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Otto Link STM NY Sound Test

5K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  ZJAZZ 
#1 ·
Dear friends,

Wanted to share with you two little clips that I recorded to sound test my Link STM NY. It is 10 tip opening that I refaced. Reeds I'm using are D'Addario Royal number 5.

In the videos I am trying various dynamic levels pushing it to the limits as well as backing up the sound to see timbre changes and what colors piece has to offer. I recorded with two different microphone placements. In the first video where mic placement is closer and higher I get somewhat brighter tone, and in the second example the mic is lower and slightly further from the bell of the horn that gives slightly darker sound. Interesting to see how very slight change in placement and angle of the mic can drastically change the color of the tone of the instrument despite the same setup. I hope you will enjoy this quick sound test. :)

Higher placement that approximately around palm keys and angled slightly down:

Lower placement that approximately in front of the bell and angled more straight:
 
#3 ·
I like it! I'm amazed at how much edge you can get out of a 10 with a 5 reed! Many yrs. ago, I used to play on a 10* with Rico Royal 4's, but never got that much edge. The only place on the horn that it's maybe noticeable you're playing on a big setup is down around your low B, but it's marginal. You're vids also point out how incredibly much the sound can seem to change by simply having different mic. placement. Excellent stuff and thanks for sharing!

John
 
#4 ·
Nice playing and nice experiment.

I prefer the sound in the second clip, with the lower mic placement. The sound is more natural, rounder and darker.

I think you will sound even better with a softer reed, something like a 3.5 or 4.

Thanks for sharing. :)
 
#6 ·
That sounds great. Nice open tone. Is it a current production stock NY STM? I have one but it is more compressed sounding. I could not play that open a tip with a hard reed. Maybe that's the difference (I play a 7* with a 2.5 reed). I also prefer the sound of the second clip. Mics make a big difference to the naked ear.
 
#9 ·
Thanks everyone for checking out the clips and I appreciate your feedback very much. Glad to hear this is helpful and enjoyable :)

To answer some questions and comments:

@JGREINER- Yes I totally know what you mean about low notes! They are tough to keep the same timbre and balance comparing to mid register. I'm working on them for last 350 years, and I just need little more, maybe like 200 years more to get totally dialed in :) But seriously, I've been playing on close tips on Tenor for long time and air moves differently on open tips so yeah there are things I'm learning in terms of control day by day.

@MRPEEBEE- Thanks for your suggestion for softer reeds. However I don't think I can get control I'm after on softer reed, it just doesn't work with me for some reason. It sounds too "reedy" if you know what I mean, like too much buzz. Sometimes even brand new out of the box 5 feels too buzzy, so then I go to my backup 11 opening STM NY to balance it out a bit :)

@CLIFFK- Yes it is a current production NY STM but it's refaced. Glad you like the open sound I'm getting, and I'm still working on it. Tone for me is number one aspect. I would recommend checking out Bob Sheppard's clips where he play tests different pieces (if you haven't), I learned a lot from just listening those excerpts and trying to understand the sound qualities, he has an absolutely amazing open tone. That helped me a lot to open my sound up and hope that helps to you too.

@ROBERT GRAY- Thanks yeah I'm around, just not always have time to check new updates in threads, but I always try to answer each and everyone. Yes I have more videos on my youtube channel including some solo works, some comparisons of Slant and Straight Florida Links, and comparisons with SBA and Mark VI if you interested checking them out. If you'd like to listen to latest recording this is a duo concert little less than a month ago. I play exactly the same setup here :
 
#11 ·
@MRPEEBEE- Thanks for your suggestion for softer reeds. However I don't think I can get control I'm after on softer reed, it just doesn't work with me for some reason. It sounds too "reedy" if you know what I mean, like too much buzz. Sometimes even brand new out of the box 5 feels too buzzy, so then I go to my backup 11 opening STM NY to balance it out a bit :)
Thanks ZJAZZ, I fully understand what you mean with the reedy 'buzz' sound (I'm going for that sound with my Florida no USA 10* and use size 2 reeds lately!).

By the way, like you I also have a fully standard modern NY STM 11, plays really nice and smooth with a La Voz medium for me, but I prefer the more edgy sound I get from the vintage Florida (which is my number 1 mouthpiece).
 
#13 ·
Thanks LITTLEWAILER. I totally agree with you on reverb thing. I think when it's done just right then its not compromising the sound and adding necessary texture. Of course once it's sounds like its in "space" then its too much for true tone color. Various music types call for more reverb, or less, but that's different with videos like this because the purpose is to have the natural sound for the testing purposes. However in my opinion NO reverb is not natural either, because there is a natural reverb in the room, unless of course it's a booth. I recorded a very quick video today where I wanted to hear a comparison sound between my SBA and SSS. I used a very minimum natural reverb on this recording, very similar to the natural sound of the room. So I wanted to share this video in this thread, here's the link:

 
#14 ·
ZJAZZ, not much difference between the SBA and SSS in my ears, and the small differences I hear are not consistent over the whole video. In full tone I seem to like the SSS a bit better, it sounds a bit more open and seems to be able to handle more ear. In the subtone part of your clip I preferred the SBA a bit more.

But, as mentioned, I don't think a lot of people on the other side of the horn will hear any difference during a gig / concert.
 
#15 ·
Thank you MRPEEBEE. You are 100% on the point! The tone of both instruments is so flexible that it gives player the chance to shape it the way you want. Sometimes it feels SBA gets more sound, and sometimes SSS. In reality I have a very hard time discerning them and in no way able to like one over another, especially once you played the horn for 4-5 minutes I get used to it and lock in the sound. I would say the tone of two is pretty similar however SBA concentrates the sound more in front of the horn, where SSS seems to spread it out. That's pretty much it for me, other than that the "tone department" is pretty much the same with that great flexibility. I need to do a longer comparison test for better results, this one was really on the run and was done in about 5 minutes (plus editing). Every time I go out to play I can't decide which one gets playing this time :) Both horns are truly great to me and I love them equally. BTW long time ago we've talked to you (if you remember), we have exactly the same SBA's! Just very last two digits are different, so we have very similar horns made by same master! (506XX). Thanks again for checking out the clip and your comments! :)
 
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