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William Cingolani.
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February 13, 2016 at 10:36 am #32576
Proper Set-up <datetime=”2016-02-13T18:15:44+00:00″> I’ve read numerous discussions about a person’s inability to produce low notes, or certain notes in tune and the subsequent suggestions to alleviating the problem, without success. When this happens I often read that the problem is, or could be the wrong set-up. That may be the case but I’ve never the discussion go further i.e., what the h*** is a proper set-up? How do you get it?
Would anybody care to weigh in on these questions? Maybe, after …. years I still wouldn’t be beating my head against the proverbial brick wall. Looking forward to any replies.February 13, 2016 at 11:44 am #32580thats a big question Saxfella and there are many answers so i shall start with my two cents worth, i had real trouble with the very low notes and i tried some other horns and was able get those notes easily.but i would say most of the time it would be mouthpiece reed embouchre set up.thats where the experimenting starts.
February 13, 2016 at 11:48 am #32581Anonymous
i’ve only been playing 2 yrs & 2 months – here are some comnents i have picked up from pro’s who have played all there life
there is no sax in existence that plays in tune
when i bought my 1st PRO sax, i didn’t realise how crap and bad my student sax was, and how it held me back so badly from progressing and improving my playing
there is no such thing as the perfect mouthpiece, i’ve hunting for one all my life
some manufactures supply the wrong neck for their sax’s – they want you to buy another one – this is the reason why some folks can never play the higher notes in tune – they have the wrong neck
the rails on a lot of average mouthpieces are not level – they don’t seal the reed properly – its hopeless playing on these
the correct setup? classical choose dark mouthpiece, rock choose bright mouthpiece. Dark mouthpiece choose harder reeds, bright mouthpieces choose softer mouthpieces. Bright mouthpieces are harder to play in tune higher up than dark mouthpieces – the more expensive the mouthpiece hopefully the more crafted it is.
there are various grades of dark & bright mouthpieces – pick the shade you like the best & you’re stuck with it.
the list is endless we could debate these things until the end of tine – some are more oppinions than facts – believe what you like
February 13, 2016 at 12:19 pm #32584you need to go to a large music store that has a variety of mp’s and reeds. go armed with a couple of reeds from home you know are good and start by playing a variety of mp brands and sizes with the good reed. now that you’ve chosen the mp that works best, start experimenting with as many brands of reeds as they have there. this is what I did cause there is no answer we can give you because we all will choose something different according to our personal preferences. this is both the beauty and curse of the saxophone… the curse is that there is no set and automatic perfect answer, but the beautiful thing is as we find these answers we can truly develop our own personal sound.
February 13, 2016 at 12:46 pm #32588I’ve been at it for two years and have changed mouthpieces five times from 4c to 5c To meyer 5 then 7. Had a go at STM metal 6# and then a few days ago sold them all in preparation for my DG MBII as I wasn’t happy with my overall sound. My setup has clearly changed a bit andI have experimented with different reeds also on all of them as well. I think in the first two years your setup will develop but one day, as JF did, I will settle on a setup that lasts 20 years. I am hoping it is just around the corner.
Ironically, I kept one mouthpiece back that has sat in the bottom of my case for over 12 months that I couldn’t play and that was a Berg Larsen 6*. It squeaked and sqwarked and I couldn’t seem to get enough air into it so I put it on the yesterday as it is all I now have and with a different reed, a Vandoren ZZ, and MY OH MY, it now kicks $%#. I can punch out an altissimo G with ease (an in tune BTW!)and the low Bb and B are a breeze. It projects more than any other MP I have played. It will be a great setup until I can buy my MB. So it just goes to show you as you develop you can grow into a new setup. I found some old audio files of my playing early 2015 and yuk, I am glad my setup has changed.
February 13, 2016 at 1:57 pm #32616Thank you all for weighing in on “proper set-up”. Your comments, added to comments from Dave Liebman’s Master Class in France (which I hadn’t seen/heard before), will enable me to look at this topic with a little more rationale than guesswork. All I have to do is hop on a plane and go to Toronto (it’s closer) and hope my sax is in one piece when it comes out of baggage.
I still shudder at the memory of baggage handlers throwing a piece of luggage out of the side of the airplane they were unloading. It didn’t appear to be deliberate, but either the handler by the conveyor built couldn’t catch or the other handler couldn’t throw. When I left for my outgoing flight (in Ottawa) the baggage was still on the tarmac. To be fair, I have travelled to BC, with a securely wrapped sax case, and no breakage problems.
Again, my thanks to all who took the time to reply.February 14, 2016 at 4:58 am #32646happy hunting then for that mouth piece it is laying around some where, its just finding out where it is. i have been playing just over three years now and still have not found one that i really like, i got myself a theo wanna durga2 about 6 months ago some people i know think that they are fantastic but as yet i still don’t think its for me so i know some of you guys are going down the guardala road with Johnny and i may even be one of them but some of us may be disappointed and the search is going to carry on!
February 14, 2016 at 5:36 am #32647I lent my theo wanna Kali ebonite mouthpiece & my Theo wanna Blue Art Durga 3 to a pro who was doing lots of gigs – with the Kali, a conductor actually came up to him afterwards and congratulated him on the sound.
And i got several offers from his Sax Pro friends who wanted to buy them off me.I’m doing a Dazza – saving them along with my King mouthpiece for when i can really jump on them in later years – long term investment.
February 14, 2016 at 8:39 am #32656Good plan sxpoet.
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