I love the full-throated alto-like tone he achieves. It don't always have to be like Jan Garbarek. Subtone on the soprano - it can be done. I can only take a couple of minutes of Wayne Shorter, mind. His playing is kind of PhD level jazz.
This video encouraged me to experiment with trying to get more of a flute like tone.
I went to see Gilad Atzmon on a rainy Tuesday in Exeter a couple of years back and during the interval he was at the bar, having a chat with the crowd (all 17 of us). I asked him about soprano tone - it was the first time I had seen him playing soprano and his sound was mesmerising, and he explained his take on subtone. He told me to blow slowly into the sax, trying to avoid actually sounding a note. Once you achieve that, blow in a gradually more focused way until you do achieve the note and take it no further. Voila - subtone. Simples.
This video encouraged me to experiment with trying to get more of a flute like tone.
I went to see Gilad Atzmon on a rainy Tuesday in Exeter a couple of years back and during the interval he was at the bar, having a chat with the crowd (all 17 of us). I asked him about soprano tone - it was the first time I had seen him playing soprano and his sound was mesmerising, and he explained his take on subtone. He told me to blow slowly into the sax, trying to avoid actually sounding a note. Once you achieve that, blow in a gradually more focused way until you do achieve the note and take it no further. Voila - subtone. Simples.