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PPT mouthpieces

PPT mouthpieces

PPT mouthpieces

PPT mouthpieces

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Linky Lee" data-source="post: 588742" data-attributes="member: 15"><p>Hey no worries, We're all learning as we go and playing and listening is the best way to learn. Most of the stuff I've written in this thread is very new to me and as such I probably only really understand the points that I have been able to explain clearly. I've spent the last three days doing nothing much but playing around with these ideas and seeing what really works and understanding the physical aspects behind them.</p><p></p><p>The tone is controlled as you say via the oral cavities but most definatly not by the diaphragm.</p><p></p><p>The diaphragm is oval shaped in an arch kind of manner when it is relaxed. As you know a muscles can only push or pull. The diaphragm pulls, when it tenses it flattens out. This allows you to breath in lots of air in short amounts. It doesn't help in the slightest with pushing air out of your lungs. </p><p></p><p>more pressure makes for a thinner tone: I don't strictly agree with this. First we need to know how a reed is made, the job it does and how it produces a sound.</p><p></p><p>all reeds by one manufacturer are cut on the same machine. They are all shaped exactly the same, because of the inconsistencies they are then tested for amount of flexibility and graded. </p><p>The job a reed does is to create the sound produced by the airflow within yourself. It does this not by vibrating, but by hitting against the mouthpiece. If a reed were to vibrate in the air it doesn't make a sound. </p><p></p><p>If there is more pressure on a reed it is vibrating faster as it won't be vibrating over the same length as without pressure. This is what increase the pitch. Releasing pressure enables the reed to vibrate at it's slowest speed giving it's flattest sound. We all play somewhere in the middle, generally on the higher side.</p><p></p><p>To play a saxophone in tune, the pressure your bottom lip exerts must be constant for every note. The air support and throat controls the evenness of tone.  The saxophone then changes the pitch by the set amount depending upon which keys are pressed, nothing more. </p><p></p><p>F# is nearly always sharp on a sax so you should slacken off a wee bit for this note, but there really shouldn't be any embouchure adjustments. You can also raise and lower pitch by using your throat and tongue, though this can change the tone quite drastically.</p></blockquote><p></p>

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