Back when I was 19-20 I lived in far Northwest Chicago.  Occasionally my friends and I would go down to Lake Michigan to roam around the parks or beach.  One night we were on the Northwestern University campus, right next to the lake.  There's a park there between some of the dorms on the South.  As we were just roaming around, sitting on the big rocks piled up to keep the shoreline from eroding, and contemplating life, I heard this saxophone.  I looked around and I could see a guy sitting in the window of his dorm, half hanging out, just belting out a mellow tune.  The sound filled the air.  It was beautiful.

Fast forward about 10 years, I still remember that saxophone and decide to buy a used sax.  If I recall it was Bundy II.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I bought a beginner book and started teaching myself.  But I was still working and raising a family at the time, and started a Masters program, so didn't spend much time, and didn't get much better.  I could play some songs (I knew how to read music from my guitar background), but I felt frustrated, and I gave it up and sold the sax.

Fast forward another few years, I end up buying another sax, off Ebay, but same thing happened.  Frustration set in and I sold it.  Thinking back on it, it was still lack of time, and that produced frustration because I wasn't progressing as fast as I wanted to, I don't think there were any online classes at the time!

Fast forward 30 years, yeah that makes me 60.  Kids are grown and doing their own thing.  I retired at 57 to prepare for a motorcycle trip around the world, take off in December of 2019, get only as far as Colorado to Honduras before COVID closes all the borders, I get stuck in Honduras for three months, and 7 months after leaving, I'm back in the US, hoping it all just goes away... It didn't.  Having sold everything before the trip I had to reestablish myself and ended up on 8 acres in Alabama.

I realize I have a lot of time on my hands, which brings me to January of '22, COVID is still a thing, and I decide it's about time I try the saxophone again, because I finally have time, and the prospects of traveling through the land of COVID bureaucracy is not appealing, and that sound drifting across the park at Northwestern that one night hasn't gone from my head.

So, seeing as I'm not going to spend a lot of money, I get myself on Ebay and see what's selling.  I settle for a new China made Tenor for $550 (can't really beat that).  Got myself a couple beginner lesson books, a couple beginner song books and I'm off.  Made pretty quick progress for a couple weeks until the sax got annoying.  The pads were sticking to the holes, and the G# key would stay stuck, and no matter how much I tried to clean the pads, first with Zipo lighter fluid (that's recommended) and then a leather conditioner, they still stuck.  Then I also noticed that the octave mechanism on the top of the neck was bent.  So started the process to return the sax. 

Soon as I knew I was returning it I started looking for a replacement.  Again Ebay, but figured I'd need to spend a little more if I wanted decent quality. Clearly $550 was not going to cut it. Looked like at least $1000 gets you something decent. I found a fully rebuilt Cleveland, from the 70's.  Rebuilt by a guy who has been doing instruments for 40 years.  It looked good in the photos but, that didn't turn out so well.  You can definitely see that technology made some leaps from the 70's to the China model.  The Cleveland was very hard to operate, especially the table keys, and actually there were some corks missing, and then the G# key got stuck open, and another cork fell off... So, I started the return process again.

Then I found

I've purchased a metal #5 mouthpiece, which is a 1.9mm tip opening, from the same eBay reseller I got the #6 from (which is a 2.03 opening).  With the 2.25 reed it's really a nice combination.  Good volume, not muffled, and plays across the whole range without excessive pressure, while still relatively easier to control than the #6 from that supplier. 

And actually my 2.25 reed wore out.  I tried trimming the tip a little but it came out too stiff.  I tried going back to a cane 2.5 reed, but again, I just find it too stiff, and needing to wet them is kind of annoying now that I'm used to the plastic reed.  So, I'm experimenting again.  I could just get get another 2.25, but at $34 dollars a piece, that's a bit ridiculous.  I know enough about plastics that that I know there's maybe a couple pennies of plastic there.

I had previously purchased a Bari synthetic Medium, which they say is a 3+.  That was ridiculously stiff.  I took a shot at sanding it, but that did not work and I tossed it.  I now went and tried their Medium Soft which is supposed to be a 2.0-2.5.  Yeah, it's probably a 2.5-2.75.  Too stiff.  I tried sanding one of those down also to get it softer but it didn't play well, so tossed that also.  I now have an order in for the Bari soft, which is supposed to be a 1.5-2.  Judging by their other reeds, it's going to be a 2.0 or slightly higher, at least on my scale.  The Bari reeds are $13 each plus shipping, so I can get three of them for not much more than one Legere, figure in the long run, if it works it's worth the experimentation. 

I also tried some 1.5 Rico cane reeds, they were just too soft and didn't play well across the full range of the instrument. I still have a plastic Legere 2.0 that didn't play well with my Yamah #5, but with my #5 metal mouthpiece it plays amazing; easily across the full range.  Being that I'm waiting for the Bari, I've been using the Leger 2.0.  My hope is that the Bari Soft is close to the Legere 2.0; all the advantages of a synthetic reed, for a fraction of the Legere price.

I'm actually amazed at what a difference these reed strengths, and mouthpieces make to the playability.  The general principal is with a stiff reed you use a lower number mouthpiece.  Otherwise it will take a lot of effort in both air and lip pressure to play.  With a stiff reed I can't get through much of a song before my lips are Jello.  Also, it takes a lot of initial tongue pressure when you press and release to start a note, and I'd find I just get air flow, not the note.  Some combinations are relatively effortless, others can make it near impossible to hit certain notes consistently.

My teacher Scott recommended I get a Yahama 4C and the 2.25 synthetic or 2.5 cane reeds.  After only playing less than two months it became clear that the combination was stuffy and limiting my air flow.  I'm glad I took the time to try the metal mouthpieces and experiment with reeds.  Now at 8 months of playing, I'm starting to zero into the combination that I'll stick with.  If the Bari reeds don't work out, then it will probably be another Legere 2.0 or 2.25.  I don't see any weakness in those reeds, only the price.

Well, the BARI reeds didn't work out.  The Standard S is playable, but it's just not as playable as the Legere 2.0 Classic.  I then purchased an "Elite" BARI S from the manufacturer, and they also sent me an ECO MS (made from recycled plastic). From what I could tell the Elite was used and warped, so it played pretty bad, but that's what they sent me! I'm going to ask for my money back.  The BARI's are more effort; higher lip pressure needed on high notes, high notes difficult to get out, high F difficult to pop, and playing Overtones results in a lower range (can't hit as many high overtones).  The Elite also has a very narrow range starting at high B, where you're either quacking or choking it off.  And the low notes were harder to initiate. Maybe if it wasn't warped it would have been better, but the fact that they would even send me a reed that bad doesn't say much for them.

I'll also be returning the other BARI reeds that I have left over; two Original S's and one Star MS.  I'll use the money to buy a couple more more Legere 2.0 Classics.

I tried the BARI reeds. I think the Elite reed was bad.  The reed was warped and had scuffs on the underside.  They also sent me an Eco reed, which is made from recycled plastic. Of the two, the Elite actually played worse.  At about high B it kind of starts to fall apart.  There's a very narrow range between choking it off and sounding like a duck.  The high E and F were also difficult and generally it required more lip pressure on the higher end.  The Eco was more stable but still more difficult on the high notes.

Played side by side with my Legere Classic 2.0, the Legere is significantly better than either one of them.  No ducks, no choking off, the notes pop over the entire range, high overtones come out easier.  Just easier to play overall.  I sent back those reeds, and some BARI's I had bought earlier and used the money to buy two more Legere 2.0's.  They came and they are totally consistent with my current reed.

I moved away from the metal mouth piece I was using, and back to the Yamaha 5C.  It takes less effort, it's not as loud, but more importantly it has a cleaner sound, deeper, more mellow, less shrill. High F is a little harder to hit, and the very low notes require less pressure, but the differences are minor. The sound is much more pleasing, less shrill.

I do have the plastic MP that came with the Eastern Music.  That was just worthless, because the sealing surface wasn't smooth.  I tried sanding it and got it so it plays, but still not as well.  It's a no name so, hardly worth the effort.  I see a Yamaha 6C in my future.  It actually has a slightly smaller gap than the metal mouthpiece, but would have the same deeper tone.

Now that I've been playing the Legere's 2.0 for a month, my oldest one was starting to sound buzzy.  So, figured since I have two newer one's might as well try to trim it.  Used a heavy duty toenail clipper to trim about a mm off the end.  That makes a huge difference; too stiff actually, but a lot less buzzy.  It made it feel more like a 3.0 or higher.  I than sanded it against some 320 grit sand paper to try and thin it down, so it's not so hard to play.  It actually worked.  I'm going to keep shaving it down until I get it closer to the 2.0 stiffness, but a little at a time.  One thing that obvious is that a stiffer reed makes it much easier to play the high notes.  Now what Scott said in his altisimo training video makes sense.  You can't do altisimo with a worn out reed.  So, I've gone ahead and ordered a reed trimmer.  It will allow me to trim off with better control, and less at a time, and one reed trimming will pay for it.  I may trim a new reed just to get it slightly stiffer to start with.

I bought a cheap trimmer for the reeds on Ebay. Meh.. it works. Not ideal; just a little too narrow. But it works, and sanding the reeds also seems to work.  So, I'm good for now.

Purchased a different trimmer.  Much wider than than the other one, and all metal construction. Seems to work well.

At this point I have five Leger reeds. A couple 2.25 Signature, and the rest 2.0 Classic.  All except for the latest 2.25 Signature are modified.  Meaning they got worn out (started sounding buzzy), so I clipped the tip off, and sanded them as needed.  Basically clipping makes the reed act like a stiffer reed. I'm learning how to approach the sanding process to lighten them up if I want.  It's actually amazing how much of a difference in sound the reed makes.  Sand just a bit and there's a noticeable difference.  Key is to do it a little at a time:
1. Top surface only.
2. First just the tip, maybe the front 1/8-1/4". Sometimes that's enough.
3. If I want it to play lighter, then maybe sand the first half inch.
4. If that's not enough then try to sand even further back, but along the sides, to maintain the center hump.
5. The trick is knowing when to stop, because if you go too far then trim again and sand again.

It's definitely an art, and no two sound the same.  What's amazing is just what a sound difference it can make.  New the reeds are on the bright side.  The latest one I modified is significantly darker. Darker, but easier to play. It even effects the tuning of the instrument.  The new 2.25 requires more pressure or the notes are flat, so I slide the mouthpiece further on to sharpen all the notes and minimize the pressure needed.

I'm doing a lot of playing around with my embouchure.  Mostly keeping it as light as possible and very little lip over the bottom teeth, and very little contact of the top teeth on the mouthpiece.  Trying to do more tuning with my voice rather than changing lip pressure.  The loser lips definitely give a louder, complex tone (more of the overtones coming out).

I also ordered a Vandoren V16 Large Chamber mouthpiece, going for that darker sound I prefer.  We'll see how it works out.

The Vandoren V16 went back in the box and I've got it up for sale.  Honestly it just doesn't sound that much different.  It's definitely louder, but that may come just as much from the wider tip opening as from the "darker" large chamber design. You know what gets me about the "large" chamber design? It fits the same ligature as my non large chamber design.  Seems to me that's not very large, is it?  You'd think a large would need a different size ligature.

The other day I saw this MP comparison  https://www.neffmusic.com/blog/2022/11/theo-wanne-battle-royal-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-showdown-round-one-ballad/ .  Seriously, ok there are slight difference in the sound of these MP's but, not enough to really make a difference.  I've come to the conclusion that there are way too many mouthpieces in the world. 

You hear various people say forget about constantly looking for different gear.  I can now see why.  It really does not make that much of a difference.  It's all nuance and it's just more of the "looking is better than finding" reality.  We enjoy looking and searching for the next "thing" more than we enjoy what we have.  It's all ego based thinking, or lack of thinking. 

Tried the Vandoren again just to be sure.  Yeah, nothing really there for me.  Though I did move up to the Yamaha C6 from the C5, vs the C4 when I first started.  I then moved back to the C5, and the C6 is definitely freer blowing.  Also went back and tried one of my metal MP's with the high baffle.  Nope, don't like that bright sound at all.  I should probably sell those couple; no point in keeping them.