I know how hard it is to find a great bass sax mouthpiece. I've been working with Fred Lebayle to make the best bass sax piece available. I feel confident that this will make many bass sax players very happy! Here is a clip of me playing the new "Rosie" piece:
And here's a link to where you can buy one that will be handmade and tested before being shipped. http://r.ebay.com/P3a1gE
This came about after playing pretty much every bass piece available, and also most baritone mouthpieces on bass.
This is great news. Will be considering this mpc seriously. For the time being I am playing a Zinner A (which, BTW, I like very much) - I wonder how Rosy will be different...
I have two friends that have switched to the Lebayle after playing on Jody Jazz bass pieces for several years. The Lebayle seems to have a larger tone overall, but the jody plays well also. Having the mouthpiece made for bass reeds seems to make a big difference on control and projection.
Yes I'm talking about the DV Bass. It's been out for a few years. According to the people working for Jody the mouthpiece was made for baritone reeds. You can see the tip and rails are wider on true bass sax pieces. Great to hear that you can use bass reeds! Here's Stefan Zeniuk who was using a Jody DV Bass before getting the Lebayle.
I like the sound, and the playing of course However, the sound concept seems to be of the bass sax mostly as a solo instrument. I mostly play the bass sax as the bass payer of the band, with a sound as dark as possible (overtones just get in the way of the other instruments in the mix). For that sound concept I like an old Conn (Pan American) bass saxophone with an old no baffle tubby mouthpiece with baritone reeds - these have more focus and can be played darker than bass saxophone reeds, in my experience. It is not the easiest playing setup though, so I am open to suggestions of easier ways to arrive at that kind of sound.
As an example: or: (first song of the concert, the bass was still too loud in the mix)
I don't know if this would really help - it sounds to me like you manage pretty well (great sounding band, I mainly play in a Balkan influenced band so it's very interesting to me!) - anyway, when I used to play bass saxophone more often, I used mouthpieces like that with Bari synthetic reeds. They have a very clear sound that delivers on the lower end, with there's some brightness to bring out the attack, and they work well with close facings.
It makes sense, I think, that bass sax mostly serves as a bass instrument. My H Couf Keilwerth doesn't really tune very well with old mouthpieces, so it's up to me to do what I can with the more modern (Zimmer?) mouthpiece that came with it ... probably would not really be satisfactory if I actually had a bass saxophone gig these days, too bright.
For you Henk, rubber pieces in general may be better. Fred made a rubber Rosie bass that is definitely darker than the metal, but its still very powerful. It may be too much for what you want. No mouthpiece will ever please everyone I've had several rubber Vandorens refaced that became nice pieces, and also a couple Selmers. I played the bass role last weekend with a 16 piece recording session, but it was certainly a modern group and focusing on free improv grooves. The Rosie worked very well, but it might have been in a more of an electric bass vibe.
interesting. I wonder if those who would order this mouthpiece would go through the ordeal to which other lebayle’s customers have been subject to in the last couple of years.
there was a very long thread, now mysteriously disappeared, on some recent serious problems
Clearly there have been issues with Fred keeping up with demand. All I know is that I'm handling these Rosie bass and baritone mouthpieces, and they are all made within two weeks. There are limited blanks and when those are gone I will stop taking orders.
nothing wrong with offering stuff that you have in your possession, the problems start when people start selling things that aren’t yet being made and get paid in advance for things that might not materialize for a VERY long time.
Brian, maybe a bit off topic, but since you play both baritone and bass sax, what do you use them for specifically? How do you choose to use the one or the other? I am tempted to become more flexible soundwise on the bass sax, so I can give up baritone all together, but I'm not sure that would work.
I use them both for holding down the bass lines and also as a soloist. The more I play bass sax the more I prefer it to baritone, although most my gigs require baritone, and bass is optional. I think of them as different colors in my palette. Much of the bass sax work I get is as a guest soloist with bands and on recordings. Many people are much better than me at playing the bass role...I approach it more as a soloist, and frankly don't have the chops to play bass lines as interesting and hip as a real bass player. I love playing an instrument with few preconceptions of tone and approach. This has lead me to try to find new options in equipment to find the sonic possibilities.
Brian, I listened to your clips again and I really like your sound and approach - fresh, inspiring and a new use of the instrument to me. You seem to be quite comfortable on this setup. One of these practical things I noticed: do you really play the bass sax with a regular neck strap? How much does the Selmer weigh? I couldn't possibly do that with my Pan American bass for more than 10 minutes.
Thank you for listening Henk, I'm happy you enjoyed it. I really love bass sax, it's open to so many possibilities. I think the Selmer weighs 17.5 lbs if I'm remembering correctly. I know it weighs a little more than my Conn did. I use the neckstrap when I'm only playing for a little while. I use a harness when I'm saying for long periods. I got used to switching from bari to bass during gigs and I always use a neckstrap on bari. I'm also really tall so maybe that helps.
I've got a Selmer BASS SA80II silver platted and a Conn 1925 and there is a big difference of wheight
for the Conn I use a vintage Lelandais hard ruber mpcs and for the Selmer a Jody BASS DV6, with both I use Légère synthetic reeds bass sax for the Jody and contrabass clarinet for the Lelandais
How can I purchase the Rosy metal one? is there different tip openings?
You can get them with tip openings between 6-9*. It's up to you.
To order you can PM me. I play test all of them before being shipped, and I'm handling shipping also.
Just found all this interesting! I've occasionally had the chance to play a Selmer Serie II bass sax and used a Berg Larsen HR baritone mouthpiece with it to great effect. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Henk's work with Carlama Orkestar, you should check it out. I was lucky enough to see them at RNCM Manchester 3 or 4 years ago and they tore the place up, this was following a set by the amazing Sax Assault with an audience almost entirely made up of sax players. They are an absolutely crazy band with no let-up in energy and under it all are Henk's fantastic driving bass lines.
Thanks, Singlereed, for the compliment and for remembering that performance, we had a great time!
What I like about this thread is the variety of styles and roles for the bass saxophone. I mean, an instrument that can cover playing bass lines, melody and soloing, and solo performances such as Colin Stetson's, is pretty flexible. Different uses, different setups.
Fred Lebayle's mouthpiece is fricking excellent. I can attest. I was using a Jody Jazz mouthpiece for the last 3 or so years, and before that an old vintage hard-rubber. Fred's definitely opened the whole horn up, to allow for more soloistic playing, melodic and such. But it also honks its way through bass lines really well. I do alot of that stuff, playing old-time jazz, New Orleans stuff, slavic/eastern european brass band music.... and it's fine for that stuff too. But I also lead a cuban 5-piece group, playing all the melodies and solos, and it cuts through 2 percussionists just fine.
About neckstraps -- I've used a couple of them over the years, but I finally settled on a luggage shoulder strap that I use as a sling, over my left shoulder and under my right. I had a harnass strap a few years ago that SNAPPED on a gig, sending the horn flying! much to my horror, the horn was miraculously fine. but since then, I've always opted for the "industrial strangth" route. Sax straps are just not built for the weight, especially if you move alot, and decide to raise the horn up into the air while you're playing, as I do on occasion.
Brian, I see that you are playing a Selmer bass sax. I have a Noblet which is also short French style, though I don't know how it compares to the Selmer. Have you tried out other basses, of the short French wrap style, and if so do you think the Lebayle would give similar results?
Also, it's been a year and a half roughly since the last post on this thread. What is the availability and how to get these MPs nowadays?
Thanks! By the way, I listened to some of your videos and I think you sound great, and I think the concept is roughly similar to what I want to do with the bass.
I have friends playing these pieces on all sorts of bass saxes with success. They're all custom ordered and it depends on what stock he has. I know that Fred has one available metal blank right now. He will probably make more blanks in a few months. You can PM me if interested in getting one. Take care,
I want to get a LeNayle, and I wish I'd seen this thread earlier! I'm a big fan of Brian Landrus' playing, and awestruck that he put in the effort to sort out LeBayle orders.
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