I see. I really don't have a grasp of the voicing thing. ....... I don't know how to manipulate my oral cavity other than to move my tongue around and that never seems to make much difference. I still have a lot to learn.
Voicing is really absolutely fundamental to playing in tune on any wind instrument. The
embouchure only has to have enough strength merely to provide a
stable environment in which the reed can vibrate and should not, in normal playing, be used to change pitch. The action of
fine tuning pitch know as
voicing takes place further back, actually in the
vocal tract.
Although the
back of the tongue is also involved by nature of physical proximity, it's role is more crucial to
focusing the air stream. If you raise the back of your tongue as in the sound 'koo' or 'goo' the aperture through which the air travels is narrowed and thus the air flow is accelerated.
The old chestnut of 'lipping down' to put a note in tune is to be avoided in general playing because
lipping down changes the colour of the tone. Obviously if you want a big bend in pitch the lip can be involved, and it produces, in conjunction with the vocal tract, those classic slurppy bends we all know and love. The lip can also make vibrato, and moving the lip can be used as a deliberate process to change the tone colour, it's actually essential in achieving sub-tone. But if the lip is made rigid through pressing too hard on the reed its action is inhibited and subtle lip changes become difficult if not impossible. The really important thing to understand is that in general playing
the lip should be fairly relaxed and relatively motionless, and not rigid.
A modern sax, with a well faced mouthpiece, and a reed that is the correct strength for 'you and that mouthpiece', should provide a system that works well enough that you can play the entire range of the instrument from bottom Bb to top F (or F#) without changing your embouchure,
DeadAudiolink Removed. I've seen this basic fact cleverly and successfully demonstrated by getting a student to blow the sax whilst someone else actually does the fingering: it is an impressive demonstration which shows that
anyone can play the whole range of the horn given sufficient air delivery, even a little kid.
Having said that, there are some considerations to be taken into account. If you bite the mouthpiece - by which I mean that in order to produce a sound at all you have to press hard on the reed with your bottom jaw - you will not succeed as well or as easily as you will if you allow the reed to vibrate fairly freely. So choosing a reed carefully and learning to create a functional embouchure are also absolutely fundamental. In fact I would say they are of
primary importance. Manipulation of the vocal tract, although essential, comes later.
Remember, even with a relaxed embouchure, your
lip muscles will tire, so don't overdo the practice if you can help it. Better to take a break and come at it when the muscles have recovered.
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