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February 2017 SOTM Fantasy

@Tiberius your 2nd tenor recording was by far the best so far. the last sounded muffled? When you make a mistake or feel the intonation is not correct forget it immediately I can almost hear you thinking I screwed there! Music is what you're playing at the moment make sure now is right. While you're thinking about "mistakes" I've made it's affecting your timing. I record what I play not for posterity but to learn from my mistakes and successes. Regards Al
 
U CAN CALL ME AL said:
...When you make a mistake or feel the intonation is not correct forget it immediately
Click to expand...

Yeah, get you. Sometimes I want to 'power through' the mistake. I'm never sure what the best option is tbh. As you say, sometimes (every time), it just reverberates through the rest of your playing. Certainly I think I can now stop posting quite so often, I've been playing long enough now to let things settle. Some of it is a relic from when I was a total beginner and needed to force myself a bit, not so much now. Although in that classic mode of as you learn a little more, then you realise that the gap you have to climb is even bigger than you first thought :)
 
When playing live, let any mistakes go. For a recording, I stop. Have a look at what's causing the problem. Maybe practice just the bits causing the problem. Try another play through and if all is well try another recording.
 
Ok, the whole thing. Soprano again, I know I sound (a bit) better (not quite as bad) on the tenor, but, no dogs atm, so I can practice the sop. Still sight reading/winging it. Hopefully at the end of the month I can play this without reading, fundamentally it's just two riffs repeated tbh, so shouldn't be too difficult.

It's kinda at/slightly beyond my ability to control certainly the sop at this stage, but good practice. Although the song is quite fast, the structure is perfectly natural, so in some ways I find this a lot easier than say Satin Doll or Body and Soul where they seem to change randomly to me.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97346875/Fantasy20170216.mp3
 
@Tiberius thank you for making my day and posting something for me to listen. I agree you're quite correct when you say you sound better on tenor but the snakebiter is a dificult beast to master and IMHO unless it is your main instrument will cause you problems at whatever standard you play. There will always be exceptions but few and far between. To my ears your sound is a bit oboeish and intonation inconsistant but close to acceptable towards the end you were losing the backing a little but all in all you made a very good fist of it again thanks for posting, you made it through to the end well done. Maybe some of the soprano afficionados on here would give you some advice on improving your sound and intonation, I don't feel experienced enough on sop to pontificate. By the way I have the same problem with howling dogs and soprano fine with everything else fortunately. Regards Al.
 
U CAN CALL ME AL said:
... Maybe some of the soprano afficionados on here would give you some advice on improving your sound and intonation
Click to expand...
That would be great...my teacher sounds superb on it, considering he doesn't play soprano that's gotta be good. Of course he sounds a hell of a lot better than me on my Tenor gear too. I guess maybe I should read the long tones chapter, or maybe even watch the video's a few times :)

Oboeish...yes, very harsh, that's a good description. Intonation is harder on the sop, minor adjustments that wouldn't make much difference on the tenor send the soprano way outta tune.

One thing I do notice, on the recording. There are some serious 'spikes' at the start of notes, it's not smooth. I have a similar issue with tenor when I compare my recording with my teachers, but not as noticeable as on soprano. Sadly I've never recorded my teacher on soprano, I might try that.

Also, sometimes I hear that with say an F#, then the note is 'overblown' for a fraction of a second, then it drops into the correct octave.

I'm not too despondent, really I have very little practice on the soprano. One question for any soprano players...the 2 necks. I'm assuming the straight one is for clarinet players? The bent one for Sax players?
 
@Tiberius if you look at page 38 of Rob Bucklands book playing the saxophone he details the reasons for the spike at the start of the note waveform, with diagrams. You are overblowing to start the note then adjusting, this is the cause of the spike. 'Tonguing' the note causes a much more symetrical waveform without the spike. This tonguing need not be touching the reed but merely positiong of the tongue to get the correct airflow to get the note started. I know as sax players we tend to play legato but there should be some degree of airflow control.
As a throwaway Wipedia quote " There is some debate over the effect of the straight and curved neck, with some players believing that a curved neck on a soprano gives it a warmer, less nasal tone." I personally prefer to use the curved neck not from a sound perspective I just find it more comfortable, I find it easier to keep an open throat while playing and reading dots with the curved neck.
Regards Al.
 
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U CAN CALL ME AL said:
...This tonguing need not be touching the reed but merely positiong of the tongue to get the correct airflow to get the note started.
Click to expand...
This, yes. Had a go this morning (dogs not up yet :)), and yes. That's it. Ok...just an hour into it, but that has got rid of the spikes (most of them)...and more importantly, it sounds far less harsh now..almost acceptable even :).thanks :)

Now, maybe that will help my tenor sound too...I'll have a go.
 
Ok, so I've followed the tips for Soprano. Thanks Al and Kev (or if it sounds worser, then I can blame them :)) Now I think this is a bit better, but maybe it's just I got used to the sound. Certainly the waveform in Audacity looks better with less spikes on. I've tried to carry that over to the tenor and I think I got an improvement there too, although you have to blow that harder so not quite the same.

It's not without mistakes, C# especially sometimes sounds flat, probably a couple of wrong notes too, and the timing is...well it's better than it used to be :) ...but on the whole I'm ok with this. I think it's about the best I can do for now; no doubt in a year, if I'm still playing it will sound horrible.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97346875/Fantasy20170218.mp3
 
Hi again @Tiberius improving all the time. Your tone is much better here, you made it through to the end. Try not to rush it too much just getting ahead of the beat in places. Keep at playing and you will improve. I've recently listened to a few pieces I've posted over the last few years and could cringe. The takes were perhaps rushed not up to the mark and I should have worked harder to apply a bit more polish or eliminate the wrong notes/timing etc. In the words of many of my teachers and mentors "could do better". Perhaps it's my obsession with getting it down in a single take as if it is a performance and I should cheat a little now and then. Regards Al
 
U CAN CALL ME AL said:
...Try not to rush it too much just getting ahead of the beat in places
Click to expand...
Yeah...quite funny I think, when I first tried this, it was at the limit of how fast I could play (certainly for the sop), unfortunately as I've practiced, I can now play a bit faster, so I'll have to speed up the backing, or slow down my playing :)
 
Nice post @rhysonsax this is the same version the Community Band I play in use, I bumble on bari too. Amazing the quality of recording on a Zoom and mine's one of the first. Unfortunately I don't have a recording to compare notes. It's always dificult to pick up the tempo after the slow start. Enjoyed it, thanks for posting regards Al
 
Probably the last go for this month. Similar to the BOTM, recorded on the new mic stand/holder. Reverb turned down. This was played half an hour after the tenor recoding; I'm not sure that's a good idea for a beginner, probably better to do just one a day. So, basically not sure this is even nebetter than the last one. Good fun though, definitely getting tired towards the end of this one, I think you can hear it.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97346875/Fantasy20170224.mp3
 

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