HI i play the alto, and I dont know which kind of mouthpiece i shoud get, metal or rubber. It seems that most professionals use metal ones so help.

Check out some of the older forum questions, this one has been done many times before. They should have all the information you need.

Later
CJ

i don`t really like the feel of metal mouthpieces, and i don`t really think they`re to good at all on alto, so my obvious recommendation would be rubber. Try a meyer 6 or 7, an otto link 6, 7, or 8, or a phil barone new york model. I`m assuming you play jazz. What is your level of experience?
-Bleeding Gums Murphy
p.s. most pro alto players use rubber pieces
parker-brilhart tonalin
desmond-m.c. gregory model a
... the list goes on...

thx, but doesnt a metal one sound nicer?

Listen to BGM......he`s as right as the wind. Now I`ll give you my 2 cents worth. Personally.....I can`t stand metal on alto. I play all 4 saxes (SATB) and I use metal on every one EXCEPT Alto. You can listen to people tell you all day long what kind of Piece/Lig/Reed setup to buy. After you are finished listening to 50 different opinions (and they will be different), it`s all going to come down to the same things. And believe me.....what works for one doesn`t mean it will work for another. YOU PERSONALLY HAVE TO TRY THINGS FOR YOURSELF AND DECIDE. On alto, I play on old Meyer 6M and I love it. I`m experimenting with ligatures right now so that`s a challenge for me. I don`t play in environments where I have to compete with electric instruments so I don`t need a "chain saw" type piece. What kind of sound do you want and how much money are you planning on spending? Those are questions that I still ask myself today when I look for new pieces to try.

So if you want a good starting point, answer those questions and find yourself a qualified sales person to discuss your options with. I do a great deal of business with Woodwind Brasswind (http://www.wwbw.com) and they have folks that can help you. They even have a program where you can order multiple pieces and only have to pay for one of them up front so that you can try them and decide which one you want to keep. Then, you send back the three you didn`t want and there`s no harm done. It`s great.

Metal on alto isn`t the best idea. Metal won`t sound nicer, it will just be much brighter, and feel different. Hard Rubber pieces are better in my opinion. If you march, do you really want to suck on a freezing piece of metal in 20 degree weather? You can easily achieve a jazz sound with hard rubber. There`s some really good hard rubber mouthpieces out there. Try a vintage otto link slant sig, and it will blow you away. They`re really expensive though. If you play jazz, Vandoren Java or Jumbo Javas are good bets. For classical, Morgan classical or selmer larry teals are good.

-tenor562