Skip to main content

Otto Link STM 10*

It looks like my acoustic setup is finally complete.
The sound (pun intended) difference between my old Amati Classic Super (290/2 facing, stainless steel) mouthpiece and newly acquired Otto Link Super Tone Master (10* facing, gold-plated bell metal) is impossible not to notice.
It was clear enough even when I test-drove 8* about a month ago (I tried to be as objective as I could, so at the store I picked an instrument closest to mine - YTS62, and a Vandoren Traditional #3 reed), the sound was wider and fuller; that mellow fuzzy hiss I used to work so hard to produce, would come out effortlessly. Needless to say, that 10* does everything even better (I had no idea they make those, I thought 9* was the top number available), and the combination of 10* and #3 Vandoren ZZ (JaZZ) reed completely elimintated those nasty squeaks in upper register, which would pop-up once in a while, if I wasn't careful enough.
Merry Christmas to me.
That trip to the W 48 St. Sam Ash Manhattan Music Store was very educational in another sence, too: I tried, finally, the horn, I read so much about: Selmer Reference 54 Tenor (brushed finish).
As beautiful (with the exception of somewhat unpleasant green tint of the finish - I would prefer a warmer yellow hue), as it is well-crafted and good-sounding, Ref 54 is one fine instrument. Well, it should be, considering it's hefty price tag - nearly $2,000 over my Yamaha Z82. The difference between the two, however, is not all that dramatic, at least, in my honest oppinion. I found the Frenchman a little lighter, and the mechanics a bit more convenient for my fingers; tone-wise, it sounded slightly different, a tad darker, I thought, but, once again: the difference was not even near the level, where one could say "wow, this is so much better, where is the nearest pound shop, for this is where my current piece of S-shaped scrap metal is going", no. It was just slightly different, that's all.
Although I really liked it, I am, however, convinced, that by just switching the brand of reeds, one could achieve more profound change in sound, not to mention replacing the mouthpiece :)

Popular posts from this blog

Who is running MacAddict forums?

I normally hate to complain, but, being a happy subscriber to the magazine for some time now, feel like I do need to express a concern about my recent experience with MacAddict forums section of the web site. Due to some server misbehavior, I had to re-register, my old profile disappeared, while I was updating it. My new profile was assign a label "n00b" (None Of Our Business, if I am not mistaken. This is some way to welcome a new member to the MacAddict community). It could've been cute, but it isn't. And I don't think, it was intended to be: from the post of "Scott": "...using tables for layout...is for lame-ass n00bs..." I have read several more posts in the "Web Design and Development" forum, which, for some reason, was for a couple of days named "George" (the name is back to normal now; but here is how forum moderator "Gipetto" reacted when he was asked about this oddity: "...poop, it blew me away tha...

{position:fixed} in iOS 6

I stumbled upon this oddity when upgrading to iOS 6 while working on a mobile advertising project, and it took me a better part of the day to figure out what is going on: all of a sudden an element {position:fixed} stopped working in a correct manner (which is staying put, while the page is scrolling), and started "sticking" to the scrolling page, moving out of the viewport, and then just "jumping" back to the correct location after the scrolling was finished.If you scroll this page , you will see it—hint: that's the one labeled "broken"—assuming that you have a correct device/browser combination. Mine was iPhone4 and iOS 6.0 (6.0.1-6.1.3 behaves just the same). On the original page, where I first encountered the problem, all of my elements were created dynamically using JavaScript, but at the end of the day (literally) it become clear, that the glitch is in the iOS 6 CSS implementation.Here is what happens: if you have an element {position:fixed} whic...

One tank of fuel: $25

One tank of fuel: $25 Insurance deductible: $250 Christmas without mother-in-law: priceless. It's almost funny now, when my beloved Renegade is in the shop, I am driving a rental, and we indeed don't have to celebrate the holidays with granny, who I was supposed to bring from Cincinnati for that cheerful occasion. The trip didn't go all that well - some 80 miles south of Cleveland I hit an ice patch, lost control of the vehicle, spun across all three lanes of I-71 and bumped into guardrail. Twice. With both front and rear bumpers, don't remember the order. And, of course, I stalled, half way in the ditch, driver's side to the traffic, blocking the right lane. Am I just lucky, or am I simply not supposed to die in a car accident? That was my third time starring at the several sets of slowly approaching headlights, aimed at my vehicle, helplessly sitting on the way of the deadly flow. And, once again, somebody stopped, somebody steered away, and nothing happened. I tu...