Tech/maintenance Buffle and facing

[Tommy Ng]

Hi

Am i right to say that;

1) Higher buffle results in brighter sound?
2) Longer facing makes it easier for playing low notes?
3) Higher buffle makes it more difficult for playing low notes?

 

[Nick Wyver]

Here's my opinion:
1) Yes
2) Hmm... possibly
3) No - at least I've never noticed it make a difference, unlike, for instance, tip opening.

 

[jonf]

In my experience

1 Yes, usually
2 Nope
3 Nope, if anything the opposite

Let's see others contradict me now, eh, Tommy?

 

[Tommy Ng]

Hi

I have 3 MPCs all at 0.105 (tenor); metal link, Lakey ebonite, and PPT. I can play low notes easily with Link but not with the other two. I notice that the main difference between the Link and the other two is the baffle; Link seems to have no baffle or low baffle.

 

[kevgermany]

Have you tried a softer reed on the Lakey and PPT? I don't think it's just the tip opening, but also the facing curve affecting things. I've found that I struggle with low notes if the reed is too hard for the mouthpiece.

 

[rhysonsax]

Different length of facing curves can mean that you have to put more or less of the mouthpiece in your mouth for optimum performance. Too little mouthpiece taken in can choke off the reed and make it sound dull, which might also make low notes difficult.

Also different reeds (make and strength) work well on different mouthpieces, even where the tip opening is the same.

So be careful when swapping between mouthpieces to make sure that everything (embouchure, reed, ligature, tuning position) is optimised for each mouthpiece.

Rhys

PS And then, some mouthpieces work better with a particular sax than others.

 

[Tommy Ng]

I still use a very soft reed, Java #2.

I probably need to vary the amount of MPC in my mouth and see how it goes. I tend to put very little MPC in my mouth, this could be due to my clarinet playing.

I have not really compared the facing length for all my 3 MPCs; i think PPT has the longest facing and lakey the shortest??

 

[thomsax]

1) Higher buffle results in brighter sound?
2) Longer facing makes it easier for playing low notes?
3) Higher buffle makes it more difficult for playing low notes?

Here is my opinion:
1) Higher baffle makes it more easy for me to play the high tones on the sax. A classical mpc (big chamber no baffle) can be bright as well.
2) I get a more open tone with a long facing.
3) I think the low tones is less "modulate" with a high baffle. You get richer low tones with no baffle or less baffle.

For some years ago I played a Dukoff LD 10 (a large D chamber, no baffle, c .130 " ) that played very good in the low register. With a medium or medium/soft reed the low tones were fantastic. But the high tones ...... very hard to controlled. So I switched to a D chamber. Nowadays I'm on Rovner Deep-V D40 (high baffle, dual chamber, big window, medium/long facing). Kind of "hybrid" mpc. I like it a lot.

Thomas

 

[Nick Wyver]

I probably need to vary the amount of MPC in my mouth and see how it goes. I tend to put very little MPC in my mouth, this could be due to my clarinet playing.

Aargh! No, no no! Stick the mouthpiece in your mouth until it starts to get really honky, then back off a bit. That should give you a good starting point. Then write out 500 times, "A saxophone is not a clarinet".

 

[Pete Thomas]

I wish I could reply with something useful, but sadly it's a lot more involved than those parameters of baffle and facing curve. Apart from, yes, higher baffle usually means brighter sound.

But AFAIK there is no one specific formula for ease of low notes. Yes, soft reed, long curve, small tip all can contribute, but if you gear anything towards ease of low notes, there is usually a trade off with difficulty of high notes. Unless this is combined with embouchure and breath development.

ie, no easy answers.

 

[Morgan Fry]

Hi

Am i right to say that;

1) Higher buffle results in brighter sound?
2) Longer facing makes it easier for playing low notes?
3) Higher buffle makes it more difficult for playing low notes?

1 -- yes. a longer baffle can also do this
2 -- yes, up to a point. there's a lot more to a facing curve than just the length.
3 -- sometimes. But for a different reason.