Corry Bros. “Tone Tablet” Can such a small piece of equipment make a difference?

tone-tablet-with-mark-vi

Introduction

I was recently contacted by Paul and Jim Corry who design and manufacture their own line of mouthpieces and asked me to review one of their new pieces of equipment I had never seen before called the Tone Tablet. Now I have seen various neck screws as well as the Klangbogen (BSWE Klangbogen Review), which were designed to address the neck-tenon and palm keys which have historically suffered tremendous nodal disturbances. These products to various degrees will improve the overall airflow resulting in a better resonance and projection. I currently use the Klangbogen on my tenor and alto and do notice a more even scale so I was excited to see another product on the market designed to address this area on the saxophone. I will be providing a product overview as well as my overall thoughts.

Product Overview

“The Corry Bros. Tone Tablet was created to help optimize the tonal output of your saxophone. The tone tablet is made from specially sourced Silver Bullion which has the same qualities and working properties as sterling silver. This simple, discreet and non-intrusive silver tablet is simply placed into the lyre hole on your neck tenon and held in place once the lyre screw is tightened. By replacing mass lost in the lyre hole, the entire neck tenon vibrates more efficiently and consequently so does your horn. The overall sound will feel more centered, stable, and richer in all registers. The tone tablet does not replace any part on the saxophone so you can use your original neck screw or after-market neck screw. The tone tablet can stay in place and can be removed easily.”

To review test results and pro’s thoughts after testing the tone tablet, click the link below:

Tone Tablet Test Results and Reviews

The tone tablet will soon be offered in gold, nickel silver, and brass finishes.

Overall Thoughts

I have seen various after-market neck screws offered by Meridian Winds, Ishimori, and WestCoast Sax and a tone enhancer or stabilizer offered by Lefreque as well as ReedGeek known as the Klangbogen (currently using). I have not had a chance to try all of these products but since using the Klangbogen, I began to realize that there is not necessarily an issue but an opportunity to improve the overall sound and playability of the saxophone. This can be done by addressing this area on the saxophone which seems to commonly have nodal disturbances resulting in a saxophone that does not play as evenly and full as it could. I test played my saxophone with and without the tone tablet back and forth for over a week to see if I noticed a difference in my sound, how the horn responded, and the overall evenness from top to bottom. I have to say that overall while using the tone tablet, I did notice a difference in the overall response from top to bottom. I found my saxophone with the tone tablet to respond a bit faster, the overall sound from my perspective was a bit louder and projected further. It was quite surprising to think that such a small piece of equipment could have an effect on the sound and response. Although I still like using the Klangbogen by ReedGeek, the tone tablet is a great piece of equipment I recommend players check out and see what impact it has on their saxophone. Whether you prefer an after-market neckscrew, the lefreque, Klangbogen, or now tone tablet, I believe you will come to realize that these pieces of equipment can help your saxophone perform better. I would like to thank Paul and Jim Corry for introducing me to their Tone Tablet and am looking forward to checking out their mouthpieces in the future.

Website

http://www.corrybros.com/