 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-08-28 23:37
easy question, but what key is soppie sax in? my guess would be Bb because it is next up in the line of saxes and they go Bb Eb
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-08-29 00:02
Ok i found out it is Bb but another question:
Is it anything like playing soppie clarinet? I was wondering about getting a cheap one off of ebay and do a few solos, o rplay it in my schools jazz band. (i already play tenor) thanks.
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Author: John Gould
Date: 2001-08-29 00:06
Mine's in Bb (Selmer model 53) Conn made a soprano in C c.1928
Selmer made an Eb sopranino, and the smallest I've yet seen, Eppelsheim made a soprillo sounding one octave higher than a Bb soprano. (See Paul Cohen's article in Saxophone Journal Sep/Oct 2000 for more)
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-08-29 00:40
There is a funky little 6" long soproano... one off which was hand made. I don't know the key.
Real horns are available in many keys. Bb is the most common and is available curved or straight. The Eb sopranino is nice, it is available straight or curved, but is fairly unusual. An F Mezzo or F soprano is real rare and was an orchestral horn. They seem to always get snapped up for at least $4-5,000 for collections.
I have a Conn C soprano and a cheap import Belmont Bb. You have to know your horns and what to look for to end up with a nice Chinese import for around $300-$400. Most of these horns are only suitable for lamps. Figure on spending $1500-$4000 for a good Selmer or Yanagasawa soprano sax to do your solos on. Even then you will really need to play it for a couple of years to start bringing out it's beautiful tone. My Belmont really sounds nice, but is so cheaply made you have to handle it with kid gloves. The C still has some problems I am working on. Any e-Bay vintage horn you may buy will probably need a complete overhaul and then never sound as nice as a good Yani or Selmer.
Let us know what you end up doing.
Terry
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-08-29 00:42
While I've heard that some of the "inexpensive" soprano's aren't too bad, others - especially those with a few years on them - are dreadful. You asked what key a soprano was in - on some of the earlier cheap imports it was hard to tell - couldn't tune to anything. Try the Saxophone Discussion Forum on the web for specific and current guidance.
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Author: dan powell
Date: 2001-08-29 00:50
no it is nothing like playing clarinet. if you play tenor you should be able to sop .intonation is a bit tricky and requires more ombushere adjustments onthe fly. the lowest notes are very sharp and must be liped down. mid e is always flat . and the plam key note are hard to play at all.like allsingle reeds a good mpc is important. wide lay mpcs are very hard to play on sop.best to stick with a med or close like the selmer c* there are some good inexpenceve sops from the far east and ebay is always full of them. my $200 lafayette plays almost as good as my $2000 yamaha. bottam line is playing sop is a lot of fun!
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Author: William
Date: 2001-08-29 02:26
Try to get an old curved Martin--i had oine that played like a dream (no, not a nightmare). It got more attention on the gig than any of my other instruments and was a real blast to perform with. Too bad I sold it to raise money for my Selmer S-80 straight soppie. Now all I get is, "Is that a gold clarinet?"
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Author: jenna
Date: 2001-08-29 04:18
We have a sop sax in our clarinet line for marching band. He got lumped in because it's in Bb. From all I've gathered it seems to be fingered like an alto or tenor sax, just a smaller, straighter version. =)
Interesting addition to William's comment... One of the clarinets called me recently about a sectional, and she was telling me about the members of the line (a whooping 5 of us.. almost a new record). She mentioned a "new guy that plays some funny looking gold clarinet." I spent a week wondering what type of clarinet she was talking about before walking into sectionals and realizing her mistake.
True Story. =)
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-08-29 05:01
Cheap soprano saxes on eBay are mostly junk, Ted. Some of the older Bueshers, Conns and such look pretty good but probably, like clarinets, will need an overhaul to play well. If they're in good shape 'as is' the price will rise accordingly. Intonation is a very critical factor with sop saxes. Therefore, there's no substitute for trying the instrument out before you plunk your money down. How y' gonna do that on eBay?
:]
- ron b -
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-08-30 02:50
I have a new Selmer Serie III sop sax repaired by ISHIMORI.
http://www.ishimori-co.com/proad_ma.html
(I changed to gold plated thumb rest and hook.)
Sop sax is the most difficult sax among sax species. Usually people start by alto.
Fingering is not like clarinet's but like fute's. Even new ones need pad repair. Pad check every 6 months are prefarable. Selmer SuperSession mouthpiece is very good with Alexander Superiel reed.
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