Today, I am reviewing the Avel Sound Concept (ASC) Mistral model alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Max Even at Avel Sound Concept Mouthpieces. These are really reasonable priced, quality hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpieces that play incredibly well. The hard rubber ASC Mistral alto sax mouthpiece I am reviewing today has a 6* tip opening (.078).
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is how the Avel Sound Concept website describes the new ASC Mistral hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece:
The Mistral is a strong wind that blows from Southern France into the Mediterranean.
The hard rubber ASC Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece has a medium round chamber and a small rollover baffle. It is inspired by two of my favorite alto sax mouthpieces, the Brilhart Tonalin and the Meyer Bros. The ASC Mistral has a medium bright sound with rich lows, clear mediums and powerful, but not harsh, highs. This is a very versatile mouthpiece that allows you to easily shape your sound the way you like it.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto sax mouthpiece came well packaged and protected. The Mistral mouthpiece is made of high quality hard rubber that is really shiny. The shine of the mouthpiece was so brilliant that it made me question whether it was some sort of plastic or resin but Max at Avel Sound Concept assured me that it is indeed pure high quality hard rubber that he works hard to make shine.
The mouthpiece has “ASC” engraved as a logo on the top of the mouthpiece and the name “MISTRAL” engraved on the side of the mouthpiece body next to the table. The tip opening of 6* is engraved by hand on the other side of the mouthpiece next to the table.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The ASC Mistral alto mouthpiece tip, rails, table and baffle all look great to the eye. The tip rail is thin and even and the tip matches up with my alto saxophone reeds nicely. The side rails are thin as well although there is a little bit of a waviness to the inside edge of the side rails along their length. This is very minor and hardly noticeable unless you hold it up to the light and examine it closely. The sidewalls on either side of the baffle look to be straight until they reach the round chamber of the mouthpiece.
The roof of the chamber is thick and the chamber is what I would describe as a medium-small round chamber when compared to a typical Meyer medium chambered alto saxophone mouthpiece. (ASC describes the chamber as medium but the Mistral chamber looks a little smaller than a Meyer medium chamber to my eyes)
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The baffle of the ASC Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece is what I would describe as a medium rollover baffle. The baffle travels at a medium height for about a half an inch before it rolls into a steeper decline down into the chamber. For comparison, the baffle of the Mistral mouthpiece is a little higher and a little longer than a couple of Meyer Bros Connoisseur alto sax mouthpieces I have sitting on my desk right now.
The baffle is slightly scooped from side to side as it travels down to the mouthpiece chamber. The baffle profile looks slightly higher on the right side of the baffle as I look at the baffle from the tip end of the mouthpiece. Just from inspecting the baffle, my guess is that the ASC Mistral alto sax mouthpiece would play with a nice amount of brightness and power.
The mouthpiece beak of the Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto sax mouthpiece feels a little higher than the beak of a typical Meyer alto saxophone mouthpiece.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Mistral alto sax mouthpiece played great for me with a Rigotti Gold 3 strong alto saxophone reed as well as with an Ishimori Wood Stone 3 1/2 alto saxophone reed. The Wood Stone 3 1/2 reed felt slightly harder than the Rigotti Gold 3 strong reed. I have included a sound clips of both reeds just because the tone and response of the different strength reeds might appeal to different listeners who might prefer one sound clip over the other.
I found that softer alto saxophone reeds than the two reeds I used just felt too soft for me on the ASC Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece played great for me. I found the ASC Mistral mouthpiece to be similar in sound concept to a great Meyer alto sax mouthpiece but with more power, brightness and weight to the tone when pushed. The added power seemed to make the tone bigger and thicker to my ears than the tone a typical Meyer alto sax mouthpiece would produce. The added brightness and power given by the baffle allows the ASC Mistral to be a good choice for a lead alto mouthpiece while still keeping a traditional alto saxophone tone.
I thought the Mistral alto mouthpiece sounded great on classic bebop type lines with a sound that reminded me of Charlie Parker and Phil Woods at times. I also found that the tone could be fattened up to lean towards a Cannonball Adderley type alto sound as well by blowing more air and voicing the notes slightly lower while playing.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The ASC Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece had a clear and responsive articulation that worked well for fast jazz articulation. You can hear many samples of this in the two sound clips.
The intonation was within normal parameters on my Selmer Reference 54 alto saxophone as well. The scale and range of the saxophone sounded smooth and even to me as I played throughout the range of the alto saxophone.
The low notes were round and full sounding and sub-toned beautifully when desired. The high notes had a lighter more lyrical tone to them when I played at a soft to medium volume that I found really pretty. I found that those high notes could be played with that more gentle light tone or I could lay into them more to make them even brighter and heavier sounding if I wanted.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tone of the ASC Mistral had a nice bright clarity to it and singing quality to the notes. I did note some buzz to the tone at times that was more apparent with the slightly softer Rigotti Gold 3 strong reed. Softer alto saxophone reeds than the Rigotti Gold 3 strong had even more buzz and brightness because of the softer reed. I liked the reeds that I used on the Mistral sound clips because they felt so comfortable but also because they lessened that buzz in the higher register of the saxophone.
The tone was easily molded and flexible for vibrato and note bends which made me feel like it was easy to be expressive on the ASC Mistral alto sax mouthpiece.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Check out the two sound clips below and decide for yourself if the ASC Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece is something that interests you. I enjoyed playing it for this review and feel it is a great choice for those who love traditional alto saxophone tones like Charlie Parker, Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley, etc……… but want a bit more power and brightness held in reserve for when needed.
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece, you can find them on the Avel Sound Concept website. Max Even has always been very responsive to communications and emails so if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact him via his website. They come in a variety of tip openings and Max will even make you one in a custom tip opening (like my 6* mouthpiece) if requested.
I always receive emails asking me what is a great mouthpiece for alto saxophone players that is also affordable and the Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto sax mouthpiece fits that description perfectly. I would have no problem playing this alto sax mouthpiece on a jazz gig or even as a lead alto mouthpiece with a big band.
If you are lucky enough to play an Avel Sound Concept Mistral alto saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Ishimori Wood Stone 3 1/2 Reed
Avel Sound Concept (ASC)-Mistral Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Strong Reed
Great review and Steve sounds completely at home on the 6* Mistral; these are incredibly flexible pieces and the player can shape their sound in a number of ways. Max’s entire range of ASC pieces are the best ‘bang-for-buck’ I have ever experienced over a long lifetime of playing and I enjoy playing his Mistral on alto, a Sirocco on soprano as well as both the Foehn and new metal Borrum on tenor over many styles. Dealing with Max as an exceptional human is a bonus to his great pieces, thanks for reviewing the Mistral.
Beautiful review as always! I need to ask you a question… I always played a great old Meyer 6, until one day I realized I needed more power… so I ended up buying a Rift(after finding you review). It is fantastic and I’m still playing it, but I feel that is way too much powerful, and quite “baffly” sound, and probably I just need a powerful Meyer style mouthpiece… Do you think this Avel mouthpiece it’s a good choise? Or you suggest me to try something else like Drake NY, Drake Phil Woods…? Thanks in advice!
If the Rift is too much power, any of the mouthpieces you mentioned would be a good step. I would say the Drake Phil Woods is the most powerful of the three. Then the ASC Mistral and then the Drake NY. I would also add the 10mFan Showboat and Meyer Brothers Connoisseur mouthpieces as an option as well. You would have to listen to the sound clips to decide for yourself. Good Luck.