The new Vandoren Alto Profile AP2 mouthpiece
I love this new mouthpiece from Vandoren. In June my friend and colleague, French saxophonist Jérôme Laran came to visit me in London. He had with him the new Vandoren Profile AP2 mouthpiece. It was going to be launched at the European Saxophone Congress in Trento, Italy, in July, but it was available in France already. I played it that day and loved it straight away. It has all the warmth and richness of tone you can find with the original Vandoren Profile AP3 mouthpiece, but with an energy and response and flexibility similar to the Selmer Concept mouthpiece.
I’ve had my own AP2 mouthpiece to work with for about a month now, and I am really enjoying working with the mouthpiece. I am using slightly harder reeds, I always play on Vandoren V12 strength 3 reeds, but am finding I am choosing the slightly more resistant reeds. The response with articulation is very immediate and I can control my tonguing across the whole range of the saxophone and at speed. I also find playing into the altissimo range effortless, the saxophone sings across the range and I don’t feel restricted. I am enjoying the colours and dynamic range I am accessing in my sound.
During August, when I have some time I like to work on my technique. I have been working on interval jumps, using the scale book by Jean-Marie Londeix. The AP2 mouthpiece is allowing me to focus on playing effortlessly when playing scales with bigger and bigger interval jumps. I will play major scales one day, and minor harmonics the next, in intervals from 3rds all the way up to octaves.
I also like to return to playing Baroque music. I love the precision, excitement, and logic of Baroque music, as well as the challenge. The AP2 mouthpiece has helped me with the control I need especially when playing the long lines in the Bach Partitas arranged by Raaf Hekkema .
Many congratulations to Vandoren for their development of this new alto mouthpiece.
