Playing odd or normal!

[breathless]

having just stepped up mouthpiece from the Yamaha 4c, which Ive played since I started learning to play sax 5 months ago to the Yanagisawa N06 that was provided with the T901 Ive noticed on occasion when playing quitely I can hear (sorry for the crudeness) spital crackling threw the mouthpiece, no wonder it comes out threw the high valves and drips all over my fingers.

rgds Lee.

 

[kevgermany]

We all do it. But you'll do it a lot less as you learn to relax more.

 

[BUMNOTE]

Thanks Kev,you just answered a question of mine,been very frustating last few days of practice and that was one off the concerns,just got to sort out others!!!!.Bumnote.

 

[Taz]

Kev's right as usual, it appears that the less practice you get the more spit you produce. Don't get confused with condensation though. If your playing a cold sax you'll produce a bucket load and there's a big difference!
When you get a spare moment when playing a piece, just suck a little air back through the mouthpiece and it'll cure the problem.

 

[QWales]

I've been playing for around 2.5 years and I still get this quite a lot, usually after I have been playing for over an hour. Sucking sharply on the mouthpiece clears it for a while.

 

[jbtsax]

A trick I learned in college was to polish the backs of my reeds so the water beads up and rolls off instead of staying on the back of the reed and sizzling like bacon frying in a pan.

On a super flat surface such as a formica table top, place a stiff piece of white paper (the inside cover of a music book works great), and rub the reed back and forth with the grain using a bit of pressure with your fingers. Do this about 50 times increasing the pressure as you go. Eventually the reed will begin to make a clicking sound as it goes back and forth. When you pick up the reed the back should be smooth and shiny.

As you continue to play the reed, occasionally repeat the polishing process. The "polished" reeds will no longer have that sizzle, and they will play more responsively and last longer to boot.

 

[Taz]

A trick I learned in college was to polish the backs of my reeds so the water beads up and rolls off instead of staying on the back of the reed and sizzling like bacon frying in a pan.

On a super flat surface such as a formica table top, place a stiff piece of white paper (the inside cover of a music book works great), and rub the reed back and forth with the grain using a bit of pressure with your fingers. Do this about 50 times increasing the pressure as you go. Eventually the reed will begin to make a clicking sound as it goes back and forth. When you pick up the reed the back should be smooth and shiny.

As you continue to play the reed, occasionally repeat the polishing process. The "polished" reeds will no longer have that sizzle, and they will play more responsively and last longer to boot.

Well that's a new one on me! I'll have to try it and see if it works for me.

 

[breathless]

sizling Bacon is an excellent way of describing the sound im hearing so I shall give my reeds a rub and see what happens.
Im still finding reeds so inconsistent which makes it very frustrating for a beginner at my level!

thanks for the ideas, gives me something to start with.

rgds Lee.

 

[Colin the Bear]

The less you play the more your mouth thinks the mouthpiece is food in your mouth. That is until you step onto a stage.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Lots of people seem to want to produce a "Smoky" sound on sax, but don't seem to want a "Sizzling Bacon" sound, for some reason.
If it was a "Sizzling Smoky Bacon" sound, I could be up for that................;}

 

[breathless]

Not forgetting a splash of HP sauce!

Lee.

 

[TomMapfumo]

By the way I love the new photograph.............................

Surprised you didn't go for & Perrins, Lee.............................:shocked:

 

[jrintaha]

I find this sizzling effect much worse on the synthetic Legere Standard reed than Rico Jazz cane reeds or Rico Plasticovers. I wonder if I could try polishing the back of the Legere, or will I just ruin it?

Cheers,
Jori

 

[breathless]

Tom, always been partial to a splash of pertinent especially on welsh rare-bit! Lol. The new pic, through a friend my kids have just been introduced to the Muppets, and they love them. When they saw the "Sax and violence " sketch they thought he was fantastic so it seemed a good move.

As for the sizzling effect?, well I tried the polishing method but no difference noticeable! However they feel better in the hand.


Lee.