Vandoren vs Selmer | Alto Sax Mouthpieces | Classical Models
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- Опубликовано: 26 мар 2025
- In this video we check out four of the top Classical Alto Sax mouthpiece models from Vandoren and Selmer with the help of top UK Classical specialist Alastair Penman.
We discuss and demonstrate the NEW Vandoren Profile AP3, the Vandoren Optimum AL3, the Selmer S80 C* and Selmer Concept. These four models offer players a slightly different feel and tone and would all be ideal for Classical, Contemporary and standard Grade work on Alto Sax.
All these mouthpieces are available via:
Vandoren AP3 Profile: www.dawkes.co....
Vandoren AL3: www.dawkes.co....
Selmer S80 C*: www.dawkes.co....
Selmer Concept: www.dawkes.co....
For a more direct sound comparison :D
Vandoren AP3: [1:56]
Vandoren AL3: [3:02]
Selmer S80 C*: [4:06]
Selmer Concept: [5:09]
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thank you!
THANK YOU! (x3) We always get to hear Jazz or commercial players on other pieces, but not really a true classical player demo mouthpieces. I love Alastair and he is the perfect player for this video. I am looking to switch from my Soloist to either the Concept, S90, or the AP3. I felt like the Concept sounded the most beautiful with a richer tone, but I wonder if that is because that is the mouthpiece that he has played for years.
Thanks for your comments - We agree it's best to have a proper classical specialist demonstrate these mouthpieces and Alastair is just to man!
@@dawkesmusic Do you think it would be possible to Alastair demo and evaluate the new Selmer Claude Delangle mouthpiece?
@@JoAnnP38 Hi JoAnn, thanks for your kind comments! We had hoped to include the Claude Delangle mouthpiece in this video, but unfortunately Selmer didn't have one that we could use at the time! Once I have one I hope we'll be able to do a video demo. I can say that I have tried one, and very much enjoyed it - it felt a bit like a beefed-up Concept! (Certainly it was closest to the Concept in design and feel)
I've played that aria piece at the start. Love it
The selmer concept has the cleanest sound.
I agree with the Selmer mouthpieces having more projection. I have found the Vandoren Optimum to be much more mellow and especially noticed this when I heard someone playing a baritone sax with a Vandoren BL3 and it seemed quite quiet sounding. I started playing 2 years ago and I play on Legere Signature reeds. I have a S80 C** and it was one of my first upgrade mouthpieces after about 5 months of playing on a Yamaha 4C. I got it with a Rovner Dark ligature. It was a much better upgrade but after a while of of playing it, I started to find it a bit resistant and I noticed I couldn't play as long as I wanted without feeling my face get a little tired. By this stage I had started playing on a JodyJazz HR* which is far less resistant so noticed the difference as I could play longer on it with no issues.
A few months ago I wanted to play more classical pieces and wanted a darker tone than the JodyJazz gives me so I bought a Vandoren AL5. After playing on it for 2 months with a M/O ligature, I noticed that while it had good tuning and is less resistant than the S80, it can be a bit mellow whereas the S80 is more projecting so at times I play on either depending on what sound I want. I got a BG Duo gold lacquer ligature for both and gives me a little more resistance over the M/O ligature which is freeblowing and has a light sound, it centers the sound and gives me a bigger tone which helps with playing on the the AL5.
It’s a BL3 not AL3 for Baritone
I have watched this video several times over the last few years. I have all the mouthpieces listed... more or less I can sound identical on all of them if I find the right reed. I like concept vs the c* comparison. With a darker sounding reed like the legere french cut I prefer playing the c*... with a brighter sounding reed like the legere signature I like the concept.
Ahh nice, Eugene Bozza's Aria. The Selmer Concept gave it a really nice sound.
The best Selmer S80 C* alto sax 👌🏻🎵🎷
Yeah, the C* definitely has more clarity to the sound.
My man on the left has an angelic tone
Great video ...thanks for posting it.
Great tone overall!
My thoughts about this: The Selmer mouthpieces are generally brighter than the Vandoren one, so Selmer is more the typical saxophone sound we know, while the Vandoren ones go a bit further towards a clarinet sound (while Selmer has more oboe in its sound).
In my opinion the AP3 and the Concept are superior to the others, because they are much more uniform in their sound, while the 80C* and especially the AL3 are a bit bumpy, so close notes have quite a distinct tone. I thing the AP3 is the smoothest of these mouthpieces, with the smallest tone change in the register break and keeping it’s character quite well down into the low notes, where it produces a beautiful pianissimo. The Concept has a slightly different kind of sound in the low notes than in the higher notes.
So I’d say that the AP3 and the Concept are both very high quality mps, where the AP3 is a bit more controlled and more uniform over it’s range, while the Concept has a more typical Saxophone sound. Also for me the Concept is slightly more beautyful in the high range, while the AP3 is just wonderful in the low range.
i wish you had included the soloist and s90 in the comparison! can you maybe do another selmer-line comparison of S80/S90/Soloist/Concept? You don't even have to do any talking.. just some playing would be great!
We'll see what we can do :) The issue is the S90 is so rarely used in the UK there isn't much stock around. We went through a period of keeping a range in the store but no-one (and I mean not one single person out of hundreds of players!) ever chose them in back-to-back tests against the Concept or S80.
Ahh that's so interesting!!
Funny I picked from sound alone the C* S80 right away. For bigger sound and cleaner
which has more projection and power and breadth of sound and Ap3 or concept?
i come back to this video a lot, but you are just too good a player with your own sound concept, so more or less you make all the mouthpieces sound the same 😂😂😂😂
Would have loved to hear low B-flat comparison.
Thanks for this very informative video! Do your comments carry over to the soprano models? Are they all equally easy to play? Thanks!
Yes they are! We're working on a new video for the SP3 vs Concept on Soprano - Make sure you're subscribed to get it first :)
@@dawkesmusic That's great news, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for making these classical-oriented reviews! :)
@@dawkesmusic It will be very lovely and useful when this eventuates.
I have the AL3 and C* and think the Vandoren is a little easier to articulate notes.
I have a question, the Selmer Soloist is a classical mouthpiece? or it can be used to play jazz and other music genres?
The modern Soloist is geared more towards the classical side of things. You could arguably use the more open facings for Jazz playing BUT it's not like a vintage soloist and we don't know of many players that use the modern ones in that circumstance.
1:57
5:11
4:08
The Vandoren mouthpieces sound muddier (particularly in the 2nd faster passage) compared with the Selmer.
I'm still finding it difficult to think of the Saxophone as being a Classical music instrument.
It's always been a Jazz'n'Blues instrument for me...
Well, it was invented as a classical instrument. The patent in Paris, France dates to 1846 which is before jazz was developed from blues. The original keys of C and F are orchestral keys.
While the saxophone is certainly a wonderful jazz instrument, it has seen a fair bit of use in classical music as well. There are plenty of original sax quartets and even more still quartets arranged for saxophone from string quartets. The saxophone is also an integral part of the wind ensemble and an occasional guest in the orchestra in pieces written after its invention. In this regard, the saxophone finds itself in a similar situation to the euphonium, in that it is vital in wind ensemble music but is not a standard part of the orchestra. There are, however, quite a lot of orchestral pieces that feature the saxophone, including Ravel's "Bolero", Shostakovich's "Suite for Variety Orchestra", Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights", Ravel's orchestration of "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". Shostakovich's suite in particular has in my opinion some of the best saxophone scoring in the orchestra, integrating it fully into the orchestral texture, so much so, that you wouldn't be able to imagine the piece without it.
@@LOLIPOP1136
Coolness !!
As a composer myself and a well seasoned saxophone player, I include classical sax as much as I can. I’m trying to bring it into the standard orchestra
@@jacobbass6226 Very cool, just be aware of the intonation issues.