Tech/maintenance The sound of a leak free saxophone!

[jbtsax]

I get the feeling folks will either thank me or curse me for the information I am about to disclose depending upon the condition of their saxophone. Read no further if you don't want to take the chance of having to get your sax fixed to play its best.

The process is quite simple. Remove the mouthpiece from the neck of your sax and put the opening of the neck up to your ear like a stethoscope. Then finger low Bb and pop one of the lower stack keys open and closed. The F and the D keys work especially well. The resonance or "reverbration" of the sound you hear tells you a lot about the "integrity" of the air column inside the saxophone. The sound I like to hear after I have worked on a sax resembles that of a "tom-tom" with a nice "ring" to it.

Here are some links to some recordings I made using my SBA alto with roo pads. Notice there is no sticky pad noise present thanks to kangaroos who gave their all and a bit of Teflon powder.

Fingering low Bb popping F key then D key

Popping F key with small then larger leak in D palm key

Popping F key with small then large leak in side Bb key

 

[sushidushi]

I'm not sure if I dare to test mine. I suppose it would give me something to blame for not being able to get those low notes consistently, though... 😱

 

[old git]

Isn't there a possibility of bursting an eardrum should you choose to do this with a bass?

Apologies for being serious.

 

[jrintaha]

Very tempted to try this out immediately... I have my tenor here at the office, because I'm off to a lesson right after work.

Thanks once again for yet another invaluable bit of advice.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I really love that resonant popping sound - you know even before playing it the tech has done a good job.