I`m an alto and bari player, bari in band and jazz band and alto for myself and with my friends. Anyway i think its definitely time for a new mouthcpice/reed combo on the bari. I`m looking for kind of a charlie parker sound. i know it won`t sound the same because he certainly didn`t play bari. but i`d like to get that type of sound. any suggestions on good mouthpieces or reeds? currently, i play a rico 3 and some crappy mouthpiece. i`m a pretty good player, but i`ve only been doing solos for a couple years. suggestions please. thanx

Hey, I`m a bari player as well... and I recommend trying Rico Royale reeds. I`ve found that they play so much better and the sound produced is much clearer and brighter. I honestly don`t know what type of mouthpiece I use because it was with the saxophone, but I`ll definitely recommend rico royale reeds. :-) Hope it helped a little bit...
~Sarah~

In playing the bari in jazz a metal moutpiece is a must have. They are shaped for jazz sound and make it sound lots better, you get that raspy sound that is the trademark of the jazz bari. Otto Links are good, that is what I have for my alto, and one of the bari players in my jazz band has one two. As for reeds I would say Vandoren ZZ unless you want to spend a lot of money. They are great and they cost about 3 bucks a reed, and you can get them cheaper by the box, and if you want to spend a lot more money the next best thing on top of that are Superials that run about 8 bucks a reed, and there are basically none in between that I like better, so I play the ZZ`s, I mean hay save $5, and the superials are just a little better, not $5 better. Hope I could help

Yes a metal mouthpiece does seems good if you are tring to get a jazzy sound. If you are still in middle or highschool i recomend u reconsider getting a metal mouthpiece. They are too advanced for you(not saying that your bad).I recommend you try a Selmer mouthpiece, and some Vandoren reeds. They are one of the best

metal mouthpiece is most def. needed...as for the reed...try a plastic covered reed...i know it sounds dumb...but 15 and i play bari in band and alto in jazz band, and i`ve been playing for 7 years...the plastic reed will make both instruments sound LESS SPITTY!! trust me! and as for time wise...they last WAY LONGER! they kinda give u a raspy sound...its so cool!