Darn low notes

newageanubis · Oct 25, 2008

I'm a student in the ninth grade, playing saxophone for the third year now. My chief sax is the tenor, but I've played alto and baritone (which oddly enough, is my forte). My setup is 3.5 Rico Royal reeds with an Otto Link 7 hard rubber mouthpiece.

Lately, I've become more aware of the sound that I am making. I am happy with my sound on the middle and high registers and am working on improving them with long tones, as well as expanding my altissimo. However, when I go down low (D to Bb), I get a nice loud foghorn (okay, that's an exaggeration 😛 ) or a plushy, breathy sound (on E, Eb, D, Db, sometimes C). I think it may be subtone, done inadvertently. I've bought a pack of reeds, Rico orange box 3.5's, which are a tad bit weaker (and cheaper :w00t:

) than the Royals, but when I use them, the tone I was satisfied with disappears, and the low notes don't come any easier.

What do I do? :S

TomMapfumo · Oct 26, 2008

I usually think of this as a hard reed problem which prevents you from blowing a consistent breath at that low level, i.e. that you have to blow a very consistent breath to achieve a good low register, and that reed may mean that you also have to blow too hard to make the reed move, with the result being too quick a flow of air - hence foghorn. Have you tried something like a 2.5 reed, maybe with a slightly different cut - more like a Marca or Francois Louis/Rico Jazz Selects 2M or 2H unfiled

So my thinking is that your reed is still too hard, and that you are straining a little bit, which can work at higher registers, but not lower down, where the vibration has to be much slower, and not pushed.
I play trumpet and a deeper mouthpiece is required for clear low notes, but takes a lot of air to sustain the note. A shallower mouthpiece is easier for high notes, but struggles in the depths, to the extent that some players primarily limit their playing range. It seems the case that softer reeds get excellent results at low levels, but may not be brilliant in altissimo territory - so you may need to find a very good, but softer option, with a firm enough tip, such as Francois Louis, which are certainly my favourite on Alto.

Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Tom 8)

Pete Thomas · Oct 26, 2008

I agree, I would try a softer reed.

I like 2 or 2.5

thomsax · Oct 26, 2008

[No message]

newageanubis · Oct 26, 2008

During my practice session today, I tried filing reeds like crazy, which worked to SOME extent, yes, but by and large, the problem persists.

I'm also the "backup bari" player for my jazz band in case anything ever happens to the bari player we have now, so I have a 2.5 bari reed and mouthpiece in my tenor case. Just for fun, I tried putting that on my tenor piece and blowing and...well, it worked. Aside from the expected intonation issues, Bb to F was amazing, and I could subtone and normally play the lower register. The only problem beside tuning was that palm D to F were choked, and my limited altissimo was totally impossible.

I have a 3 reed (tenor, not bari 🙂 ) in school, bought from the music department - should I compromise and use that instead?

TomMapfumo · Oct 27, 2008

Sounds like money is tight, but you seem to appreciate the need to try softer reeds.

Good luck
Tom 8)

newageanubis · Nov 2, 2008

I've decided to use weaker 3 reeds for concert band and wind ensemble, which need good, solid low notes, but harder reeds for jazz band, which doesn't require as many low pitches. That being said, I'm continuously working on achieving good tone on the 3.5s, since I have a whole darn box of them to get through.

In another moment of musical growth this year, a friend of mine, an excellent senior trombonist told me that there was little variety in my dynamic levels, and that my forte sounded like his mezzo-forte. As a result, I'm working on making my dynamics louder and more varied, and so I blow more air through my horn. It's helping to eliminate that wisp of airiness that my tone used to have, and my low notes are much easier now.

As is stated on Pete Thomas' website, harder reeds do not necessarily make better reeds. After this box is over, my next purchase will be a box of Rico Royal 3 reeds. Ironic as it is, I'm not good enough for a 2.5 reed yet :laugh: