Mouthpiece Matters

So, over on Sax on the Web, there is this recurring discussion over whether what a mouthpiece is made of influences its sound.  There are reasoned arguments on both sides, but it hasn't really gone anywhere but incircles for years.   There isn't any consensus among manufacturers, and the scientific literature is mute.  Nobody has really done a very thorough study, in part because nobody markets mouthpieces that are identical except for the material.  So I though I would make some and do a bit of an experiment.  But I need your help.

I made some mouthpieces, identical in every way -internal dimensions, eternal dimensions, facing, everything -- out of some different materials (I don't want to skew the results by revealing how many mouthpieces or made of what, except to say at least one is brass and at least one isn't)   I took them down to Dave O'Higgins' studio in London.  We recorded multiple clips of him playing each mouthpiece with otherwise the same setup.   Can you tell the difference?

Someone of a more academic bent would probably play the mouthpieces with a machine with an artificial embouchure, and publish spectrum analysis of it (I'd like to see that study if anyone is interested in doing it).  But what I want to see is the practical situation -- played by a real player, heard by real people.  Ultimately it's about music and what you hear is all that matters.

So, grab your headphones and  take the quiz.

Let me know how it goes.   When enough have taken it that trends emerge I'll post some results here.

cheers!
--Morgan