In a world full of equipment choices for saxophonists a new and different mouthpiece manufacturer, SYOS has caught the recent attention of many.
SYOS stands for “Shape Your Own Sound” and they offer seemingly limitless configurations to their mouthpieces for any player. Not only are these lightweight, 3D printed mouthpieces very affordable, they are available in virtually every color in the rainbow.
Truthfully, I was a skeptical at first. My thoughts were, “Mouthpieces are made of brass, metal alloys, vintage hard rubber and even wood. A mouthpiece made of 3D printed plastic can’t sound good, can it?”
It can and it does. Hearing Chad Lefkowitz-Brown play on many of his internet videos made me take another look and listen to SYOS mouthpieces.
In 2013 or so I became familiar with Chad LB’s playing through his intentional blast onto the internet. A “mini-view” with Chad was featured here on SaxShed.com around that same time. Since that time, I have become a Chad LB devotee in a sense. His books, videos and improvisation courses have quickly become a “go to” resource for aspiring saxophonists world wide. I use them myself as well as with students.
While Chad’s improvisation resources are wonderful, it’s his sound and command of the saxophone that really caught my attention. Seeing him play this white and later chocolate colored mouthpiece with a HUGE, fat but cutting sound made me very curious about his SYOS setup.
This brings me to this SYOS mouthpiece review. I contacted Sylvie at SYOS and heard back from a couple different people along the way. I indicated and interest in trying the Chad LB model specifically in two sizes. I play on a 7* on most pieces for tenor sax however Chad plays his model in an 8*. These are the two tip openings I asked to play test and review.
The pieces were shipped from France to the US in days and I sought to try them compared with my regular equipment. The video posted here gives my impressions of my own set up compared with the two SYOS pieces.
The takeaway: The Chad LB SYOS mouthpiece in both the 7* and 8* facilitate a thick, full-bodied sound that maintains plenty of edge when needed. The characteristics of Chad’s sound that are attractive are more easily achieved with his mouthpiece.
The scope of this video and review is focused on one particular mouthpiece. It is important to note that SYOS offers many varied signature mouthpieces modeled for some of today’s most popular jazz players. If there isn’t one for you – SYOS will create one!
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