They recreated Paul Desmond's mouthpiece! Made by Morgan - Full review 

I always thought his 1975 solo on When Sunny Gets Blue would be great to harmonize, possibly with a soprano sax on top, maybe with a flute or clarinet in there, to match his soft, sweet sound. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ytc_LxThldA.html

🤣 thanks John!

Also, contacted a friend of mine who sounds like Desmond, and turns out he (Erik) is the guy who makes those mouthpieces. Small world! All the best to you. Thanks for your great vids.

Haha, that's great! I've been talking with Erik for a while now, and he is super nice, very knowledgeable and sounds indeed very close to Desmond himself! Many ideas for Desmond related project are coming up on the channel, all made possible by Erik's mouthpiece. Thanks for following the channel Paul, appreciated! /Jorre

Thanks Chip! You sound great on your Morgan 🎷🔥

@@SharpElevenMusic That's very kind, Jorre. Looking forward to your upcoming Desmond project(s)!

Thanks! Coming with a follow up and extra thoughts on this mouthpiece and Desmonds sound soon, as I have a few new insights

Thanks Dan!

How would do say the old rico reeds compare to modern ones? Is there a big difference in terms of sound? Is the hardness labeling system pretty much the same or i.e. 3 plays a bit harder than a modern 3?

Thanks! Did you get one yourselg? Indeed , very in tune and so pleasing to play. I've been playing it mainly now since this video, fro the background jazz gigs and other stuff. Only the loud music situations I go back to my Retro Revival Eric Marienthal, like a few days ago recording with a latin big band. But that's it

From your comments, it would seem that you have actually handled the original type Desmond mouthpiece and have compared that with the piece under discussion. Would it be possible for you to actually measunre the chamber diameter? I have been trying for years and years to obtain dimensions for the original mp that Desmond used but no one, not even any of the mouthpiece manufacturers across the world has the slightest idea of any of the dimensions external or internal. I would be greatly indebted to you if you provide me with at least the chamber diameter which from illustrations appear to be circular. Thank you.

Those pieces look and play nothing like a Gregory. Not sure where you got this idea

Yeah its a specific mouthpiece, but it does deliver on what it promises to do, thats what I really like about it. But certainly in a very specific way indeed, only if thats your intended goal for sound

Hi Vivian, thanks for your nice comment! Just to make sure - ad I should have done perhaps better in my communication about that -, it's not an exact copy, but rather a close approximate for as far as is possible. Erik Greiffenhagen is the mouthpiece maker, and very kind and accesible. I've forwarded your comment and this is his response "Regarding the particular dimensions, I know the take five is close in construction to an 18 chamber Gregory but not an exact copy. The facing I use for the 4 is one I found in an Erick brand book on saxophone repair and mouthpiece modification. I can glean from the biography that it's likely that Paul played a number of the same Gregory mouthpieces over his life just based on his and brubecks recollections from the biography. As well, as I'm sure you're aware I must be close just based on results that we both and others a too have achieved. More particular magic this individual might be looking for I don't have nor would claim." He also talked to Bergonzi who has played with Brubeck after Desmond about Desmonds sound, and he tried to contact the one possesing Desmonds original mouthpiece, without luck so far. You can always directly contatc Erik, or Morgan Mouthpieces through mail, their service and reponse is excellent. And they provide a free trial if you'd want to try the mouthpiece. I don't have any kind of comission on their product by the way, this is me completely free saying that. Hope this served well as an answer. I'll be doing soon more projects with this mouthpiece, as I do still love it /Jorre

@@SharpElevenMusic Thank you for your interest Just how do i contact Erik ?

You can either try directly through Facebook, that's how I communicate with him, or send to the email from Morgan mouthpieces asking for him which is bit more indirect. Erik is also in a large Facebook community group page called "Paul Desmond - The Sound Of A Dry Martini ", a tribute page to Desmond that I created

@@SharpElevenMusic Thank you for your continuing interest. As suggested I contacted Morgan via email and a person named Dave responded very promptly. The information that was given me proved beyond reasonable doubt the existence of the Afterlife. Should you be interested in the Dave communication, I would very gladly send it to you via email as it is too involved to send as a comment.

Dear Mr Hoskins, Thank you very much for your interesting letter relating in brief the history of your efforts to produce a replica of the Desmond mouthpiece. I most certainly have no intention of being polemic or argumentative , but I do find some inconsistencies in the information you have been gracious enough to offer. You state you have the original dies that might have been used in the production of the original Desmond mouthpiece. Either these are in truth the dies used for the original mouthpiece or they are not. The fact that placed in the situation that you are and with almost unlimited facilities for just about any type of research;, investigation and manufacture ,it has not been possible for you to identify just what are the dies you have acquired, this is incredible. As a qualified professional engineer having been actively engaged in the design and production of a huge range of dies and fixtures for the assembly of Chrysler automobiles , I find it impossible to accept that your dies produce something that resembles a mouthpiece. As you might have observed from the images sent to you of one of my totally hand made mouthpieces using nothing but the most ordinary and ridiculously rudimentary hand tools the suspect dies must surely be a scam. You state that the blank produced by the suspect dies must be finished by your craftsmen . This holds true even if the die produced the most accurate piece. What is most remarkable if not totally impossible ,is to believe your craftsmen hand finish the blank WITHOUT ONE SINGLE DIMENSION OF THE INTERNAL OR EXTENAL STRUCTURE. What makes for even greater impossibility ,if there could be degrees of impossibility, is that no one , but no one in your organization, has ever set eyes on the original Gregory piece much less having actually had a piece on hand from which to finish produce a replica. If the original mouthpiece is not on hand, how was the CNC machine set up? If the original mouthpiece( not the suspect dies) was on hand, I am absolutely sure you would have most gladly furnished me with the dimensions so desperately required by me. l am no threat to mouthpiece manufacturers either in the US or\UK or France or Germany or anywhere else, being located in a third world country . Believe it or not in the so called city where I live and which City boasts a population greater than that of New York State there are just three saxophonists. One is a self taught super proficient hard jazz player, another , a player of indigenous music and the third an ultra virtuoso from Berkley. While dimensions of the original mouthpiece are not available, would I be asking much too much if you could graciously provide me with the following information based on what your craftsmen suspect them or assume them to be. Total length of mp. Length of ferrule Beak angle Table angle Body angle Dimensions of window Width of side and tip rails If side walls are plane or concave If baffle is plane or concave If chamber is cylindrical, dimensions thereof Tip opening Facing length Bore length and diameter I thank you again sincerely for your taking time off to accommodate me with a reply, Most sincerely, Vivian Astridge Above is a letter to one of the owners of Morgan Mouthpieces

Hi Colin, sorry for the kate response, I seem to have missed it back in the day when you posted this. I'm now hooked to this Morgan Dry Martini to pursue my Desmond aspirations. It feels much lighter compared to the Jody jazz custom dark, where I could find a nice dark sound but with much more effort. This one makes it light and velvety, which I adore. Just recorded with a Desmond tribute band and will post that soon on the channel here, where I use this exact mouthpiece. Stay tuned, there is a bigger Desmond project on the way, definitely empowered by this mpc

The Jody Jazz custom dark needs some more work, but is probably bit more adaptable to todays norms of a jazz sound. But I go with the model 18 dry Martini for sure, as its core sound comes way closer to Desmonds approach imo. It works best when played subtle and gentle, exactly what Desmond displayed. I think of it like this: Dry Martini --> cool jazz (Desmond, Art Pepper), Jody Jazz HR custom Dark --> in between cool jazz and hard bop (slightly more to the hard bop side). Somehow Jackie McLean comes spontaneuosly to mind for that one, although I'm no expert on his discography

Good to know, thanks! What impressed me about my Dry Martini is how well it projects. I had in mind it would tend towards quietness because of its design concept. In fact I got the 5 for that very reason but I kind of wish I got the 4 instead.

Hey Joris, yes absolutely, I think you're spot on! It's not completely like a classical saxophonist, but if you compare it to say a Phil Woods, he's way more curled in there. Kinda in between Phil Woods and classical embouchure, clarinet is a good reference although probably just too tight still. Most jazz saxophonists aim for projection in their sound, I'd say Desmond went for more introspection. But also not like he's playing subtone to get the warmer sound like you correctly put, which I see on some video's teaching a Desmond type sound. Almost playing a year straight on this mouthpiece now and enjoying it big time, also acquired a SBA which feels a bit like the last missing link. I'll make a recap video on the process to try and get towards the Desmond sound in a couple of months or so.

cool man, keep em commin' !

That's in the plans and much more! In 2023 there will be much content around Paul Desmond on this channel, transctiptions, analysis and tutorials, as well as a tribute band to Desmond is in the making.

Can’t wait

A compete treatment of the Desmond phenomenon would in truth be a total blessing to those of us desperately wanting to know all or as much as \possible about the technique, equipment, embouchure etc that Desmond used. It has been reported that Desmond had stated that he used a ‘fake embouchure’ . No one but one one knows just what this fake embouchure was or is and it is obvious that this would be an important part if not the most important part along with the mouthpiece of the Desmond technique.

Desmond didn't use a "fake embouchure" (whatever that means) but he was a clarinetist first and used a hybrid clarinet/saxophone embouchure, which tends to be a little tighter with less lower lip extended. See videos of Paul playing versus someone like Dexter Gordon and you'll see what I mean.

"How Deep Is The Ocean" with Chet Baker might be a great start. Except from that it's quite laid back, it's really easy going with few notes, but great melodies. Or "Condor el Paso", short solo with great ideas in a diatonic way.

@@SharpElevenMusic Thanks! I will look into those

Read a ton about Desmond, including his bio, but never heard of that no. I know he smashed his earlier Gregory (tip opening smaller even) because it played too well basically 😂

@@SharpElevenMusic If he had the tip opening closed earlier in his career, that would explain his even darker sound in some early recordings (late 40s, early 50s) with Brubeck. Later he occasionally had a fairly bright sound especially in the high register, maybe after he had the tip opening increased? Possibly made his high altissimo range that was so proficient in easier to do.

There are several mouthpiece makers who claimed to have worked on mouthpieces for Paul Desmond. Santy Runyon and Claude Humber are the two names that come to mind. For everything I've read, seen, and collected via conversations is that Paul's earlier Model-A 4A18 mouthpiece was altered by shortening the facing to allow for more accessible altissimo, but his Gregory Master 4A18M was original, which is what he tended to play especially later in his career. This is all conjecture and circumstantial evidence at best, so take it with a grain of salt.

@@williamsadler3752 Yes, that's exactly what I read somewhere, that he had the tip opened up to facilitate his altissimo playing (which was amazing!).

Funny enough, just a couple hours prior to your comment I listened to the Meets The Rhythm Section album in full! Not a superfan tbh, but I enjoy some of Art Peppers 50s work He did play in the 50s on that same Gregory model Desmond played by the way (but changed later a few times). But so I think it definitely makes sense to try this mouthpiece, even without that knowledge, it just has all the same characteristics in essence. I still enjoy this mouthpiece a lot, and I feel the first time ever confident enough to start my Desmond tribute band, with which we'll record soon a couple of songs and post it in April to this channel But surely go for it, I think it provides the right shape and resistance and softness for both Desmond and Pepper (and Konitz as well)

By the way, look up the cover of Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section and you'll see he has that same Gregory mouthpiece as Desmond with a Martin Comittee. Always loved Arts sound, his lines are pretty much more bebop to me than Desmonds, but great concept

Classic Blue Box Vandoren 3. They are good solid reeds, but I've changed since this video to Rico's 3.5, that's the one Desmonbd played and are now made by D'Addario.

Not sure if a Selmer II exists :) but no, this is a Selmer Mark VI, rather late model (somewhere 1969 -1970)

Yes I believe so. Didn't play it

The Meyer G 5 is similar to the Morgan Dry Martini 4 and both give you the Desmond sound; The Aizen GR 5 is not as good in my opinion-I have all three.

Hey man, it's kinda funny you ask, because I'm starting a Desmond tribute project that revists some of his main bands in his carreer, we will startrecording tomorrow 3 songs of the Brubeck quartet as episode 1, and in episode 2 we will take tunes from his collabs with Jim Hall. Taste of Honey is on the longlist, not completely sure but probably will make it to the final 3 tunes! keep an eye on the channel, I hope to post some of these next week. And yes, I'll be using this Dry Martini piece for those. :) /Jorre

My spanish isn't good, but if you're asking if I play a SBA like Desmond... no. A late Mark VI, should have mentioned that in the video now you mention, as it would definitely color it even a bit darker

@@SharpElevenMusic hehe so nice videos

@@SharpElevenMusic Allow me, he's saying - Wouldn't you have to try it with an SBA? Hahahah etc.

@Chip damn... hahaha😂😂, I now realize that the only thing I actually got from that was probably only "sba", talking about overestimation...

@@SharpElevenMusic yes man. I think the same. King super 20, the best. XD Is a joke. Yes, i said you have to try that MPC with a SBA hehehe. Cause Desmond played a SBA.

Great! Let me know how it works out for you when you get one here in this comments

@@SharpElevenMusic I know it has been 4 months, but I have ordered it, but it will be about 14 days until it is shipped, a little longer until delivered, thank you for bringing this mouthpiece to my attention, I will update you on how it sounds/feels.

Great! Let me know

@@SharpElevenMusic Does the mouthpiece come with a ligature alongside?

@@rwandanstarbux1494 yes it does! A simple but very effective ones, it's the one you can see in this video

Yeah is it just not rendered yet?

Sorry for that, usually we put out much shorter content with the transcriptions, and didn't anticipate that RU-vid needed extra hours to get at least the full HD out. Will need to give it more time for settling next time, now it should be HD by the way

This is a rather late Mark VI (1972) I'm playing here, still a bright sax. I have now recently bought a Super Balanced Action like Desmond played, which is quite a difference imo. A follow up on the mouthpiece after playing it for nearly a year and some new insights on Desmond sound is coming soon by the way