what are the qualities that make their voice unique, recognisable or a pleasurable to hear?
Here are some of the things I can think of right now, while I write this:
Tone (obviously) - it's a big part of the player's expression. Other instruments, like piano depend on this far less, and with guitar, when effects come in to the mix, it gets very complicated. It's easier to get an electric sound from someone than a sax sound, IMO. It's why I ask for non-electric instruments.
Articulation : including all the specific saxophon-y stuff done with mouth and fingers.
When you say elements that make up someone's "voice" on a saxophone I think of four things, and ironically (or not) it is the same four things that I believe are involved in the sound production of any electronic sound module or synthersizer also.
I would take out of the equation anything to do with performance, ie a players phrasing because I think it can muddy the waters when talking about sound, and what makes a sound personal.
Those four things are divided into two parts:
- The core tone
- How that tone is manipulated for expression (the sound)
The first of those is obvious - it is a straightforward sound that is made up of various different frequencies fundamental and overtones. We often describe this as bright, dark, warm, stuffy etc. based on the frequncies. we hear. I just call this the
tone, as opposed to the
sound, which is what a player does to that basic tone to make it personal or expressive.
How that core tomne is manipulated is what a skilled player does to make it their own sound and as mentioned it is rather like how a synth programmer will manipulate the core tone (which can be as simple as a sine or square wav, but often more abit more complex these days.
With the saxophone the three basic things we apply are
articulalation, pitch and dynamics.
Articulation is hugely important, very often if you record a note and chop off the beginning it can be very difficult to say whether it is a saxophone, a trumpet or a voice etc. The articulation (whether it is tongued or not) can be more importantb to identifying a player's unique sound than the actual core tone.
Dynamics within a single note: after the initial attack of articulation there can be a swell or diminuendo - also at the end of notes.
Pitch is involved in various ways. The oevrall pitch, whether the pitch center is above, below the actual pitch the music is at. Bend into and out of notes. Vibrato - e.g. constant or added at the end of note. This is all about pitch and hugely important to what makes a sound personal.
These three elements of sound are what I break tone mcontroil practise into:
Tone and sound are not the same thing.Big saxophone mistakes: too much mouthpiece, biting too hard, heavy articulation, poor air support.
tamingthesaxophone.com
Step 1in improving your sound. Basic long notes are important, but more important is the way you practise them. Don't just blow for a long time - focus!
tamingthesaxophone.com
Then there are various effects on top of those three parameters that can be added, the main one for me being growl. This is something that can be obvious or almost inaudible when done subtly.