[jazzman1945]

In search of my own sound, I focus on the maximum approximation to the human voice, like a saxophone or a trumpet. Different configurations of the mouthpiece affect the brightness of quasi talking articulation ,   which is clearly audible and visible: :
Hohner 32 without&with mouthpiece

Hence the natural conclusion that tubes of different configurations should also influence sound, although to a lesser extent. Now I think I made a mistake when played Hohner st 32 without mouthpiece . A tube with attached nosepiece completely unsuitable for this purpose.

[Quetscher]

It’s a very interesting question how much different mouthpieces influence the sound of the melodica – at least interesting enough to do some experiments…

I took my Labourdette and recorded a short melody using the following mouthpieces:
1. No mouthpiece
2. Labourdette clarinet-style mouthpiece
3. Suzuki MP-141 mouthpiece
4. Suzuki Andes MP-151 mouthpiece
5. Suzuki tube MP-113

While blowing into the mouthpieces keeping them tightly closed (without losing air at the side) I certainly could hear differences during the recording – and so I was quite surprised when I listened to the track afterwards and didn’t notice ANY difference at all. I strongly suspect that hearing these differences is a personal impression depending on the position of the melodica while playing with mouthpieces of different lengths and depending on how much I like certain mouthpieces at all.

But does that mean that we need different mouthpieces only for our convenience? I continued with my experiment and recorded a second track with a more open position of my lips so that some air could flow out at the side; and suddenly the differences were clearly audible, the more air I let flow at the side the more pronounced the differences became, up to nearly whistlings sounds…

And if now I would do what you did, Jazzman, and nearly talk into the instrument while playing the differences would be even bigger from mouthpiece to mouthpiece!

Here’s the recordings:

Labourdette_different mouthpieces

[jazzman1945]

But does that mean that we need different mouthpieces only for our convenience

Why not? Any saxophonist has a set of different mouthpieces for different sounds.

[Quetscher]

Yes, I agree with that completely!

[jazzman1945]

Comparison – Hammond 44 , Suzuki 37 Pro

Hammond 44 ; Suzuki 37 Pro

Hammond 44:
1. Without mouthpiece
2. With hard tube
3. With short mouthpiece

Suzuki 37 Pro:
1.Without mouthpiece
2.With short mouthpiece
3.With a slightly longer mouthpiece

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