectly. I don't hear any difference in the sound compared to a baritone reed so I'm thinking that I should just use tenor reeds on this new mpc. Any issues related to that? Does the size difference between bari and tenor reeds cause any issues related to the tone of the bari?

Thanks Guys,
Ralph
www.atjazz.ca

[HC]

I don't see much of an issue with that, but others may argue.
I've used Bari reeds on Contra Alto Clarinet without any problems.
Many people have used tenor or bari reeds on Bass Clarinet.
Lenny Pickett (Saturday Night Live saxophonist) uses Bass Clarinet reeds on his tenor. If it works and seems in tune, keep on using it.

[AbrahamFackle]

Reed size as related to mouthpiece:
1. A reed wider then the mouthpiece (i.e., bari reed on tenor) will create a warmer, mellower, quiter tone. This will usually affect the tuning. On instruments that tend to be bright or harsh in tone, a large reed can make it easier to control (for example, many e-flat clarinet players use Bb clrinet reeds)

2. A reed smaller then the mouthpiece (tenor reed on bari) makes the tone louder, brighter, and harsher. Some players use synthetic tenor reeds on baritone sax.

3. Tenor sax and bass clarinet reeds are not different. Teechnically, a tenor reed should be a tiny bit longer then a bass cl. reed, but with many brands, they are the same (like rico and lavoz), and one brand of bass cl. reed may be longer then another brand's tenor reed. However, the length of the reed affects the response, tone, and tuning very little in comparison to other variations in size and shape.

4. A modern contra-alto clarinet mouthpiece is actually designed to take baritone sax-sized reeds. The larger reeds that are actually labeled contra-alto or contra-bass clarinet (like vandoren) are too wide for a modern CA mouthpiece. This results in a flabby, unfocused tone, which is unfortunate since the CA tends to sound that way by itself. Ages ago, a very large mouthpiece was provided with leblanc contra-bass clarinets, and this is what modern vandoren contrabass reeds are intended for use on. Other brands of contra-alto reed (rico and marca are the only ones, as far as i know) are a size in-between the standard bari reed and the vandoren contra reed (about the same size as a vandoren bari reed- why are those so big, anyway?) and can be used on either mouthpiece. (see no. 1 and no. 2)

[Dave dix]

To add a bit of confusion i often use clarinet reeds on my soprano(D9 Dukoff mpc) as i have a lot of clari reeds so i may aswell use them.They are narrower but seem to work fine
Dave

[Anonymous]

I have often used Tenor reeds on bari and notice that I get a brighter tone. Gives a great sound in the upper octave but I prefer the sound of a baritone reed for the lowest notes - they seem a bit warmer/deeper with the bari reed.

On tenor I tried alto reeds and I quite like them, a little more difficult to subtone but a really bright and edgy sound that I like.

I just tried alto reeds on soprano and I am knocked out - both by the sound and also by the fact that in 30 years of playing sop I've never tried it before. I tried and never liked clarinet reeds on soprano and I just got it stuck in my head that sop reeds work best - so I was really surprised at how wonderfully the alto reed worked even though it looks huge on the tiny sop mouthpiece.

I've even used my tenor mouthpiece on bari and it works quite well thought it is barely hanging onto the tip of the neck.

[Dave dix]

I have also used alto reeds on sop.You seem to get a bigger fatter sound on the more r/b numbers
Dave

[ralph lh]

The comments have been very interesting so far - hope more people add their experiences.

One thing that I will certainly be trying is to use different sax reeds on my horns - as noted above - an alto reed on sop and so on. It will be fun to try.

I do wonder, though, since there is a great deal of attention paid to the correct shaping of the side rail curvature on mouthpieces - one can pay high prices to have a mpc worked on - why does this not come to play when a smaller reed is used on a larger mpc? For example, a tenor reed on a normally wide bari mpc? Abraham notes that this combo "makes the tone louder, brighter, and harsher". Unless I am misreading this, does this not mean that the reed doesn't seal along the rails but fits inside?

My question about the tenor reed was that I am using a bari mpc that is much narrower than my other bari pieces and thus the tenor reed actually fits along the rails.

So, here goes - I'll have to try the alto reed on sop mpc, bari reed on tenor mpc, clarinet reed on....oh what the h..l - bari mpc. :) Maybe this is reason enough to give up on most of the horns and just play one. Ahhhh maybe not.

Thanks for the comments guys. This is gonna be fun and interesting.
Ralph