{"id":23358,"date":"2011-01-18T11:09:52","date_gmt":"2011-01-18T19:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=23358"},"modified":"2024-05-16T10:23:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:23:39","slug":"to-dukoff-or-not-to-dukoff-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2011\/to-dukoff-or-not-to-dukoff-that-is-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To Dukoff Or Not To Dukoff… That Is The Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love my Dukoff mouthpieces. I have 1 new and 4 vintage Dukoff pieces for tenor, and they are a huge contributor to my sound. I’ve been playing Dukoffs exclusively now for over 12 years\u2014ever since my tech in Halifax gave me my first D7* to try out.<\/p>\n

When I first tried the D7* in Layne’s shop I squeaked, but he told me to take the piece home with me and work at it for a bit. It was quite a bit different to the metal Berg and Wolf Tayne pieces that I’d been using since high school.<\/p>\n

It took no time at all before I had the Dukoff under control, and realized how powerful the piece was. Altissimo had never been easier, subtones had never been as lush. In under a month I had the Dukoff’s nuances completely figured out.<\/p>\n

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Because Dukoffs are high baffle\/small chamber pieces, they require a totally different approach than the low baffle\/large chamber pieces many experienced players switch from, and all beginning players start on.<\/p>\n

To help you understand what this means, here’s a diagram of a mouthpiece. The term baffle<\/em> refers to the roof of the mouthpiece chamber.<\/p>\n

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     Source: mouthpieceexpress.com<\/h6>\n

Dukoffs require you to change your airstream, and quite possibly, the amount of mouthpiece you have in your mouth. Your embouchure wheel on these pieces is also critical. Being aware of your muscles, and how you control them evenly is paramount.<\/p>\n

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If you’re not familiar with, or would like more information on the embouchure wheel, start reading on page 41 of your copy of Larry Teal’s, The Art Of Saxophone Playin<\/em>g. Don’t have a copy? Get one. You can order it through Amazon.com<\/a>, or your local brick and mortar store.<\/p>\n

The reason I’m rambling on about my favourite mouthpiece, is because over the years lots of people have talked to me about my sound. They’ve wanted to try my mouthpieces, and when they do, they end up with the same squeaking problem that I had in the beginning. No problem. As I just finished pointing out, that’s quite normal.<\/p>\n

This morning however, I read a thread on Sax On The Web<\/a> where a new owner of a Dukoff was looking for advice. He had recently bought a refaced Dukoff, and was having terrible squeaking problems. This was not this player’s first Dukoff. The first one he bought squeaked as well, which is why he opted for a refaced model the second time around.<\/p>\n

Some very knowledgeable players chimed in with all kinds of advice for his squeaking problem. However, some of this advice seemed\u2014at least to me\u2014like it was beating a dead horse. :beat:<\/p>\n

Personally, I don’t think you should have to work that hard to learn to play a mouthpiece. I would never suggest to one of my students that they try for a month before giving up. Furthermore, I think an experienced player can tell in very short order if a mouthpiece is right for them\u2014and a Dukoff is a mouthpiece for experienced players.<\/p>\n

Love ’em or hate ’em, Dukoffs\u2014just like every other mouthpiece on the market\u2014are not for everyone. In the end they are just a tool that helps us achieve our sound. Different players use different tools to get a similar sound. <\/p>\n

Remember too, that a large portion of our sound comes from our insides, and is determined before it reaches the mouthpiece and reed. For more information on this, check out the article I wrote on The Source Of Tone<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love my Dukoff mouthpieces. I have 1 new and 4 vintage Dukoff pieces for tenor, and they are a huge contributor to my sound. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[94],"tags":[41,83,211,633,646,141,75],"class_list":["post-23358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessories-saxophone","tag-accessories","tag-books-literature","tag-dukoff","tag-musings","tag-on-line-resources","tag-sax-on-the-web","tag-saxophone-mouthpieces"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t