Klarinet Archive - Posting 000549.txt from 2003/02

From: "Joseph H. Fasel" <jhf@-----.gov>
Subj: Re: [kl] Quick query on the soprano sax
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 09:35:44 -0500

I also recently got a soprano sax. My experience was like yours at first:
With a clarinet-like embouchure, the lower half of the first octave overblows
easily. Ya just gots to loosen up!

Cheers,
--Joe

On 2003.02.19 14:49 Bill Semple wrote:
> I have played the clarinet, and only the clarinet, for forty-three years.
> Recently, my dixieland band asked me to play the soprano sax on a few tunes,
> using an instrument built in the 1920's and gifted to the band by its long
> time reedman, who unfortunately succumbed to cancer last year.
>
> I've managed to get some decent sound out of this thing (it's a Conn), but
> when I hit low G, it lets out a honk like a goose and jumps an octave. If I
> am extra careful, and distend my embouchure just so, I can get that lower G.
>
> Is overblowing a soprano sax easily done, and is this the problem, or do I
> have leaks? Of course I know I should check for leaks, but I am also
> interested in the acoustical properties of this instrument and its penchant
> for doing oddball things.
>
Joseph H. Fasel, Ph.D. email: jhf@-----.gov
Decision Modeling and Analysis phone: +1 505 667 7158
University of California fax: +1 505 667 2960
Los Alamos National Laboratory post: D-7 MS F609; Los Alamos, NM 87545

---------------------------------------------------------------------