My students need 2 mouthpieces capable of producing the best possible sounds on saxophone so they can be heard alongside the brass and rhythm sections during performances
Jazz music is a jubilant form of music, and one of the many great things that comes with the excitement it brings is volume! Lots of sound...and our sax section needs a little bit of help contributing to our "wall of sound"!
My students are incredibly hard working individuals and they all have a great hunger for musical knowledge and achievement.
They come from a small town in Oklahoma that is an area of high poverty. They are talented young musicians who respond very well to instruction, but unfortunately, the families of most of my students struggle with the cost of giving their students the type of equipment they need to be successful performers.
I am currently their third jazz band director in the last 4 years (this is my second year) and I want to give back to my students in a bigger way than what they have gotten in the past by both providing them with better equipment and by providing stability to the teaching position I hold. My kids work very hard and I want them to be as successful as they can possibly be. Anything I can do to help them achieve success is a necessity. They are grateful and humble kids and I know they would appreciate this donation very, very much.
My Project
My students need 2 mouthpieces capable of producing the best possible sounds on saxophone so they can be heard alongside the brass and rhythm sections during performances My jazz saxophone students do as well as they can with what they have, but they struggle to meet the demands of the amount of sound it takes to play in a jazz ensemble. Brass sections and rhythm sections naturally have big sounds because of their acoustic properties and because of how they are made. However, saxophones are more quiet instruments in comparison, and those that play the saxophone need specialized mouthpieces (paired with appropriate reeds) to achieve the kind of volume drummers, trombonists and trumpet players come across naturally. That is where these mouthpieces come in to play; they are made to project more sound than the normal plastic mouthpieces that come with saxophones on the market. The mouthpieces I have selected are made of a hard rubber (ebonite) material that resonates greater volumes than plastic mouthpieces and have specifications (like bigger chambers and tip openings) that will help my players' sounds cut and boost the entire sound of our jazz ensemble.
My students are talented, motivated, and wonderful individuals.
I want to help them in any way I can. Being a saxophonist myself, I know what kind of equipment begets the best results, and I want my own saxophone students to be able to contribute to our jazz ensemble at the level that they want to, but right now they just can't because of their current mouthpieces. I want to change that by providing them with these mouthpieces so their saxophones can swing hard with the rest of the band! That is success they will remember!
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