I've noticed that when I'm playing overtones, they (I) have a tendency to be very sharp (e.g. the 1st overtone above low Bb is >+30cents). I checked some online examples of other people (including educators) playing overtones, and it seems to be quite common.
Is this a natural tendency of the saxophone, due to it's design, or is it a player tendency?
I assume I should aim to play all the overtones in tune. Is that right ?
I normally play with the mouthpiece pushed quite far on. In this position I can play the full range of the instrument in tune. I can also play the 1st, and 2nd overtones in tune, but to do that I have to relax the embouchure a lot to get there. The 3rd overtone, I can't - it's too sharp.
So basically, I can't use the same embouchure to produce the same note using overtones, and when using the normal fingering. (I *think* I have a relatively relaxed embouchure. )
I have tried another mouthpiece, with similar results. I tried the mouthpiece in difference positions, but the tendency is the same.
I wondered if it was something to do with the type of tuning (equal, just etc.), but an octave is and octave in any tuning system, isn't it? At least the octave overtone should naturally come out in tune anyway, because science .... or so I thought.
I couldn't find this in an existing thread. Does anyone have an idea what's going on here?
Thanks!
Mark