 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2003-12-08 15:15
I have been playing the saxophone for the first time in about 8 years for a piece in orchestra. We have a "real" saxophonist on the lead part, I am playing the other alto part, and the principal bassoonist is playing the tenor. It is a lot of fun. However, I am finding that my low notes from about D on down sound wimpy and the pitch is a bit low. When I try to adjust the pitch upward the tone gets wimpier. I am trying to relax the lower lip, with less lip over the teeth. Anybody have other tips, embouchure or otherwise?
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2003-12-08 15:38
You could have a leak. I had this problem and the tech found and fixed a leak, which helped a lot.
Leonard
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Author: hans
Date: 2003-12-08 20:51
If the sax is found to be working properly, you could experiment with different strength reeds and/or a different mouthpiece.
You could also try pushing the mouthpiece further onto the neck to correct the pitch of the low notes.
Hans
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Author: mikeW
Date: 2003-12-08 21:27
What sort of mouthpiece/reed combination are you using? A reed that is too hard will make it diffucult to play the low notes without really blasting away. However, I'm guessing that you have some leaks as getting the low notes on alto are usually easier than on tenor, especially if you are an infrequent doubler from clarinet. However, if you are trying to play a 3 1/2 or 4 reed on a fairly open mouthpiece, that could be your problem.
Another things that come to mind is that saxes tend to be more free-blowing than clarinets so some people tend to drop their air support, especually when playing softly. So make sure you're not doing that.
You might try pointing your chin on the low notes, although this usually isn't a problem with doublers from clarinet. Basically, this opens up the throat and firms up the sides of the embouchure, which some beginners let collapse at the bottom end of the sax.
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Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2003-12-08 22:33
MikeW -- It is a Yamaha student horn and mouthpiece, borrowed from a local store. I am using #3 reeds at this point. I'm not sure how open the mouthpiece is compared to other sax mthpces, though. I haven't yet tried to go to 21/2. Thanks for the point about the sides of the embouchure. That could be part of it, especially when I am adjusting my embouchure to the different angle of the saxophone mouthpiece.
Post Edited (2003-12-08 22:34)
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-12-08 22:34
CW,
As a doubler, this really sounds like a leak. Maybe have "the real saxophonist" play your instrument - with their MP - and see what happens. If you know this person well, maybe you could use your MP on his/her sax for a few scales. Then you would have a good bit more information to help you ferret out the culprit.
HRL
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