Klarinet Archive - Posting 000204.txt from 1994/02

From: "Jay Heiser, Product Manager, Govt Systems" <jayh@-----.COM>
Subj: Clarinet and soprano saxophone? (no problem - go for it!)
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 11:21:10 -0500

-->From: Tom Ascher <U15310@-----.EDU>

-->Well, since someone else had brought the saxophone into discussion, maybe
-->its okay to ask the question: Does anyone on this forum also play the
-->soprano saxophone? If so, how difficult is it going back and forth between
-->the soprano sax and the Bb clarinet? I've been re-listening to some of
-->Brandon Marsalis's performances on CD and really impressed with the sound
-->that he gets! Extremely pure, clean, sounding to my ear almost like a
-->French horn. I'm thinking it would really be fun to get a soprano sax
-->(if I could get THAT kind of sound!)!
-->
-->Tom Ascher Internet: u15310@-----.edu
-->University of Illinois at Chicago Phone: (312) 413-3665

I've got one. In the wrong hands, the soprano can be a dangerous
instrument. ;-) (a New York jazz critic once characterized
Kenny G as being 'weasel toned'. I love it!)

The soprano is to the sax section what the Eb clarinet is to
that family -- a fickle instrument that is easy to play out of
tune and unmusically.

All that aside, I love the soprano. It can be played with
a beautiful haunting sound of its own, it can sound like a clarinet,
it can sound like an oboe or eng horn, it can sound like a hornet.
Properly played, its a versatile & useful instrument.

I play in pit orchestras with a guy that didn't start sax until
he was an adult. We also formed a quartet after he purchased
a Jupiter soprano. I did a show or two with him & his new horn
and he sounded awful, but he's got it under control now
and actually sounds better on soprano than alto or tenor (his
tenor is a dog). The trick is to remember that it is a sax
and not a clarinet. The mouthpiece has to go into your mouth
straight, not at an angle like a clarinet. Use sax chops, use
sax vibrato, and practice a lot.

The odds of it adversely affecting your clarinet are low
(another old wives tail?), so I wouldn't worry about switching
back & forth. Normal people do fine with this.

For some reason, there are a lot of cheap sopranos avail. I'm
not really impressed with them. I ended up buying a Jupiter
also (used) and I can't recommend buying anything less expensive.
Its hard choosing a new instrument when you don't really play it yet,
so the ultimate plan would be to find a friend with one and
borrow it (good luck!). Personally, I find the Selmer Mark VI
soprano to be the sweetest sounding (don't believe they ever
made a VII soprano, and I haven't played the new ones). The
Yamaha is a nice horn, but I don't like the tone as well.
Yanagasawa makes some nifty ones -- including a curved one.
Curved sopranos are harder to find, but many of us believe
they have nicer tone.

I have a wonderful picture of my grandfather in a sax choir
in high school. He was the shortest one in the group and is
holding what appears to be a curved sopranino (in F? Photo
seems to have Bari, Tenor, C Melody, Alto, Curved Soprano &
Curved Sopranino -- neat!).

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Garden Status:
Started pruning the grapes.
Getting the courage up to prune my
fruit trees (I'm a virgin)