 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetgiggirl
Date: 2002-09-26 08:07
Not strictly a clarinet question, but maybe someone can help...
I have no problems playing long, consistent notes on the clarinet, but when I try the same thing on alto sax, the notes "wobble" - a sort of involuntary vibrato. I have swapped from a metal Lawton mouthpiece to a plastic Selmer, but the problem has not gone away.
Any advice?
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2002-09-26 10:07
I would experiment these:
0)Push the reed to the mouthpiece window and check the mouthpiece tip comes between the mouthpiece tip wall, i.e. it closes the window when vibrrate.
1)Since you have your alto sax bell in your right side, you should rotate the neck to make the mouthpiece straight to the mouth. You can find the right position by making the neck fixture screw free. Also experiment what push of the the right hand thumb works well.
2)Adjust strap length for the mouthpiece to come right into your mouth.
3)Try to push your lower jaw forward than for clarinet.
4)Check the pads perfectly match the chimneys. Their sizes are huge, which needs good repairman's work. Some new saxes like Selmer Serie III is notorious for its airiness if not properly adjusted before being sold.
5)Some people may tend to wobble their tones especially lower tones with rectangular throat mouthpieces. Try a mouthpiece with round throat or rectangular throat but with well rounded corners. Marcel Mule was fond of round throat mouthpieces. But it is difficult to find ones these days.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2002-09-26 12:59
Reed goes 180% to the tongue on any sax. That is put the mouthpiece straight in not downwards like the clarinet. Start with a soft reed unlike clarinet. Think of the vowel sounds too,taa and taw when you tongue and practise like crazy.
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Author: KayR
Date: 2002-09-26 14:20
Recently my son developed a wobble-like tone on his tenor sax, but only on the lower register. It turned out that one of the keys needed adjusting. It was the one closest to the neck. We diagnosed it by having him play while I held the key down. Adjusting the key fixed the problem. Have you always had this problem? Have you tried playing someone else's instrument to see if it occurs then?
Good luck!
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Author: William
Date: 2002-09-26 14:54
Some technical advice:
Hold the sax in front of you and adjust the neck so that the mouthpiece comes to your mouth naturally when you use just your thumbs and neckstrap for support. You should not use your fingers to hold the sax in position. Avoid dropping your head to get to the mpc.
Push your right hand thumb (and sax) forward so that the mouthpiece approachs your mouth "straight on." Do not duplicate the clarinetist embouchure on the sax. And, use less lip pressure or "bite." Low notes will "warble" if too much "bite" is used. Also, on low notes, think of blowing warm air out of your mouth (lips in open "O" configuration and slow steady breaths)
And be certain that the mouthpiece is pushed all the was on so that when you play third line B and the octave above, they will be in tune with each other. This insures that the sax is "in tune" with itself so that it can be played in tune with others.
Vibrato "warms" your sound--and hides many intonation errors!! So, develop your vibrato and play like David Sanborn. (but you will need a Selmer Mark VI within ten numbers of his serial inscription--that's His secret)
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Author: tim k
Date: 2002-09-26 16:42
I have a problem keeping the pitch solid if the reed/mouthpiece/sax don't offer enough resistance. A free-blowing sax, free-blowing mouthpiece, and soft reed require a highly-disciplined embouchure.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-09-26 17:04
I'd try KayR's suggestion to check for a leak first. Saxes should be pretty free blowing and responsive, not 'wobbly'. If it wobbles, it's usually an indication there's a leak somewhere.
You might want to have the instrument checked over by a tech. The problem could be simple, or it could be complex. Saxes are a bit temperamental. Sax keys have a lot more 'give' than clarinets' do, therefore they're more prone to getting out of adjustment. It doesn't take much. Everything may seem fine but saxes are not always as honest as they look.
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Author: Curt at MusicMedic
Date: 2002-09-26 17:37
First I agree with the above and might add this (as a saxophonist primarily)
Try to play just the mouthpiece without the saxophone. The difference between clarinet and saxophone are great in this respect.
On an alto saxophone, you should get an A880 on the mouthpiece alone. Coming from clarinet, you may find that the pitch are getting is quite a bit higher and you just need to lower your focus.
The warble may be leaks and such, but it may also be the tone struggling to play in spite of your embouchure. If the emochure is way off, you may have adjusted the mouthpiece on the neck. Now you are in effect lipping the note up to pitch and causing an acoustical disturbance. This may cause your warble.
Good luck!
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Author: clarinetgiggirl
Date: 2002-09-26 20:26
Thanks everyone, there's some really good advice here.
I think its a case of practice, practice and practice some more..pity the poor neighbours!
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Author: nzdonald
Date: 2002-09-26 21:59
um, even though this is sort of finished i'd like to quickly add my bit
- too much mouthpiece
-pad leaks
both of those things (both mentioned above) can cause the "wobble tone" esp on the lower notes. If i am imagining your problem correctly, it's a kind of wobble/occilation that you feel you have no control over and happens even if you are holding the note steady as you can?
on Sax embochure- there seem to be many different ways to blow the saxophone that work with varying degrees of success- this success seems to depend a lot on what you are trying to get out of the saxophone. For instance- if you do primarily Jazz improvisation, you are less likely to have to do articulation at PP on the low notes..... as a classical/contemporary player you might have to do this every day. I like a certain style and sound- but often hear sounds i like from other sax players, sounds that i know i'd have to change my set up and approach radically if i was going to try to make them!
i had to make a decision- i want to play Classical clarinet AND sax with minimum fuss- so i (and some very good sax players that i know) use an embochure that is similar to the clarinet. Through teaching and playing i have found that the big thing that causes problems is that on the Clarinet you can get away with a much tighter throat- i didn't say you SHOULD play this way....
but on the clarinet this hinders you, but you can still actually play. On the saxophone the "tight throat" is death to the low notes. For this reason, i find (as someone who has achieved a very high level on the clarinet, but has problems with tension) that practising the saxophone actually HELPS my clarinet playing, as work on the lower notes forces (encourages) me to relax my airway.
But my students come to me making all different kinds of tone/embochure etc. The two things that seem to help everybody are 1) relax throat (both for the top and bottom end of the range) and 2) keep you lips against the teeth (rather than sticking you lips forward- you can do this when you get famous if you like, but not in my lessons!)
man, i'm late for work- i'd better rush off
but i hope that this was useful to somebody
donald
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Author: clarinetgiggirl
Date: 2002-09-27 07:32
I am pretty sure that it is my embouchure that is the problem, and I have lots of good ideas to try out.
I shall however, be calling on my good friend metalclarinetgigman to see if I have the same problems playing is rather beautiful saxophone. (Metalclarinetgigman - you have been warned!)
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