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Selmer Concept for tenor

20K views 39 replies 16 participants last post by  2phunkey4u 
#1 ·
I emailed Selmer a while back. They said that this piece would be released by Christmas in Europe, and by next summer for the rest of the world. Does anyone know anything else about this mouthpiece?
 
#2 ·
I’ve been wondering about this too.
 
#3 ·
The alto and soprano Concepts have very small tip openings, even compared to other modern classical mouthpieces. Somehow Selmer has made that work, in terms of projection and expressive potential (at least on alto; I haven't tried the soprano Concept yet). But small tip openings seem less successful to me on tenor mouthpieces. It will be interesting to see how the general Concept design is adapted here.
 
#4 ·
Well, one thing that they've done is imitate the tip openings of Claude Delangle's favorite Vandoren mouthpieces. I don't know what he plays on tenor, and I don't think he plays it much, which indicates to me that they probably have a different consultant on the tenor mouthpiece. Therefore, it might wind up with a larger tip opening. The clarinet one is a little larger IIRC.
 
#5 ·
According to the Selmer tip opening chart... both the Concepts (soprano and alto) are in the B*/C tip opening range.

To give them projection, they changed (major change for Selmer mouthpiece) the beak profile and made it much lower.
Think the Vandoren Optimum vs. Vandoren V5 series: the V5 blank has a much lower (and very comfortable) beak!


The internal round "ring" chamber is nothing new on a Selmer mouthpiece. The SD20 alto and tenor pieces have a "round chamber".

I think the idea behind the Concept is to give Delangle a more efficient Vandoren Optimum, but branded Selmer. :)
 
#11 ·
It's .082 inches, same as a Rousseau 5R or Vandoren T20 or TL5. Not a huge opening on tenor.
 
#12 ·
It's not an open mouthpiece in general.
It's wide open among classical mouthpiece, used nowaday (think Selmer S80 C*, Selmer S90 180, Vandoren Optimum TL3)

2,10 mm is a Selmer E.
Nobody uses such a large mouthpiece on tenor, for classical stuff.

Think the alto Concept is set at 1,48 mm which is an old B* (more or less open like a AL3 alto mouthpiece, very popular classical mouthpiece)
 
#13 ·
That's just...wrong. Kenneth Tse uses a 5R. James Houlik uses his own mouthpiece at .095 but the more popular one is .085. Roger Greenberg was using a Selmer S80 D. Jim Romain uses a T20. Classical tenor and bari players use bigger tip openings than on alto because it's actually easier to control a slightly larger tip with a softer reed, especially if your main instrument is alto.
 
#16 ·
Yes... but yu need to think about the fact that:
1) the Selmer Concept is made by a French company named Selmer
2) it's conceived (... or it should be) by French people for a French kind of classical sound (... or at least it was the alto Concept)

In Europe most top classical (and touring) saxophone don't play anything more open than 1,70/1,80 mm on tenor... strange but true!

Since the things evolove in a very very slow way in Europe... probably, behind the concept of the tenor "Concept" there are the facts you said:
- in US, it's common top player don't use such tip opening piece like top player in EU.
- US is the main market for Selmer: they probably decided to design a mouthpiece to match what is "popular" among classical American saxophone players. It's totally legit!
 
#18 ·
This brings up a very good point. The main consultant on the alto and soprano piece was Claude Delangle but he doesn't play tenor. I wonder if the used a different primary design consultant on this one.

The Diastema quartet was the consultants on the SD20 and the SD20 tenor piece is 1.94mm. That's about a D facing, ao this isn't far off. Arno Bornkamp also plays an E facing on tenor.
 
#20 · (Edited)
The alto Selmer C* size is a great tip opening for “classical” music. Dogma has made many teachers force the tenor C* (.071”) on their students since it seems like a logical choice. It was also the stock mouthpiece sold with Selmer tenors. With hard enough reeds you can make it work. But the tenor Selmer D size at .080” is a better match to alto C* size at .067”.
 
#22 ·
You are right and I agree...
But in the part of Europe where I live (and very near), almost nobody plays with mouthpiece open and a B*/C* (the TL3 is a B* in the Selmer universe tip opening scale).
You are right when you say that people who come from alto (as main instrument) always switch to a very closed tenor piece.

Southern Europe and Northern/EU are different markets: something is proven in certain zone of globe... it's definitely not accepted elsewhere.
Probably Selmer, with the tenor Concept changed its approch in the mouthpiece design/development process.
(With the alto Concept, it's like the tried to find the closest tip opening possible to make the sound as "pure" as possible... but still extremely easy to play)

(Most of the stuff related with the wider tip opening suggest on tenor... is probably due the fact that the tenor neck has two curves instead just one of soprano/alto/baritone... but I've listened live myself things that I can even imagine, made with an old Series II and a Vandoren TL3...
, so I don't care and I stay pretty open about everything is about classical playing)
 
#23 · (Edited)
You are right when you say that people who come from alto (as main instrument) always switch to a very closed tenor piece.
Well, not I, as my comments in this thread indicate.

I think that classical alto players often may start with a closed tenor piece, due to inexperience and/or Selmer's misleading facing charts. But where they end up is another matter, as the design of the Concept for tenor recognizes. Last year, a new player joined our saxophone section. She was a good alto player, but we didn't need another alto, so she was invited to try tenor. She found a Martin Typewriter in a friend's attic, had it overhauled, and began looking for a mouthpiece. I think her first tryouts were in the C*/C** range. Eventually, I let her try my Vandoren T20, which had been idle after I switched to the TL5. After a couple of weeks, she was convinced, and bought it from me.
 
#25 ·
Conn-Selmer has these at the Symposium. I didn't get to try one so I can't comment on it.
 
#26 ·
I tried to do some digging and it seems that Kessler & Sons are the only place currently you can purchase/preorder the new Selmer Paris Concept Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece. I left them a message tonight asking about the validity of it because it isn't even available on WWBW yet.

Will let you guys know when I find out more about it.
Jo
 
#30 ·
Any one have one of these mouthpieces?
I ordered two from a local music shop and but they are probably still on backorder. Dont know when they will arrive.
 
#34 ·
Just received a new Selmer Concept for tenor and I can provide updates on its performance later this week if anyone is interested!
 
#35 ·
Got to try one today. For me, it's a VERY dark piece. Enough that I couldn't get any color out of the sound. So my T20 beats it out tone wise. But the Concept had very good response throughout the whole range and plays pretty well in tune. It should definitely be perfect for some people.
 
#36 ·
Hey guys,
You all seemed rather excited in anticipation of the arrival of the Selmer Concept for Tenor. Then next to nothing. Little feedback. Does that mean it is no good? I love the Selmer Concept on Soprano so I need to know for the Tenor.

For those who have now tried the Concept, what do you think and in particular how does it vary with different reeds traditional vs jazz?
 
#37 ·
I use the Selmer concept mouthpieces on tenor and alto in wind ensemble. I find they're quite similar in tone and response to the Selmer S80 mouthpieces, but project better. Certainly a dark tone, but can be influenced by reed selection. Very dark with a vandoren blue box reed, brighter with Rigotti Gold.
 
#38 ·
I recently got a Selmer Concept for Tenor to compare it to my T20. I basically agree with @Christian1 that the T20 is brighter, but there is something about the roundness, warmth, and evenness of the Concept sound that I am really intrigued by. Time to experiment with lighter reeds going forward...
And there I was thinking the T20 had a long body...the one of the Concept is even longer. I have to push it all the way onto the cork to be in tune at A=440 (using a Series 3 Tenor).

Interestingly, it was the other way around for me on Alto, where I found the Concept brighter than my Vandoren AL3.
 
#39 ·
And there I was thinking the T20 had a long body...the one of the Concept is even longer. I have to push it all the way onto the cork to be in tune at A=440 (using a Series 3 Tenor).
It's really long! To the point that I actually tried, with moderate success, playing it on my bari. It worked, but for longterm playing would probably benefit from some chamber work and a larger tip opening.
 
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