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| Did you originally start on Saxophone? |
| Yes |
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26% |
[ 8 ] |
| No |
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46% |
[ 14 ] |
| I was born with a sax in my hand! |
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26% |
[ 8 ] |
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| Total Votes : 30 |
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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:20 am
toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies Peutaiite megamanfan66 Well, guess what? I played today just fine. I could hit a low A without any problem at all. I got a new reed. That's it. That's really all I had to do... well that and practice a bit. We have a super-fast Latin song and I have a duet with the bass. It's awesome, but extremely hard. xd Thanks, though. mrgreen Low A? Was that from putting your foot in the bell? That's how I play low A.
I think most bari saxes have a key for the low A, but it's fun to play it with your foot in the bell on alto. xd
yeah...most bari's have a low A key...like most bass clarinets have a low Eb key, when regular old Bb clarinets can only go down to E Ya, but there must be a way to go down lower. The lowest an alto can normally go is Bb, but you can "put your foot in it." My friend and I were testing it with our tuners, and I even made down to an Ab/G#. So maybe you could like, stick something in the clarinet, and you can play lower?
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:12 pm
Peutaiite toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies Peutaiite megamanfan66 Well, guess what? I played today just fine. I could hit a low A without any problem at all. I got a new reed. That's it. That's really all I had to do... well that and practice a bit. We have a super-fast Latin song and I have a duet with the bass. It's awesome, but extremely hard. xd Thanks, though. mrgreen Low A? Was that from putting your foot in the bell? That's how I play low A.
I think most bari saxes have a key for the low A, but it's fun to play it with your foot in the bell on alto. xd
yeah...most bari's have a low A key...like most bass clarinets have a low Eb key, when regular old Bb clarinets can only go down to E Ya, but there must be a way to go down lower. The lowest an alto can normally go is Bb, but you can "put your foot in it." My friend and I were testing it with our tuners, and I even made down to an Ab/G#. So maybe you could like, stick something in the clarinet, and you can play lower? actually, the saxes are much more sensitive than clarinets...any small adjustment could alter huge things on the sax, but that same adjustment would hardly do anything on a clarinet. the bass clarinet's bell is also a lot smaller in comparison, so there isn't as much room to work with before you completely close off the sound.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:08 pm
I'm a happy camper! I finally have my old tone back, maybe even better. Solid, dark, loud...:] Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =D Although, my oboe tone has gone down a bit...but that'll change once pit orchestra practices start!
I has a question, though...my A (with the octave key) sounds...buzzy? Airy? Something like that, and I have no idea what it could be. I'm fairly sure it's not my embouchure, and probably not a key leak, since it doesn't happen with my other notes. Is there anything that could cause this, or does my sax just suck? xd
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:45 pm
Terra of the Lilies I'm a happy camper! I finally have my old tone back, maybe even better. Solid, dark, loud...:] Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =D Although, my oboe tone has gone down a bit...but that'll change once pit orchestra practices start!
I has a question, though...my A (with the octave key) sounds...buzzy? Airy? Something like that, and I have no idea what it could be. I'm fairly sure it's not my embouchure, and probably not a key leak, since it doesn't happen with my other notes. Is there anything that could cause this, or does my sax just suck? xd o.O could be the octave key..that or maybe a spring is off, making it so that the pads that are supposed to be held down aren't held down as tight as they should be.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:47 pm
toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies I'm a happy camper! I finally have my old tone back, maybe even better. Solid, dark, loud...:] Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =D Although, my oboe tone has gone down a bit...but that'll change once pit orchestra practices start!
I has a question, though...my A (with the octave key) sounds...buzzy? Airy? Something like that, and I have no idea what it could be. I'm fairly sure it's not my embouchure, and probably not a key leak, since it doesn't happen with my other notes. Is there anything that could cause this, or does my sax just suck? xd o.O could be the octave key..that or maybe a spring is off, making it so that the pads that are supposed to be held down aren't held down as tight as they should be. The octave A on any alto/tenor/soprano is usually a little airier; the octave pad (on the neck) doesn't always extend the full length, so the air pushes on the semi-open pad, creating an airy note. Many people have this problem. I just carefully bent the metal on top of the neck to be open enough so that I don't have an airy A. If you have the same problem, you can test it by fingering a high A, and with your right hand, gently lifting up the metal on top of the neck. This should eliminate the airy sound; you can take off the neck and adjust it. You have to bend the metal (CAREFULLY) up, but only a very small amount. If you've never done it, don't do it. Ask your BD to do it for you. A lot can go wrong here, though. If the metal is bent upward too much, nothing will come our except for a few high notes. If you bend it down too much, you won't be able to even play the octave notes. If you bend it around too much, it can warp (or even damage) the metal, so be very careful. Don't mess with it unless you know what you're doing.
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:03 pm
Hi.
On my Alto, I've looked many things about it on the internet. I've learned how to go an octave above the high D, like the highest note is F or F#, and then I looked up a whole other octave on the internet. (not in tune, of course) and I do fluttertonguing, use my foot or low A and stuff. When I do that in band, people say its gross, annoying, etc.
Are those effects actually gross, or are they just jealous? 'Cause I don't think it sounds gross at all.
Has anyone else done this, or is it just me?
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:12 pm
megamanfan66 toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies I'm a happy camper! I finally have my old tone back, maybe even better. Solid, dark, loud...:] Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =D Although, my oboe tone has gone down a bit...but that'll change once pit orchestra practices start!
I has a question, though...my A (with the octave key) sounds...buzzy? Airy? Something like that, and I have no idea what it could be. I'm fairly sure it's not my embouchure, and probably not a key leak, since it doesn't happen with my other notes. Is there anything that could cause this, or does my sax just suck? xd o.O could be the octave key..that or maybe a spring is off, making it so that the pads that are supposed to be held down aren't held down as tight as they should be. The octave A on any alto/tenor/soprano is usually a little airier; the octave pad (on the neck) doesn't always extend the full length, so the air pushes on the semi-open pad, creating an airy note. Many people have this problem. I just carefully bent the metal on top of the neck to be open enough so that I don't have an airy A. If you have the same problem, you can test it by fingering a high A, and with your right hand, gently lifting up the metal on top of the neck. This should eliminate the airy sound; you can take off the neck and adjust it. You have to bend the metal (CAREFULLY) up, but only a very small amount. If you've never done it, don't do it. Ask your BD to do it for you. A lot can go wrong here, though. If the metal is bent upward too much, nothing will come our except for a few high notes. If you bend it down too much, you won't be able to even play the octave notes. If you bend it around too much, it can warp (or even damage) the metal, so be very careful. Don't mess with it unless you know what you're doing.
So, I just checked during band class, and it's what you said, the octave pad on the neck is too close...I'd to bend it up a bit, but I tried...and I can't. xd I'm a weakling. Thanks, though! It's been bugging me for the last couple years.
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 2:36 pm
Peutaiite Hi. On my Alto, I've looked many things about it on the internet. I've learned how to go an octave above the high D, like the highest note is F or F#, and then I looked up a whole other octave on the internet. (not in tune, of course) and I do fluttertonguing, use my foot or low A and stuff. When I do that in band, people say its gross, annoying, etc. Are those effects actually gross, or are they just jealous? 'Cause I don't think it sounds gross at all. Has anyone else done this, or is it just me? first of all, they are all valid and acceptable techniques...if done CORRECTLY...in all honesty, if you've learned them from the internet you're probably not doing them extremely well. that is probably why people say it's gross. if you really want to make them sound good, you should get a GOOD private teacher who can teach you how to do them correctly...(personally, i prefer growling over flutter tonguing though.) i wouldn't recommend using your foot to play a low A...because that really IS a meaningless trick. it doesn't sound good, it's practically impossible to play in tune, and you, as an alto sax player, will never have to use it in a song. your altissimo(notes above the written range) probably sounds gross to people because, again, you're probably not doing it entirely right. altissimo notes require a huge amount of effort and practice, as well as a full understanding of your written notes.(this means being able to make those sound awesome, and not just "ok") all these things sound awesome to you because, honestly, it's a lot of fun. but if people say it sounds gross, it probably does from a musical viewpoint...as Duke Ellington once said, "if it sounds good, it is good."(the reverse is true, if it doesn't sound good, it isn't good.) don't give up though...just don't try to perform using those techniques until people tell you that they sound good smile
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:35 pm
Actually, for our winter concert last year, the saxes had to play a low A...but since only one person could play it well (well-enough, at least), it had to be taken up the octave. But that's probably not a common occurrence. xd
If anyone hasn't noticed, I like to ask people questions! Yaaaay. xd What fingering do you usually use for Bb, and which one do you use for the F#/Gb scale? I usually use the normal fingering with the little key that's near the A...is there a name for that? I don't remember. >_> It's kind of awkward for playing the F# scale in sixteenth notes, but the other ways just make my brain explode. Using B and F makes me think that I should be playing a C (stupid oboe mindset), and using the side key with A just doesn't really work for me in a natural way.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:23 am
Terra of the Lilies Actually, for our winter concert last year, the saxes had to play a low A...but since only one person could play it well (well-enough, at least), it had to be taken up the octave. But that's probably not a common occurrence. xd
If anyone hasn't noticed, I like to ask people questions! Yaaaay. xd What fingering do you usually use for Bb, and which one do you use for the F#/Gb scale? I usually use the normal fingering with the little key that's near the A...is there a name for that? I don't remember. >_> It's kind of awkward for playing the F# scale in sixteenth notes, but the other ways just make my brain explode. Using B and F makes me think that I should be playing a C (stupid oboe mindset), and using the side key with A just doesn't really work for me in a natural way. o.O that fingering is common? lol..the only people i know who use it are my tenor friend and my sax teacher(and he only uses it on certain occasions xD) anyway, i play it like an A, with the side palm key
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:26 pm
I played the Barri sax for a couple months last year, but the fact that I'm so weak and have such a long walk home made it so that I was only playing it during jazz rehearsals (which we only had once a week) so i ended up having to switch back to my trumpet.
I'm hoping to play a smaller saxophone this year, so that i can actually get it to and from school. Any suggestions as to which one I should play?
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:12 pm
toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies Actually, for our winter concert last year, the saxes had to play a low A...but since only one person could play it well (well-enough, at least), it had to be taken up the octave. But that's probably not a common occurrence. xd
If anyone hasn't noticed, I like to ask people questions! Yaaaay. xd What fingering do you usually use for Bb, and which one do you use for the F#/Gb scale? I usually use the normal fingering with the little key that's near the A...is there a name for that? I don't remember. >_> It's kind of awkward for playing the F# scale in sixteenth notes, but the other ways just make my brain explode. Using B and F makes me think that I should be playing a C (stupid oboe mindset), and using the side key with A just doesn't really work for me in a natural way. o.O that fingering is common? lol..the only people i know who use it are my tenor friend and my sax teacher(and he only uses it on certain occasions xD) anyway, i play it like an A, with the side palm key
Oh, I worded that kinda weird. I mean like, the normal B fingering, just with the little key under it, too. I think I'm the only one in my band who used it often.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:04 am
Terra of the Lilies
Oh, I worded that kinda weird. I mean like, the normal B fingering, just with the little key under it, too. I think I'm the only one in my band who used it often.
lol razz no..you worded it just fine. i can't use that fingering...it just makes it too awkward for me to play melodies and scales that require me to go from Bb to A
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:25 pm
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Fashionable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:20 pm
Terra of the Lilies toco clarinet Terra of the Lilies Actually, for our winter concert last year, the saxes had to play a low A...but since only one person could play it well (well-enough, at least), it had to be taken up the octave. But that's probably not a common occurrence. xd
If anyone hasn't noticed, I like to ask people questions! Yaaaay. xd What fingering do you usually use for Bb, and which one do you use for the F#/Gb scale? I usually use the normal fingering with the little key that's near the A...is there a name for that? I don't remember. >_> It's kind of awkward for playing the F# scale in sixteenth notes, but the other ways just make my brain explode. Using B and F makes me think that I should be playing a C (stupid oboe mindset), and using the side key with A just doesn't really work for me in a natural way. o.O that fingering is common? lol..the only people i know who use it are my tenor friend and my sax teacher(and he only uses it on certain occasions xD) anyway, i play it like an A, with the side palm key
Oh, I worded that kinda weird. I mean like, the normal B fingering, just with the little key under it, too. I think I'm the only one in my band who used it often.
I use the A and side key fingering... It's great if you're playing fast. Especially for the Gb/F# scale, though; I can play it much smoother with that fingering than with any other fingering. (Plus, we have to play it for all-state auditions.) Oh, and about that high A problem... You're bending (or trying to bend) the metal on top of the neck, right? Not the actual neck itself? My friend tried that once and totally screwed up his sax's neck. But yeah... If you know what I'm talking about, ask your BD to bend it for you. You have to play on it and experiment quite a bit in order to find the right angle.
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