saxophone mouthpiece

The Robusto and Selmer Mark VI combo as displayed by David Mann and Roger Manins—heavenly.

April 15, 2018 By Mark Sepinuck

Two of the nicest guys and finest players out there…. David Mann and Roger Manins. Kind, considerate, and humble players and people. Will you sound just like them if you play my Robusto tenor saxophone mouthpiece?….No, of course not—but you will sound like you, and that’s more important!

My 10MFAN saxophone mouthpieces allow players to get their own individual vibe and don’t push you into a sound corner so you sound like others playing on the same pieces. Individuality is essential. I feel it’s important to get the right gear for yourself to help you dial in what you want as a player, but nothing replaces practicing. I can help you sound better instantly, but my mouthpieces won’t get you to be able to play Giant Steps at 300 bpm in all 12 keys! That stuff comes from serious practicing, listening, transcribing, etc…. You can buy a better sound, but you can’t buy “chops in a box”.

Speaking of gear, many players out there love a great playing vintage Selmer saxophone I personally love the Conns and Selmers the best of any of the vintage horns. Here are a couple of beautiful examples of the Robusto hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece on vintage Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophones. Hard to argue with these sounds ?

Listen to these 2 masters, and borrow some of these great ideas from them.

Enjoy!!!!

David Mann playing chorus after chorus of the blues. Great organ blues sound:

Roger Manins playing live in a quartet setting. He is showing the sizzle that the Robusto hard rubber mouthpiece can get playing the beautiful theme from M*A*S*H

Eric Spaulding and Greg Hawkins enjoying their Black Widow’s

April 11, 2018 By Mark Sepinuck

Eric Spaulding and Greg Hawkins giving you a taste of what their 10MFAN Black Widow tenor saxophone mouthpieces can do.

This is my “cross-over’ mouthpiece that bridges the gap between a killer hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece that can be used for jazz settings, and one needed for more authentic sounding funk, blues, pop, smooth jazz, R&B, etc. A mouthpiece that can truly be used for any setting and sound right in all of those settings. This is a medium height long baffle that was designed to do so much more than the high baffle pieces do in a gentle setting, and all the stuff they can do in a louder setting. Typically higher baffle pieces get thin and too buzzy for most guys when they want to use them in more jazz surroundings. They work great for the loud stuff, but not so great when played gentler. This medium height longer baffle takes care of all of this so you have the best of both worlds. A piece that can be lush and full for the jazz stuff, and a powerhouse player for the louder stuff when you need to let loose. You can hear that in these recordings…. Enjoy!!!!

Eric Spaulding showing the immense flexibility and versatility from soft jazz to Lenny Pickett:

Greg Hawkins showing the BW’s more Smooth jazz/Gospel gentler side, playing the gorgeous song, Hallelujah:

Greg Hawkins this time showing the BW’s more powerhouse side right out of the gate, on this Doobie Brothers classic!

Introducing the OVAL chamber mouthpiece masterpiece: “The Classic”. Sam Skelton and Ben Wendel

April 7, 2018 By Mark Sepinuck

Hi guys!

Well, we are very excited to finally introduce the design that tenor saxophone players have been asking me to come out with for several years. Sorry for the delay….it takes time to make mouthpiece magic.

This hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece is called The Classic. It is an incredibly unique original design that features a higher floor, a short baffle, extremely scooped out sidewalls, and an oval chamber. The mouthpiece is incredibly comfortable to play as we took a lot of time prototyping a beak that would feel great and allow for the warmth I wanted for this mouthpiece. Now that you’ve heard about the design, lets talk about the sound!

Players have asked for a tenor saxophone mouthpiece that has a big, focussed, warm, round, and even sound top to bottom—but with lots of volume available, and great altissimo. A piece thats rich sounding with great depth and a fat core. Its a pleasure for the player to play as it feels great in the mouth, and the response has the right amount of resistance to it, for me. The player hears the sound right in front of them, (as its a focussed sound), but with the right amount of width so the player hears it great while playing.

The wonderful thing about all of my mouthpieces, is that there is immense flexibility and versatility with simple reed choices. They are like a blank canvas that allows player to player to get their own sound, and they don’t make everyone sound the same on the same model.

Here are 2 great examples showing two different sides of what this mouthpiece can do. Great versatility.

First we have Sam Skelton live, showing the warm, full, and powerful side of The Classic.

Now we have Ben Wendel showing the vibrant, brighter, punchier, powerful side of The Classic.