Is soprano sax harder to play than alto?
Ed Stauff
I just rented a soprano sax, and I'm having trouble playing it.
I played alto for many years, though not recently, and have
also played tenor and bari. I never tried a soprano until last
night. The bottom half of the lower register was very hard
to play; it kept wanting to jump into the upper register.
The entire instrument felt sort of pinched. It reminded me
of a clarinet, which I've never had much luck with. As a
sanity check, I took out my alto to see if it was just that
my embouchure had gone to hell. Nope, my alto (a Bundy)
played just fine. The soprano is an L.A.Sax, almost new.
I tried messing with the pads to see if any were leaking,
but I wasn't able to discover any problems. I also tried
both a #2 and a #3 reed. The #3 was even harder to play,
but not by much.
Is a soprano sax fundamentally harder to play than an alto,
or do I have a defective instrument?
Please reply via e-mail, as I don't frequent these newsgroups.
And information will be greatly appreciated.
-- Ed
Russell Schneider
I play bari, alto, and soprano. And yes, in my opinion it is harder to
play (when I first picked up the soprano I hadn't played alto in two
years) I went through reeds like toilet paper, thinking that was why it
sounded the way it did, horrible nasal sound and horribly out of tune.
well, after playing soprano for about 6 months I got a new mouthpiece (I
had been playing on a yamaha (puke)) and I got a metal otto link 5*. my
tone improved alot, and I currently play on a hemke 3.
you speak of a problem with it jumping octaves. when I'm on a dead reed
that happens to me a lot.
Russ
Buffalo Grove, IL
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Paul D. Race
In article <3199F5...@avid.com> Ed Stauff <ed_s...@avid.com> writes:
>From: Ed Stauff <ed_s...@avid.com>
>Subject: Is soprano sax harder to play than alto?
>Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:16:21 -0500
>I just rented a soprano sax, and I'm having trouble playing it.
>I played alto for many years, though not recently, and have
>also played tenor and bari. I never tried a soprano until last
>night. The bottom half of the lower register was very hard
>to play; it kept wanting to jump into the upper register.
>The entire instrument felt sort of pinched. It reminded me
>of a clarinet, which I've never had much luck with. As a
>sanity check, I took out my alto to see if it was just that
>my embouchure had gone to hell. Nope, my alto (a Bundy)
>played just fine. The soprano is an L.A.Sax, almost new.
>I tried messing with the pads to see if any were leaking,
>but I wasn't able to discover any problems. I also tried
>both a #2 and a #3 reed. The #3 was even harder to play,
>but not by much.
>Is a soprano sax fundamentally harder to play than an alto,
>or do I have a defective instrument?
>Please reply via e-mail, as I don't frequent these newsgroups.
>And information will be greatly appreciated.
>-- Ed
Because your embouchure needs to be a lot firmer and more focused when you go
to a smaller instrument, you'll find that moving smaller instruments is harder
than moving to larger horns.
I'm an old tenor player, who played alto for a couple years in college with
no great problems. But I find when I play soprano, I get headaches, have
trouble playing the whole range, etc. And I find myself blowing air out the
sides of my mouth when I'm playing like I've seen some jazz players doing,
because I'm used to channeling these huge volumes of air through the tenor,
but there's no place on the soprano for it all to go.
I have a wierd horn, a "C" Martin soprano from maybe 1917, I wondered
sometimes if it was the horn or just me. But I've had the horn "set up" twice
by two very good technicians, who did it as a favor (otherwise it would have
cost more than the toy was worth) and had the mouthpiece reground by Ralph
Morgan, a mouthpiece manufacturer who used to personally grind Selmer's best
mouthpieces. And I haven't had much better luck with other sopranos I tried
out, so it's just that I have to get used to it. I do agree with the fellow
who says to try a real mouthpiece.
Good luck - p/r
Ken Field
Sounds to me like you have a leak, despite the fact that you
couldn't find it. If I were you I'd bring it to a shop and have
a pro look at it. It should only take a few minutes for
a repair guy to see if there is something wrong with the
horn, and you will avoid wasting lots of time and energy.
-Ken
> In article <3199F5...@avid.com>, wrote:Ed Stauff <ed_s...@avid.com>
>
> }I just rented a soprano sax, and I'm having trouble playing it.
> }I played alto for many years, though not recently, and have
> }also played tenor and bari. I never tried a soprano until last
> }night. The bottom half of the lower register was very hard
> }to play; it kept wanting to jump into the upper register.
> }The entire instrument felt sort of pinched. It reminded me
> }of a clarinet, which I've never had much luck with. As a
> }sanity check, I took out my alto to see if it was just that
> }my embouchure had gone to hell. Nope, my alto (a Bundy)
> }played just fine. The soprano is an L.A.Sax, almost new.
> }I tried messing with the pads to see if any were leaking,
> }but I wasn't able to discover any problems. I also tried
> }both a #2 and a #3 reed. The #3 was even harder to play,
> }but not by much.
> }
> }Is a soprano sax fundamentally harder to play than an alto,
> }or do I have a defective instrument?
> }
> }Please reply via e-mail, as I don't frequent these newsgroups.
> }And information will be greatly appreciated.
> }
> }-- Ed
--
Ken Field + kfi...@saturn.net + http://www.saturn.net/~kfield
Jeff Wilcox
In article <3199F5...@avid.com>, Ed Stauff <ed_s...@avid.com> writes:
|> I just rented a soprano sax, and I'm having trouble playing it.
|> I played alto for many years, though not recently, and have
|> also played tenor and bari. I never tried a soprano until last
|> night. The bottom half of the lower register was very hard
|> to play; it kept wanting to jump into the upper register.
|> The entire instrument felt sort of pinched. It reminded me
|> of a clarinet, which I've never had much luck with. As a
|> sanity check, I took out my alto to see if it was just that
|> my embouchure had gone to hell. Nope, my alto (a Bundy)
|> played just fine. The soprano is an L.A.Sax, almost new.
|> I tried messing with the pads to see if any were leaking,
|> but I wasn't able to discover any problems. I also tried
|> both a #2 and a #3 reed. The #3 was even harder to play,
|> but not by much.
|>
|> Is a soprano sax fundamentally harder to play than an alto,
|> or do I have a defective instrument?
|>
|> Please reply via e-mail, as I don't frequent these newsgroups.
|> And information will be greatly appreciated.
|>
|> -- Ed
Ed,
Don't know if it's relevant or not, but I find the same thing happening when I switch from
tenor to alto. If I'm only playing the alto, I don't have an issue, but it seems as though
after a bit of time on the tenor, my face changes (for lack of a better description). Then,
when I go back to the alto, the low register either feels flat, or - as you say - jumps to
the upper register. I suspect - untrained lout that I am - that there are slight differences
in embouchure betwixt each horn that require "putting your face on right".
For what it's worth, I generally use a #3 reed on the tenor (an old Wurlitzer), and a #2-1/2
on the alto (Armstrong).
--
*******************************************************************
* "My words are spiders upon the page. They spin out faith, hope *
* and reason." - Peter Hammill * wil...@emc.com *
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Jeff Bell
In article <paulrace.3...@erinet.com>, paul...@erinet.com (Paul D. Race) wrote:
>I have a wierd horn, a "C" Martin soprano from maybe 1917, I wondered
>sometimes if it was the horn or just me. But I've had the horn "set up" twice
>by two very good technicians, who did it as a favor (otherwise it would have
>cost more than the toy was worth) and had the mouthpiece reground by Ralph
>Morgan, a mouthpiece manufacturer who used to personally grind Selmer's best
>mouthpieces. And I haven't had much better luck with other sopranos I tried
>out, so it's just that I have to get used to it. I do agree with the fellow
>who says to try a real mouthpiece.
>
check this out... I know next to nothing about this one
It's stamped (top down and in french (which I dont read a word of))
"Exposition Universelle De Paris", "1900", "Hors Concours", "Membre Du Jury",
"Couesnon & Cie", "Fournisseurs De L'Armee", "94 Rue D'Angouleme", "Paris"
"24". It also has 2 octave keys which I dont fully understand, (partly because
this thing is so hard to blow, it sits in the box year after year) it seems
that one key is for d-g, the other for higher. I've had it serviced, all new
pads & springs, didn't help, I still can't play the sucker. Any
recomendations for a mouthpiece other than the yamaha 4C that came with the
horm ?
-----------------
Jeff Bell - be...@agames.com - Atari Games Corp - the REAL Atari!
San Jose, CA USA - 37`20'35.6"N 121`53'35.8"W
My Goldfish's web page is: http://users.aol.com/DickDaFish
---* 33768 *---
Jonathan Addleman
In article <4nh25i$o...@nntp.snfc21.pbi.net>, jb...@pacbell.net (Jeff Bell) wrote:
>check this out... I know next to nothing about this one
>It's stamped (top down and in french (which I dont read a word of))
>"Exposition Universelle De Paris", "1900", "Hors Concours", "Membre Du Jury",
>"Couesnon & Cie", "Fournisseurs De L'Armee", "94 Rue D'Angouleme", "Paris"
>"24". It also has 2 octave keys which I dont fully understand, (partly because
>this thing is so hard to blow, it sits in the box year after year) it seems
>that one key is for d-g, the other for higher. I've had it serviced, all new
>pads & springs, didn't help, I still can't play the sucker. Any
>recomendations for a mouthpiece other than the yamaha 4C that came with the
>horm ?
>
About the two octave keys:
you'll notice on a modern sax there is one key, but when you put down the g
key, the top key closes and the little hole just before the neck opens.
There's two octave holes there two! It's just a more sophisicated machanism to
you don't have to frig with two different keys. I can explain some of the
technicalities too, if you want (what does an octave key do anyway?) but I
don't have time right now.
Beware the Jabberwock my friend!
Jonathan "Jon-o" Addleman - coma...@mi.net
WizzY
On Fri, 17 May 1996, Jeff Bell wrote:
> check this out... I know next to nothing about this one
> It's stamped (top down and in french (which I dont read a word of))
> "Exposition Universelle De Paris", "1900", "Hors Concours", "Membre Du Jury",
> "Couesnon & Cie", "Fournisseurs De L'Armee", "94 Rue D'Angouleme", "Paris"
> "24".
Just for those of you that are interested here's the translation of the
french.
Universal Exposition of Paris 1900 (Fancy trade fair of the period).
Hors Concours means that it was rated above the competition ie worthy of
special credit.
Membre du jury literally meaning member of th jury, why I dunno, doesn't
make much sense that..
Couesnon & Cie is the name of the company who were
Fournisseurs de l'armee ie the official army supplier.
94 Rue D'angouleme paris 24 being the address and I guess 24 = the
district, though I didn't think there were that many...
Hope that helps / was of some interest...
Dom
Jeff Bell
Thanks, so I've got a French Army horn, circa 1900 eh? I'd hate to be the
soldier who had to blow this and march at the same time!
M.A.C. van Assendelft
WizzY <wi...@obs.netkonect.net> wrote:
>On Fri, 17 May 1996, Jeff Bell wrote:
>> check this out... I know next to nothing about this one
>> It's stamped (top down and in french (which I dont read a word of))
>> "Exposition Universelle De Paris", "1900", "Hors Concours", "Membre Du Jury",
>> "Couesnon & Cie", "Fournisseurs De L'Armee", "94 Rue D'Angouleme", "Paris"
>> "24".
>Just for those of you that are interested here's the translation of the
>french.
>Universal Exposition of Paris 1900 (Fancy trade fair of the period).
>Hors Concours means that it was rated above the competition ie worthy of
>special credit.
>Membre du jury literally meaning member of th jury, why I dunno, doesn't
>make much sense that..
>Couesnon & Cie is the name of the company who were
>Fournisseurs de l'armee ie the official army supplier.
>94 Rue D'angouleme paris 24 being the address and I guess 24 = the
>district, though I didn't think there were that many...
>Hope that helps / was of some interest...
>Dom
>
So, you really want to know ? Read this !
Couesnon & Cie was producing from 1882 - 1980 (approx.)
Their most well-known brandname is 'Monopole'.
They were situated in a suburb of Paris called: Chāteau Thierry.
They have merged with two other manufacturers.
In fact Couesnon has taken over the following two companies;
Association Générale des ouvriers en instruments de musique
which means "United factories of workers manufacturing musical instruments
("Brandname: Francois, Maītre & Cie.)
which was active from 1865 and taken over in 1905)
and
P.L. Gautrot & Cie
Paris
Producing from 1845 and taken over in 1882
So much for history class.
--
Michael
"He who does not believe in miracles is not a realist".
Ben Gurion.
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howard
named Blenot? Thanks.