 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SVClarinet09
Date: 2007-09-25 20:20
This year our jazz band will be going to the state music convention. What really stinks is that we have lost a good amount of people on the sax section. My director is having me fill in for Bari and has made other kids switch around making our lead alto go to tenor and etc. I started out on Bari today and my director told me to make sure that my embouchure was rounder. I looked around at the other sax kids and I tried to mimic them. What exactly is a sax embouchure? I'm starting on an old Buescher 400 which I am not sure if it is of good quality or not but some small research point to it as high intermediate, very advanced for it's time period so maybe it's the equivalent of a Selmer Artist USA Sax? The mouthpiece I'm playing on is a Selmer S80 C*. I noticed the chamber is squared off. I dipped it into hydrogen peroxide to eat up all the gunk it had but I still need to clean it at home. What reeds should I use? Are the jazz reeds any good? I've heard from sax players that soft reeds=harder to play low notes. Right now i had a Rico 2.5 but it's just not working. I can get many of the middle notes and some of the low notes but once I get to G on the staff things sort of fall apart.
EDIT
Did some more research. The 400 I have seems to be a 2nd gen Selmer Stencil
Post Edited (2007-09-25 20:23)
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2007-09-25 22:38
Hi Melvin, The O embouchure comment is probably not so off the mark. Many clarinetists are just too tight and too small for playing baritone sax. So O and relaxed is fine. Make sure you take enough mouthpiece in your mouth....to state the obvious the baritone is bigger and so is the mouthpiece. Your mouthpiece reed combination is a little unusual for jazz bari. Most bari mouthpieces are more open. I would suggest trying a Legere bari sax reed....maybe a 3 1/2... , alternatively a Hemke ...maybe #4. Many times the baritone is buried in a sax section so you have to blow and not dwell on too much subtlety. People to listen to ...Pepper Adams, Gary Smulyan(sp) older players Gerry Mulligan. If you are limited to Rico reeds ....just find something you can play high register on....high E and F. This strength of reed shouldn't make low notes that difficult. It might be a 3 1/2, 4, or even 5 rico. Ricos blow quite freely. l John
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: William
Date: 2007-09-27 21:34
Arnold's advice is "right on". I might add that the B400 was considered "in its day" a very reputable sax, not up there with the Selmer BA or VI but very reliable for any situation. And playing bari in a big band has to be the most fun--no need to be subtil, just play at full volume all the while. Take in plenty of mouthpiece, use a medium strenth reed (matched to your mpc, of course) and WAIL AWAY. This last bit of advice was given to me from the bari player for Buddy Rich, back in the seventies at the Old Miller Jazz Oasis of Milwaukee's Summerfest :>)
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