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My new 1947 conn 6m

I’m self taught of 6 years and practice everyday trying to improve played with a Meyer 4m mouthpiece
 
I thought you got a pretty decent sound but perhaps a little flat in places especially on some of the higher notes... that's why a slightly harder reed with some resistance might help?
 
That distictive Conn sound isn't just the horn. Some voodoo is required to coax it out.
 
More advice:
  • Take in more mouthpiece.
  • Practice you B/C and C/B transitions so they are as seamless as all your other notes. You are moving your fingers too slowly and not in sync.
  • It's difficult to tell by looking, but I think your embouchure is relying on bite pressure more than the muscles at the corners of your mouth and your chin (yes, chin muscles are used in a jazz sax embouchure). I assume you want a jazz sort of tone, so look at how that kind of embouchure is formed:
www.neffmusic.com

The Best Saxophone Embouchure: Where’s That Bottom Lip?

The Best Saxophone Embouchure: Where's That Bottom Lip?
www.neffmusic.com www.neffmusic.com
 
lydian said:
More advice:
  • Take in more mouthpiece.
  • Practice you B/C and C/B transitions so they are as seamless as all your other notes. You are moving your fingers too slowly and not in sync.
  • It's difficult to tell by looking, but I think your embouchure is relying on bite pressure more than the muscles at the corners of your mouth and your chin (yes, chin muscles are used in a jazz sax embouchure). I assume you want a jazz sort of tone, so look at how that kind of embouchure is formed:
www.neffmusic.com

The Best Saxophone Embouchure: Where’s That Bottom Lip?

The Best Saxophone Embouchure: Where's That Bottom Lip?
www.neffmusic.com www.neffmusic.com
Click to expand...
Thank you that’s a great piece of information.
 
It is difficult to tell everything from the video, but I think you have a pretty good basic tone with some nice (not overdone) vibrato. It does sound a bit more stringent in places than I might like for that style though that could be the recording. My main advice is that some notes need a more direct accurate but light articulation and some less regimental interpretation of the note timing. (It does sound a bit like you are relying on reading the notes as opposed to playing the melody as if you know the song)

I don’t hear a need for taking in more mouthpiece or for a harder reed, but that may be a personal preference for me as I get more control from soft reeds and playing near the tip. I’m not saying other advice is wrong just that it can be a personal thing.

As well as a more defined articulation in places, I think,as your tone is good, it’s time to work on sound and expression. Some more use of dynamics could be good.
 
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I think you're not tonguing clearly, but rather "chewing" each tongued note. The embouchure and air stream should remain constant while the tongue comes in to interrupt the note. This is why the pitch and tone often wobble right at the beginning of notes.

I also think you could stand to put some more air through the horn - not louder, just more of a reserve. That would also help with the way the long notes kind of die out. Keep the intensity of each note clear through to the end, unless you intend to diminish it, in which case do THAT very explicitly.

I think that imagining a constant column of air flowing from somewhere around the navel up through your abdomen and chest and out through the bell of the horn, and practicing that way, will also help smooth out some of the roughness and reediness I hear.

Really, you can do pretty much anything you want on a 6M; here's Marshall Royal of the "singing wailing" school of tone on a 6M:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkIZ37pM6ms


And here's Lee Konitz of the "dry, clear" school of tone on a 6M:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG6h-eqSkJQ


Me, I tend more toward the Arthur Blythe and Sonny Criss schools of tone (neither man played a 6M but I have no issue getting that kind of sound).
 
One approach that I was taught when learning a ballad was to listen to and study a vocal version by one of the great singers. The study includes listening to the recording countless times until you can hear the style and phrasing in your head without the recording. Another part of the exercise is to go through your part and mark each of the phrases. Then mark the note or notes in each phrase the vocalist gives emphasis to. You also mark anywhere there is a ritardano at the ends of phrases or places the rhythm is hurried and any other stylistic nuances you hear. A wind instrument can be thought of as just an extension of the human voice which gives rise to the instruction to "sing through your instrument".

This all ties into one of the sayings I learned from my teacher:
"Now that you can play the notes, learn how to play the music."
 
I had to google ritardano.
This came up.
www.classical-music.com

What is a...Ritardando?

Stephen Johnson gets to grips with classical music's technical terms
www.classical-music.com www.classical-music.com
Now I'm off to google the difference to rollantando.
If only Bach hadn't been Italian, things would have been so much simpler. Sigh.
 
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