Beginner Just bought a Conn 10m, palm keys are difficult

[eb424]

Morning,

i picked up my sax for the first time this week and had a lot of trouble playing the palm key notes. Is there anything mechanical that can affect this there may be a bit of a leak on the mid d or could it just be my embouchure has relaxed and i need more practice. I know its hard to tell without seeing it and i will focus some practice on the palm notes but was just wondering..

 

[Tenor Viol]

Sorry - just to clarify - is this the first time you have played at all? If so, expect it to be a while before you can play the palm keys and the low notes - it takes time to manage those.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Are you saying this is the first time you’ve picked up a sax, (any sax)? If that’s correct I’d suggest forgetting the palm keys, just for now mind!

If you mean the first time you’ve picked up a new to you sax and you’re confident with the palm keys on your previous instrument but not this one (Conn 10m)? then yes theres a few things that can be changed, you can buy rubber palm key risers, change the orientation of the thing by having the strap ring repositioned or get someone like Steve Crow to completely change everything so it gives a more positive feel.

 

[eb424]

Hi thanks I have been playing for 2 years not confident on the palm keys but can usually hit a high d.. it's not so much the ergonomics but that the note takes a he'll of a lot of coercing out wondered whether an octave key issue or whether the leak on the d may affect it..

 

[Tenor Viol]

OK thanks for the clarification. There will be a number of potential factors. Saxes are different and you may have to adjust to the sax. Ergonomics can be an issue - I don't like saxes where I have to drop my wrist to play palm keys - that can be addressed by having 'risers' added to the palm keys. It may have issues that need the TLC of a tech.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Get it to a tech and have it serviced and checked over.

 

[Keep Blowing]

Morning,

i picked up my sax for the first time this week and had a lot of trouble playing the palm key notes. Is there anything mechanical that can affect this there may be a bit of a leak on the mid d or could it just be my embouchure has relaxed and i need more practice. I know its hard to tell without seeing it and i will focus some practice on the palm notes but was just wondering..

Can you play the C sharp comfortably? If so try going from the C sharp to the D without tonguing. Try a harder Reed as well..

 

[eb424]

Hi Keep Blowing.. No probs on the c# my mate whose a good player struggled with the Conn and I had a go on his custom z (from 2 meters of course) it was sweet so easy..... are 10ms renowned for difficult high notes.. Good call with the stronger reeds I got some vandoren greens in a 1/2 step up i.e 2 1/2 ill try them out...

 

[JayeNM]

Basically what Fraser said.

The odd thing here is that, I am assuming, it plays OK up to D3 (palm D) ?

So if all notes below it speak fine, it isn't likely to be a leak in the palmkeys. If it was a leaky palmkey or high E key, many notes in the two lower octaves would be stubborn to speak (usually).

So as you posit, it may be something funny going on in the octave mechanism.

For kicks you could play in a mirror and see if, by chance, when you move from G2 to A2, the body octave pip closes completely...if it doesn't, then what is happening is all notes A2 and up are being played with the body pip opened a bit, which it shouldn't be. This could be causing the problem, perhaps.

Could also be overthinking it and it could just be the reed/mouthpiece.....but by virtue of the fact that another player also had difficulty, I'd say there's an adjustment/leak issue there which needs correcting by a tech.

...and to answer part of your Q:

10M's do not have a propensity for being difficult to make speak in the upper octaves, no....

 

[Pete Thomas]

I find this odd also. Those aren’t likely to leak to such an extent that they are unplayable, while at the same time notes lower are fine. So I very much second Jaye’s opinion.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

One thing I did find with my 10m (1947) and as a relatively novice player I could quite easily get the lower altissimo notes as easily as the “normal” notes, with the Selmer i found it harder and with the King harder still.

 

[jbtsax]

When palm key notes don't respond it is typically an issue with the embouchure, or air stream, or both. You might try the following:

• Play the mouthpiece apart from the neck and blowing lots of air adjust the embouchure to sound a G concert.
• Assemble the mouthpiece and neck and using the same embouchure and airstream play a full sounding E concert.
• Play C on a piano 1 octave above middle C, sing that pitch, blow that pitch on your airstream like an airy whistle.
• Play palm D on your saxophone using the same airstream and shape inside the oral cavity along with the embouchure pressure used to play G on the mouthpiece.

A reed 2 1/2 or stronger will help. The upper register of the saxophone takes lots of fast, cold, air with pressure behind it.