Tech/maintenance The Dreaded ‘D’.

[SweeneyTodd]

Good morning.

Can I please have your help, opinions and advise?

I’m a relative newcomer to the saxophone. I’m 10 months in and about to take grade 1 exam.

I initially bought a Gear4Music Alto which has served me well. I recently decided to upgrade and bought a second hand Yamaha YAS 275 from my local music shop. Everything about it is great, I anticipated it would be, except…..when I play ‘Middle D’ the pitch raises by at least a third. Low D is fine until I put the octave key on. I’ve tried different mouthpieces, varied the reed strength and tried adjusting my embouchure, sadly without success..

My teacher has played it and agreed the pitch is ‘off’ so I returned it to the shop, who had it independently checked, and it came back with a clean bill of health. I then asked a friend (professional saxophonist) to check it after listening to me play and hearing the change in pitch. . He also couldn’t find a problem. I’ve continued to play it, while attempting small adjustments, but to no avail.

I’m now at a loss, and am considering buying a new Yamaha YAS 280 instead, although I’m reluctant to give up on a lovely instrument. So, if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or has encountered this problem, please let me know.

Thank you

Gary.

 

[mizmar]

1. How do you tune (adjust mouth piece position) it? The recommendation, in these parts, is that the sax should be "in tune with itself" that is, you March a note like Bb (people have various preferanses) high and low; then bring the whole thing into tune with the mouth.
2. If you play middle D and partially close low C, does it come into tune? It maybe the low C venting to too high? If that's a fix (extending the buffer a little), there'll be a compromise between low and middle D. See 1.

2¢

 

[skeller047]

I suspect it's a combination of embouchure and breath support. Too much embouchure and noit enough breath support.

I would first make sure that you are keeping a loose embouchure, and that you are supporting the air stream from your belly. Middle D is more resistant than other notes, so it's easy to anticipate that and change how you play subtly. Do not change embouchure or air as you go from, say, middle C to middle D. Also try playing F2 (F with the octave key), and then middle D without changing anything. F2 is a very stable note, play with your best sound, then slur to middle D. See if either of these approaches helps the problem.

Having said that, here are a couple things to try. Note that these are well known tricks used by professionals, because middle D can be a somewhat wonky note. If these tricks sound good, then you are doing something different when you play middle D normally, perhaps unconciously.

Trick number 1. Play middle D but instead of the octave key, use the palm D key. (The key you use to play high D.) This requires you to push the palm D key while holding down the regular LH keys with your fingers, just like regular middle D. But do not use the octave key.

Trick number 2. Finger high D (the palm key), but do not use the octave key.

The first trick is sometimes used when trying to cure a "stuffy" sounding middle D. The second one is useful in fast passages, but for a long note it is too flat, especially on alto.

The thing is, both of these alternatives resonate differently in your mouth and throat, so try to remember how they feel and then try to play middle D the normal way (6 fingers + octave key). See if that improves things.

Bottom line, if the professional found no issue, you need to consciously work on your sound production. The above approaches may help. Middle D is one of "those" notes, it causes problems for everyone. The solution is to learn to play in a way that these problems are not evident.

 

[jazzdoh]

Middle D and E on many altos is very often sharp, the saxophone doesn't play in tune over the range of it's notes so you have to work on the tuning as per the above post.
Over time you learn to deal with it and some saxes are better than others.

 

[Pete Thomas]

off’ so I returned it to the shop, who had it independently checked, and it came back with a clean bill of health.

Did they check it with the same mouthpiece?

 

[Colin the Bear]

I think we need to hear it. Can you record something?

 

[JayeNM]

I then asked a friend (professional saxophonist) to check it after listening to me play and hearing the change in pitch. . He also couldn’t find a problem.

What do you mean by this ? Do you mean he playtested it and D2 played fine for him ?

 

[SweeneyTodd]

Good morning.

Can I please have your help, opinions and advise?

I’m a relative newcomer to the saxophone. I’m 10 months in and about to take grade 1 exam.

I initially bought a Gear4Music Alto which has served me well. I recently decided to upgrade and bought a second hand Yamaha YAS 275 from my local music shop. Everything about it is great, I anticipated it would be, except…..when I play ‘Middle D’ the pitch raises by at least a third. Low D is fine until I put the octave key on. I’ve tried different mouthpieces, varied the reed strength and tried adjusting my embouchure, sadly without success..

My teacher has played it and agreed the pitch is ‘off’ so I returned it to the shop, who had it independently checked, and it came back with a clean bill of health. I then asked a friend (professional saxophonist) to check it after listening to me play and hearing the change in pitch. . He also couldn’t find a problem. I’ve continued to play it, while attempting small adjustments, but to no avail.

I’m now at a loss, and am considering buying a new Yamaha YAS 280 instead, although I’m reluctant to give up on a lovely instrument. So, if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or has encountered this problem, please let me know.

Thank you

Gary.

Hi. Thanks to everyone who replied. A Google search earlier today led me to a few new ideas to resolve the issue and to a YouTube video, where it was suggested a small adjustment to the octave key might help. Success!! It’s been playing perfectly all day. Thanks again.

 

[JSL]

Good to hear you got it sorted out! What was the octave key adjustment that fixed it?

when I play ‘Middle D’ the pitch raises by at least a third.

Surely you didn't mean by an interval of a third. That would put it up to an F#, or F if a minor third. Just curious by what you meant by a 'third'.

 

[PigSquealer]

Hi. Thanks to everyone who replied. A Google search earlier today led me to a few new ideas to resolve the issue and to a YouTube video, where it was suggested a small adjustment to the octave key might help. Success!! It’s been playing perfectly all day. Thanks again.

Yamaha YAS crook octave key is usually set around 3mm open. 2.5mm on the body octave opening.