{"id":41408,"date":"2017-01-04T14:58:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T19:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=41408"},"modified":"2022-11-17T11:03:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T16:03:38","slug":"attisound-black-mamba-brass-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/attisound-black-mamba-brass-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Attisound Black Mamba Brass Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece made by Carlo Atti in Italy. \u00a0I had never heard of Attisound mouthpieces<\/a> but Carlo contacted me last year and asked if I would be interested in reviewing some of his mouthpieces on my site. \u00a0I was curious after looking at some pictures and agreed to try them out. \u00a0He sent me a package with various sample mouthpieces to try. \u00a0 The first mouthpiece to be reviewed \u00a0is an Attisound “Black Mamba” brass tenor saxophone mouthpiece (I say “Black Mambo” in the sound clip but it is “Mamba”).<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Attisound mouthpieces that I received were a mix of various tenor mouthpieces, an alto mouthpiece and a soprano mouthpiece. \u00a0I received two Black Mamba tenor sax mouthpieces both of which are 8* tip openings and have the same design. \u00a0One is this brass mouthpiece I am reviewing and the other is black aluminum which I will be reviewing shortly.<\/p>\n

The Attisound Black Mamba tenor mouthpiece looks well made and plays great for me. \u00a0I have to admit that at first, \u00a0I had what I call “switching to a high baffle mouthpiece syndrome”. \u00a0I have written about this before but basically I encounter it when ever I make an abrupt switch from a low baffle large chamber mouthpiece to a high baffle small chamber mouthpiece. \u00a0I find that when I first switch from low baffle to high my tone sounds thin and super edgy and bright. \u00a0I’ve learned not to make snap judgements as it takes me some time to acclimate to the new mouthpiece and settle in with it. \u00a0 As I play I tend to make small adjustments with embouchure, air and throat voicing to fatten the tone and adapt it to what I hear in my head.\u00a0Which I feel like I did after a few hours of playing on the Black Mamba…………<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tip and rails of the Attisound Black Mamba don’t look particularly thin but they aren’t as wide as I have seen on other mouthpieces either. \u00a0My Rigotti and \u00a0Vandoren Java reeds matched perfectly with the tip curve of the mouthpiece which I always like. Every reed that I tried on all the Attisound mouthpieces sent got suction and retained it also. \u00a0That coupled with the fact that the mouthpieces played well for me makes me think that Carlos knows what he is doing when it comes to the facing curve.<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Attisound mouthpiece came with a Attisound ligature that could be used on all the tenor mouthpieces. \u00a0You can see the ligature in the pictures towards the bottom of the page. \u00a0The ligature is made out of stainless steel and fits the tenor mouthpieces perfectly. \u00a0My only complaint about the ligature is that it fits the mouthpiece body so exactly that you have to be very careful putting it on. \u00a0(I have double vision which doesn’t help me with that either…….). I\u00a0accidentally shaved off a corner of a reed with it when putting it on. \u00a0Later, I found I could slide the ligature on more safely at a slight angle but then found that I was scratching one side of the brass mouthpiece with an edge of the stainless steel ligature. \u00a0I finally figured out that it was easier to leave the ligature on the mouthpiece, loosen it and slide the butt end of the reed underneath. \u00a0This was\u00a0much easier for me.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0really liked the ligature although I would like to see some lines designed\u00a0into the screw you tighten so you can get more of a grip on the screw and it is not as smooth. \u00a0I will say that the\u00a0way the ligature is tightened by the screw on top works so well that it is hard to know how tight the ligature is on the reed. \u00a0At first I was tightening down the screw until it wouldn’t tighten anymore but soon realized that I was way over tightening the ligature. \u00a0 With a few turns to loosen it the reed was still held on firmly and it improved the response of the reed greatly.<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Black Mamba has what I would consider a medium high baffle. \u00a0It shoots down from the tip in almost a straight line until it reaches the small chamber which has a scooped out entrance to the chamber. \u00a0You see these scooped out chambers in Berg Larsen mouthpiece quite often. These chambers are also commonly called “bullet” chambers.<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

I tried both Rigotti Gold as well as Vandoren Java reeds on the Black Mamba but there was something about the Java reeds that I just liked more than the Rigottis. \u00a0 Rigotti reeds can sometimes be overly edgy for me on certain shorter facing curves and on the Attisound\u00a0tenor mouthpieces I found that as well. \u00a0On one of my other Attisound mouthpiece reviews I will\u00a0also post a clip with a Rigotti reed so you can hear what that sounds like also in comparison.<\/p>\n

While listening to the sound clip you can hear how bright, edgy and focused the Black Mamba can get even in the first few seconds. \u00a0I recorded one clip but added a bit of reverb on the second clip so you can hear how that sounds also.<\/p>\n

The intonation was great on the Black Mamba with nothing unusual to report. \u00a0Played at full blast I felt like it got a bit of a Lenny Picket vibe going to it. \u00a0 Altissimo was really easy to get as would be expected on a higher baffled piece. \u00a0I felt like the whole range of the horn was smooth and even. Certain notes could easily be overblown when playing full blast which is a common rock sax affect (Ex. 1:33 in the clip……..).<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the Black Mamba would be a great rock n’ roll, funk or blues sax tone if you like that bright edgier sound when soloing. \u00a0It can be dialed back\u00a0a bit with less air and subtone on the lower notes also (Ex. 2:48 \u00a0and 3:16 in the clip….). \u00a0Obviously, you have to have a preference for this brighter edgier tone at loud volumes but if you are into that scene then this could be a good mouthpiece to check out………<\/p>\n

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Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can contact Carlo Atti\u00a0on his website at www.attisoundmouthpiece.com<\/a>. \u00a0I will be reviewing some of his other models shortly the black aluminum Black Mamba. \u00a0Tell him Steve sent you………….Great work Carlo!!<\/p>\n

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/AttiBMGold.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Dry No Reverb<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/AttiBMGoldReverb.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Attisound Black Mamba Brass\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Reverb<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review\u00a0it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces and other saxophone related products that I\u00a0enjoy and believe will be a good choice for other saxophone players to try also. \u00a0 \u00a0Steve Neff<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece made by Carlo Atti in Italy. \u00a0I had never heard of Attisound mouthpieces but Carlo contacted me last year and asked if I would be interested in reviewing some of his mouthpieces on my site. \u00a0I was curious after looking at some pictures and agreed to try them out. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":41642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[487,1119,45],"tags":[1554,1552,1556,1555,239,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-41408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mouthpiece-reviews","8":"category-tenor-high-baffle-reviews","9":"category-tenor-mouthpieces","10":"tag-atti","11":"tag-attisound","12":"tag-black-mamba","13":"tag-italy","14":"tag-saxophone-mouthpiece","15":"tag-tenor-sax","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}