{"id":118424,"date":"2024-09-02T12:26:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T16:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=118424"},"modified":"2024-09-02T12:44:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T16:44:28","slug":"morgan-dry-martini-model-18-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/morgan-dry-martini-model-18-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am excited to be reviewing the new Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece released by Morgan mouthpieces<\/a>.\u00a0 The great alto saxophonist Paul Desmond is quoted as saying, “I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini.”, <\/em>and since the newest alto saxophone mouthpiece from Morgan mouthpieces is inspired by the type of M.C. Gregory Model A 4A 18 alto sax mouthpiece that Paul Desmond used, Morgan mouthpieces named it the “Dry Martini”.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a description of the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece from the Morgan mouthpieces website<\/a> description:<\/p>\n

“During the past 40 years of handcrafting saxophone mouthpieces, a fairly common question from customers is, \u201cWhat model do you have that is similar to the mouthpiece Paul Desmond played?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For much of his career, Paul Desmond played on a M.C. Gregory Model A 4A-18 alto saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0 While we have alto sax mouthpieces that have approached the \u201cWest Coast\u201d sound, the Dry Martini Model 18 is the first model we have specifically designed for that tone style.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cDry Martini\u201d model is designed by Erik Grieffenhagen.\u00a0 Erik has spent decades studying and copying M.C. Gregory alto saxophone mouthpieces and has custom-made this style of mouthpiece for many customers in the past.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few years ago, the Morgan Company acquired a bunch of antique original M.C. Gregory mouthpiece molds and cores. This acquisition included original cores for the M.C. Gregory 18 model alto saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0 Using his knowledge of original mouthpieces and by studying the original molds, Erik developed the Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are looking for that West Coast \u201cDesmond\u201d sound, then the Dry Martini mouthpiece is the mouthpiece you must try.\u00a0 It is available in 4 (.063), 5 (.070), and 6 (.075) facings.\u00a0 Other facings are available as a custom order but we recommend the smaller tip openings with stiffer reeds for the most authentic “Dry Martini” tone.”-Morgan Mouthpieces<\/em><\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erik Grieffenhagen encouraged me to try the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece in a 4 tip opening which is .063″.\u00a0 If you follow my alto saxophone mouthpiece reviews, you will know that I prefer alto sax mouthpieces with a tip opening between .076-.080 usually, so this .063 tip opening is a considerably smaller tip opening than I am used to.<\/p>\n

Here is a snippet from an email I received from Erik about the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 mouthpiece:<\/p>\n

“I’ll tell you a little more about the Morgan Dry Martini alto sax mouthpiece first. We offer two models of chamber size similar to M.C Gregory, a 16 (small chamber) and an 18 (medium chamber). \u00a0What I’d like to send is the 18. That’s the size chamber Paul Desmond settled on for the majority of his career. \u00a0He also likely played a 4 tip opening or close to it.\u00a0 That has been our best seller.\u00a0 The tip is only .063″.\u00a0 \u00a0That’s the one I’d like send if you could play something that close, with a reed in the 3-4 range.\u00a0 It produces the most Desmond like tone imo.\u00a0 All that said, we offer it in a 5 and 6 tip opening, too, 070″ and .076″.\u00a0 Given that it’s almost a purpose driven mouthpiece, \u00a0I’d like to send you the 4, if you have some reeds that would work, 3 on the harder side are recommended. \u00a0Let me know , and I’ll get one out to you asap.”-Erik Grieffenhagen<\/em><\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Morgan Dry Martini mouthpiece came well packaged in a beautifully crafted black box with the Morgan logo on it and a gold sticker on the side of the box with the model mouthpiece and tip opening on it.\u00a0 The mouthpiece was shipped with abundant padding to protect the mouthpiece through the mail.<\/p>\n

The Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece has\u00a0 a “MORGAN” logo\u00a0 engraved in gold on the top of the mouthpiece with “DRY MARTINI” engraved below the logo.\u00a0 On the underside of the shank is engrave “USA” in gold and above that is hand engraved “4-18” signifying the tip size and model number.\u00a0 Erik told me that the Dry Martini is machined on a five axis mill from German bar stock.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye.\u00a0 The ebonite is smooth and shiny and I don’t see an imperfection anywhere. The tip, rails and table look even, flat, precise and perfectly crafted.\u00a0 The mouthpiece tip rail and side rails are even and symmetrical.\u00a0 The shape of the tip rail matched the shape of the Rico and Vandoren alto saxophone reeds I used on the Dry Martini mouthpiece very closely.<\/p>\n

The diameter and beak profile of the Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece felt very similar to the diameter and beak profile of a typical hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece like a Meyer.\u00a0 \u00a0The body size of the Dry Martini is also similar to a typical hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece as well.<\/p>\n

The baffle of the Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece has a slight rollover near the tip but I would consider it to be a low baffled alto mouthpiece.\u00a0 The Dry Martini chamber looks to be a medium sized chamber and is similar in size to a Meyer alto mouthpiece medium sized chamber.<\/p>\n

The Morgan Dry Martini mouthpiece came with a Rovner light ligature but I used a Francois Louis Ultimate alto sax ligature just because I had been using it on another alto saxophone mouthpiece I was trying out.\u00a0 The 3 1\/2 reed and the FL Ultimate ligature played great for me so I didn’t want to jinx it by messing around with ligatures so I stayed with the FL Ultimate ligature for the sound clips.<\/p>\n

In preparation for the review I went to a local music store and found some old Rico “Orange” box 3 1\/2 alto saxophone reeds to use on the Dry Martini Model 18 mouthpiece.\u00a0 I recorded the one sound clip with one of these reeds as well as another two sound clips with a Vandoren Java (Red) 3 1\/2 reed.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

When first playing the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece, my first impression was that it had an incredibly beautiful tone to it.\u00a0 The tone is warm, round and even throughout the range of the saxophone.\u00a0 I ended up playing a lot of melodies on the three sound clips below as opposed to my usual flurry of fast lines I typically play on sound clips just because the Dry Martini sounded so lyrical and sweet.\u00a0 The tone is focused and concentrated while also having enough fatness that the tone never gets thin sounding but is beautifully round and full sounding while still having a light floating quality to the sound.<\/p>\n

Typically, a 3 1\/2 reed would tend to have too much resistance for my liking but with the smaller .063 tip opening the reed blew easily and with just enough resistance that it still felt comfortable to me.\u00a0 The tone was easy to manipulate with dynamics, vibrato and bends.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

One interesting point I would like to write about is that when listening to Paul Desmond, I have always been amazed at how he could play in the top register of the saxophone while keeping his tone so warm and pretty.\u00a0 Most alto saxophone mouthpieces I have played tend to get a bit brighter in tone and louder as you play in that higher register but Paul Desmond always seemed in complete control of that register.\u00a0 His tone always stays within certain volume parameters and always seemed warm and light.\u00a0 Although, I could attempt to sound like this on various alto saxophone mouthpieces, it was always a struggle to contain and limit the volume and brightness from appearing in those high notes.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

While playing the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece, I finally understood more of the mechanics of how Paul Desmond was able to attain that high register beauty of tone.\u00a0 The Dry Martini alto mouthpiece with the .063 tip opening and 3 1\/2 alto saxophone reed can only be pushed to a certain level volume wise.\u00a0 This is certainly not a lead alto saxophone mouthpiece at this tip opening (probably why I don’t recall Paul Desmond playing lead alto in a big band).\u00a0 I would say the Morgan Dry Martini is about a 5 to 5 1\/2 for volume on a 1-10 volume scale.\u00a0 The Dry Martini mouthpiece keeps that top register controlled and limited in volume by it’s very design and the smaller tip opening.\u00a0 Some may view this volume limit as a weakness but if your goal is to achieve that “West Coast”, Paul Desmond type of laid back cool tone, this is one of the main strengths of the Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece.<\/p>\n

Along those same lines, the high register is also limited with how bright it will get.\u00a0 I found that even when I pushed more air through the Dry Martini it would get louder but still stay wondrously warm sounding like Paul Desmond’s sound which I really loved and marveled at.<\/p>\n

The intonation on the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece was excellent up and down the saxophone and the mouthpiece was a great match for my Selmer Reference 54 alto saxophone.<\/p>\n

My impression was that the smaller tip opening of the Dry Martini alto sax mouthpiece also made the articulation clean, crisp and light as well.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of alto saxophone sounds and textures so that you can hear the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles.\u00a0 There are three unique sound clips that I have included below with reverb added as well as dry (no reverb).<\/p>\n

The first and second sound clip below is a recording of me playing a bunch of random lines and ideas like I usually do with a dry recording (no effects) on the sound and then another clip with reverb added.\u00a0 \u00a0I try to run through a variety of bebop lines, jazz melodies, articulations and miscellaneous ideas up and down the range of the horn that you can listen to to get an idea of how the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece sounded and performed for me.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third and fourth sound clip is of me playing mostly just the types of melodies Paul Desmond was known for with a slight reverb added on the fourth clip and no reverb on the third clip.\u00a0 \u00a0While recording this sound clip, I kept thinking, “What would Paul Desmond play?”.\u00a0 I played some melodies that came to mind but I have to admit that my vibrato is very different than Paul Desmond’s vibrato.\u00a0 \u00a0I wish I had the time to spend a week trying to copy that beautiful vibrato and his other inflections but I don’t have that kind of time these days.<\/p>\n

The last two sound clips is one I added a week after recording the first two clips with a harder old Rico 3 1\/2 orange box alto saxophone reed.\u00a0 Like the other sound clips, the first has a no reverb added and the second clip is the same but with reverb.\u00a0 When I listen to this clip it sounds a bit different than the other four clips in that the tone is a bit reedier because of the slightly harder reed.<\/p>\n

Notice that in all these clips, the Morgan Dry Martini sounds just as beautiful in the “dry” recording as the recordings with reverb added.\u00a0 I actually like the “dry” recordings more.\u00a0 \u00a0This is a testament to how good the Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece sounds naturally in my opinion.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my opinion, the Morgan Dry Martini alto saxophone mouthpiece is a perfect alto saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for that “West Coast” Paul Desmond type alto saxophone sound. Obviously, you don’t just put the Dry Martini mouthpiece on and immediately transform to Paul Desmond, but for me, as I was playing the “Dry Martini” with my own licks and style, I could hear that Desmond tone in the sound.\u00a0 It’s like that “Dry Martini” Desmond sound is in there and just needs to be sussed out and nurtured.\u00a0 If the Desmond sound is your ideal then the Morgan Dry Martini alto mouthpiece definitely steers you in that direction of alto saxophone sound.<\/p>\n

If you love the beautiful sound and look of the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece by Morgan mouthpieces, you can find them for sale on the Morgan website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you try a Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 alto saxophone mouthpiece or have any thoughts, comments or questions on this review,\u00a0 I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.\u00a0 Thanks,\u00a0 \u00a0Steve<\/p>\n

*To hear the most detail from these clips it is best to listen to them from a computer with nice audio speakers or headphones rather than from an iPhone or laptop speakers.\u00a0 It makes a world of difference!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sound Clip 1<\/h4>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartini.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Red 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Same Clip as Above-Dry (No Reverb)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartini-Reverb.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Red 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Slight Reverb Added<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sound Clip 2<\/h4>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartiniMelodies.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Red 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Same Clip as Above-Dry (No Reverb)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartiniMelodies-Reverb2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Red 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Slight Reverb Added<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sound Clip 3<\/h4>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartiniRico.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Old Rico Orange Box 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Dry (No Reverb)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2024\/DryMartiniRicoReverb.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Old Rico Orange Box 3 1\/2 Alto Saxophone Reed-Slight Reverb Added<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are a couple of other great examples from other alto saxophone players of the Morgan Dry Martini Model 18 in action:<\/p>\n