The Bb soprano saxophone comes in three (or more!) distinct 'curvatures'. The ones I own include the straight soprano, the curved soprano and the saxello (tilted bell and tilted neck).
The curvature in the saxophone seems to lend a 'mellowness' to the sound, although this might be dependant on the mouthpiece/reed/ligature combination as well as the player's conception, as to the 'reediness' of the sound.
The straight soprano seems to be the most nasal and penetrating of the three, good for solos especially.
The curved soprano seems to be the most mellow, and I find it extremely good when blending with the section of saxes in a jazz ensemble.
The saxello is a combination of the two sounds, and for me is the most 'fluid' sounding, I tend to use this one for most things.
The ones I play are:
Bb Straight Soprano -- Selmer Model III(with high G)
Bb Saxello -- Rampone and Cazzani
Bb Curved Soprano -- Yanigasawa
All three have a key range from Low Bb to High F#.
The mouthpiece I use on all three, is a metal Dukoff D8, with a BARI plastic, soft reed.
A pic and sound file of each will be loaded soon!
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