Meeting with the New York alto saxophonist Dick Oatts and the New York baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. Dick Oatts plays a Selmer MVI alto saxophone with a Brilhart “Ebolin” mouthpiece.
Dick Oatts' statement after the Matador mouthpiece test:
„I have tested so many other new mouthpieces. Then I found my current mouthpiece, an old Brilhart, and knew immediately that this was what I was looking for.“
„I really like the resistance of the Matador Mouthpiece. Please send me a mouthpiece to New York that I can get to know even better.“
MATADOR MOUTHPIECE PROJECT
A bridge from the past to the present
The company Matador Mouthpiece Project belongs to Konstantin Riebesam. Konstantin is the younger son of Tino Schucht, the owner of Schucht Sax Technology.
Research and project management: Konstantin Riebesam
Technical management, consulting and production: Tino Schucht
About the project
We analysed the current saxophone mouthpiece manufacturers and compared them with old, legendary mouthpiece models from manufacturers such as Otto Link, Brilhart, Meyer, Berg Larsen and others, including the not-so-old original Dave Guardala mouthpieces. The results amazed us, and we came to a clear conclusion.
We see that these old saxophone mouthpiece models have not lost their significance for today's musicians and that the situation is similar to that of old saxophones such as those from Selmer with the Selmer MVI or Balanced Action, or old saxophone models from Conn, King, Büscher and others. For example, the Selmer MVI is the undisputed top saxophone for today's players, and the old Otto Link mouthpieces, old Brilhart mouthpieces, old Meyer mouthpieces, etc. are the undisputed top mouthpieces for many jazz saxophonists today.
But what makes these old mouthpieces so special? Why were they and why are they still so popular today?
You can put it in a nutshell. These old mouthpieces produce very different sounds but they always have one thing in common. They provide a strong sound core that enables the player to produce a very well centered tone. This centered sound is the BASIS for a good tone that every player needs. Centering the sound enables a resonant tone. A good resonance is important: Depth of sound, warmth of sound, dynamics, carrying power, presence and response.
Old, legendary mouthpieces vs current mouthpieces. What is our conclusion?
The manufacturers of today's mouthpieces base their statements on these old standards on the one hand, and on the other hand try to create mouthpieces that are more suited to today's players. Unfortunately, we have found that very few of today's manufacturers take the old BASIS standards into account. The situation is similar with today's saxophone manufacturers and models. There are many different brands and many different models. But no brand and no model implements these old, important, original BASIS standards.
Our goal
Our goal is basically the same as that of every saxophone mouthpiece manufacturer.
On the one hand, we have musicians who want to realize these old, classic and legendary saxophone sounds. On the other hand, we have musicians who want to create sounds that meet their current requirements.
But whether old sounds or new sounds, musicians always need equipment that can create a SOUND in the first place and not a NOISE.
Matador Mouthpiece Project develops and manufactures saxophone mouthpieces in collaboration with Schucht Sax Technology that embody these old BASIS standards, with models for today's musicians and models for musicians who want to achieve classic sounds.
