[Apex]

Ugh, musical dilemma. The $150 mouthpiece I got for my sax is leaving me gasping for air. Not because I'm throwing a lot of air in my saxophone, but because it isn't moving enough.

I feel like I'm having to force air into it. I can play for half a page, at a faster pace, in one breath. Then my body is craving air, and I have to exhale 1/2-1/3 of my residual lung capacity and draw in air again.

I have it down to two issues, embouchure and/or mouthpiece. If my embouchure is wrong, and I'm gripping the reed to tightly, that would reduce the airflow and make it tough. If if is the mouthpiece, then I need to invest in a new one. Unfortunately, it isn't like brass. If you know what you need, you just get it. Want to move air? Get one with a larger throat. Lower notes and more full sound, deeper cup. Sax is completely similar, yet different. You have the tip opening, chamber shape, throat, materials used, etc. Ugh. MONEY PIT. So I'm trying step 1, work on my embouchure and see where that gets me. Even if I have to play my jazz mouthpiece, I'll get it.


Side note, I'm getting close to finishing up my images from a shoot last month. I took a TON of images, and I'm finally seeing the end of the tunnel. Nothing to post here because they are going to be used in publications. Still, it is nice to come close to finishing a project, then I can clear my head and work on new ones.