Klarinet Archive - Posting 000392.txt from 1996/05

From: "Scott D. Morrow" <SDM@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Doubling Advice
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 13:11:44 -0400

>I would like some alto sax mouthpiece advice and I thought some of the
>clarinet players that double on sax might be able to help out. My son
>plays the piano now and wants to play the alto sax in the school band.
>I would like to start him off with a good quality mouthpiece and probably
>a student quality horn. What are some mouthpieces you can recommend
>for a beginning student?
>
>Also, I might like to try out the sax. I play the clarinet with a
>mouthpiece that has a relatively long facing and a medium-close tip
>opening with a 3 + reed. In terms of mouthpiece and its setup, are
>there any special considerations for clarinet players doubling on the
>alto sax? When I decided to play the clarinet in grade school one of the
>advantages in favor of selecting the clarinet was the possibility of
>doubling on the sax, but so far I haven't played more that a couple
>dozen notes on the sax. Thanks in advance.

I've never worried about the mouthpieces (maybe I should!), and
have never had any trouble. I DO tend to play with more of a clarinet
embouchure (i.e., tilt sax down a bit), which I find gives me more control
and a less "honky" sound (the sax equivelant of "dark" - uh oh: how can I
just leave a straight line like THIS lying around on THIS list?!). My
advice would be to just play around and get the feel of the sax - as a
clarinetist, you probably already know everything you need to know! You
just have to get used to having the registers in octaves and to there NOT
BEING ENOUGH KEYS ON THE SAX!

Good luck!

-Scott

Scott D. Morrow
Department of Biochemistry
School of Hygiene and Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
(410)-955-3631

SDM@-----.edu