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Re: Negative effects of saxophone?

Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-06-05 21:03

Good one Fred - there are far too many people that are primarily clarinet players that treat soprano saxes like they're a clarinet. In simple terms, it isn't a clarinet - it's a saxophone, so it should be played and treated like one.

This caused a lot of arguements when I lent my soprano sax to someone who played it like it was a clarinet and complained about how sharp it goes up top. It's a Yamaha 62 soprano, so perhaps one of the most stable ones ever built for intonation when played by someone that knows what they're doing, but in the wrong hands it is a disaster. He told me I should reduce the venting in the LH main action and palm keys to bring the pitch down in the upper register (which won't do much apart from make it stuffy in the lower register), I told him to learn to play it properly - it plays fine for me and I'm primarily a bari sax player. Has to be said I didn't lend it to him for too long.

As for mouthpieces, if you like more 'classical' or concert band playing, a Selmer C** is a good starting point. But if you're leaning more towards Jazz, then a Meyer 6 for alto and a Link 6 for tenor. Choice of reeds is up to you, but don't play on too resistant a set-up or you'll be barking the low notes out and will have trouble getting them to speak cleanly and quietly when you need to, as well as having not much control when playing quietly in the lower register when playing with a full tone as opposed to wooly subtoning.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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Negative effects of saxophone? new

mikeyarbulu

2010-06-01 19:16