The medium-chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece will produce a somewhat “brighter” sound compared with the large-chamber mouthpiece. This is sometimes preferred by players converting from a brighter mouthpiece, such as some of the common French-style mouthpieces or jazz-style mouthpieces. Also, the large-chamber mouthpiece may be found to lack harmonic balance and adequate projection on some modern instruments that are inherently “darker” in sound production (such as some newer Selmer altos), although this issue has been found to differ significantly player to player. In such situations, which tend to be the rare exceptions, the medium-chamber mouthpiece may be the better choice. Although none of these mouthpieces are recommended for jazz, some players have had success using the soprano and medium-chamber alto in certain kinds of jazz chamber music or combo work where significantly less “brightness” is desired.
