Veggie Dave
Sax Worker
- 3,603
Something occurred to me this evening.
We all know that no matter how long you've played an instrument for, you will still have good and bad days. It is, quite simply, the way it is.
Just before the flu kicked in I had a great day of playing. My tone was lovely (for me), there were almost no squeaks at all, I was able to relax and enjoy. Tonight, it felt like I was having to work a lot harder to achieve far less.
Obviously, as a beginner consistency won't be what it should be but this felt like I was playing a completely different instrument. Then something dawned on me - during my previous practise session the room I was in was a lot cooler than it was tonight. My mouthpiece is the standard Bari that comes with the Trevor James Classic, which is, as I'm sure you all know, made of plastic with a reasonably small tip opening, although I have no idea precisely what opening it actually is.
What you may or may not know, however, is that plastic expands more than other materials when heated. Given that the tip opening on my Bari is already quite small, the slightest change in temperature is going to noticeably affect the plastic mouthpiece's tip opening - isn't it?
My (limited) experience certainly seems to confirm this. Last weekend, when the heating wasn't on and this room was much cooler, the sax felt free flowing. Tonight, it's a lot warmer and the sax feels strangled.
Given that everything else is equal, am I right?
We all know that no matter how long you've played an instrument for, you will still have good and bad days. It is, quite simply, the way it is.
Just before the flu kicked in I had a great day of playing. My tone was lovely (for me), there were almost no squeaks at all, I was able to relax and enjoy. Tonight, it felt like I was having to work a lot harder to achieve far less.
Obviously, as a beginner consistency won't be what it should be but this felt like I was playing a completely different instrument. Then something dawned on me - during my previous practise session the room I was in was a lot cooler than it was tonight. My mouthpiece is the standard Bari that comes with the Trevor James Classic, which is, as I'm sure you all know, made of plastic with a reasonably small tip opening, although I have no idea precisely what opening it actually is.
What you may or may not know, however, is that plastic expands more than other materials when heated. Given that the tip opening on my Bari is already quite small, the slightest change in temperature is going to noticeably affect the plastic mouthpiece's tip opening - isn't it?
My (limited) experience certainly seems to confirm this. Last weekend, when the heating wasn't on and this room was much cooler, the sax felt free flowing. Tonight, it's a lot warmer and the sax feels strangled.
Given that everything else is equal, am I right?