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April 5, 2008 There are many reasons instruments play differently. Lets take a saxophone. We have the main body, the bow section, the bell section and the neck. We will start with how the neck is made. The brass is wrapped around a mandrel, soldered, shaped, cut, hand buffed. Then the parts are soldered on the finished neck. Now during this process the neck is heated several times. Each time the neck is heated it will alter the brass where the flame hits the neck. If it takes more time to solder the neck receiver to the neck that spot will be heated more than the last neck. If there is more solder under the traditional neck brace that will change the way the neck vibrates. When the neck is lacquered or plated the amount of lacquer or plating will change the neck vibration, the tone color and response. Now we have not talked about the bell, main body or bow. Each of these parts has many of the same processes used to manufacture them. Now though these things can be controlled to a great extent there are too many things that can vary. The leveling of a tone hole during padding, the tone booster and how far it hangs down in the tone hole. The list of variables is very long. The beauty in the ay instruments are made is that they will all be different. The musician choosing an instrument can find something they will really enjoy playing. The sound they want, the response and intonation. Now we ad the big variable “The musician”. We each play differently, have different embouchures, concepts of sound. We as musicians need to find a very good instrument and then practice, practice, practice. The more we practice the less important equipment becomes to our playing. Consider when looking for different equipment the reason you started looking. Did you had a bad session? Did you play with an out of tune group? Always make decisions on a good day and not a bad day. Enjoy playing and make music in stead of worrying about the equipment. When looking for a new instrument it is important to choose an instrument you feel comfortable with the way it plays. Several things to look for when trying the new instrument are: Does it have the tone color you are looking for in an instrument? April 1, 2008 Why am I having trouble playing my low notes on my saxophone? They are always bubbling. This question has been asked by every saxophonist since it was invented. There can be many reasons for bad response in the lower register of the saxophone. The very first thing to check is how far the mouthpiece is pushed on the neck. If the mouthpiece is out too far the lower register tends to gurgle. It is natural for saxophonist to tune to the middle register of the saxophone. This creates many problems.. On an alto saxophone we tend to tune to the middle F#. This note is naturally about 30+ cents sharp. So then we have a flat lower register making us tighten the embouchure to raise the pitch...... now it does not respond. Having to tighten the embouchure is certainly not the way to play great low notes. The embouchure needs to be relaxed.... and it can not be tight and relaxed at the same time. The note to tune the alto saxophone to is the first finger B in the middle of the staff. this is probably the most stable note on the alto saxophone as far a pitch. If it is necessary to tune to the F#.... play the B first.... listen to the interval and the odds of the F# being closer to the correct pitch are better. Tune to the middle B then learn where the rest of the instrument plays in tune for you. This is a saxophone it is not naturally in tune. Now when the mouthpiece i in far enough and you still have the same problem you can start looking at other possibilities. Next thing about the reed strength. A very heavy reed on the saxophone does not necessarily respond in the lower register. Many players choose to play heavy reed for the tone color then deal with the lower register. OK we have the mouthpiece pushed in and like the reed strength ( It is not to hard ) what next. Of course you have had the instrument checked for leaks. Let me think.... that was about a year ago. It just might be time for another check up. OK pushed in, reed, leak check up... still having the problem. The next thing could be spring tension... If the springs especially on the keys that are held closed is too light they can blow open when you put a lot of air through the instrument. This can be difficult to find and there are a couple ways to do this. If you are alone put a cork under each key to help hole it closed then see if the instrument plays better. I found of the many years of tracking down this problem I always start with the side C, then the side Bb, the Fork F# and of course the low Eb. Odds are in your favor if this is the problem it would be one of these keys or a palm key. Even the slightest leak in a palm key can change the way the entire instrument plays. The sleepers key in this search are the register keys. The neck is easy to check but if the body register key is slightly open it will show up on the lower register. Because when you close the G key only the register key itself holds the body key closed. OK pushed in, reeds, leaks & springs. Still there...... Well there were a series of all manufactured saxophones where they made the bow of the saxophone too big. How to check this problem is to put you mouthpiece cap in the bell of the saxophone and if the problem clears up.... at last you know the problem. This can be fixed in several ways. The easiest is to just through the cap in the bell and at least you will know where it is. The cap in the bell has been used by old jazz saxophonist and of course those of us with no money. If you fell the need for a more permanent fix the old guys would melt bees wax in the bottom of the bell until they got the bubble to stop. Selmer soldered a brass piece shaped like the top of the bow inside on many of their models to correct this problem before they manufactured the instrument. Many early Buffet saxophones also had this problem. *Remember the number one problem is still how far the mouthpiece is on the neck. Out to far and all the other problems are magnified. The next to last thing to check is the facing of the mouthpiece. If the problem started after you have had the instrument for a while and it is a new problem... then the mouthpiece facing could have warped. The very last thing to check is the player. Have you changed something in your playing. New reed, changed your embouchure, are you thinking to much about the response of the lower register. We often make changes in the way we play without knowing it.... are you taking in less or more mouthpiece. You are playing a saxophone and the three bottom notes are difficult at best. |