Low Notes Warble

[RheaTrots]

Hey I just got a new Yamaha Custom 875 B stock form WWBW. The low notes warble when they come out. I can hold a straight pitch on them, but if I try to add vibrato, the low notes warble and mess up. Whats wrong with the horn? Does it need repadded? Its and Alto. Other than that I love the horn. I can get the low notes to come out with vibrato if Im playing really loudly, but not at a soft dynamic. Can you guys help? Thanks

[Jake 35]

Not quite sure if I'm right, because i'm not an expert, but it could be your embouchure. That happened to a lot of student models i played, but not on any intermediate or pro models. (Maybe because my embouchure was more developed when i got my pro sax). Or it could be your reed, or it could be that your pads dont cover up all of the hole.

Edit: I think i found the answer, i was practicing and i noticed my low B warbled sometimes. So I tried different methods of playing it and I think... that you might be blowing to hard. When I blew a steady, slower airstream, it was no longer warbling. Hope this helps!

[Ritchie]

Warbling notes are often a sign for a weak airstream, so practice long tones to improve this. An old trick is throwing a wine bottle cork into the bell, it acts like a baffle in the knee. Grumps from this forum reported he had a permanent and more sophisticated version of this installed in his horn (http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=1035&highlight=)

[Roger Aldridge]

Here are some things that come to mind....

1. Check for pad leaks.

2. More breath support and long tone practice (as Ritchie mentioned). In particular, practice long tones and slow passages in the low register softly. It's easy to blast out a low Bb. But, playing it SOFTLY and with really good control is another matter.

3. Check for mouthpiece tip opening and reed strength match. That is, if you're using stiff reeds with a more open mouthpiece you might have a harder time getting the low register to speak easily.

4. Mouthpiece placement on the neck cork. Sometimes low note warbles happen if the mouthpiece isn't placed far enough on the neck. This can sometimes be a problem with using a mouthpiece that doesn't have enough chamber volume for a particular horn (such as some vintage saxes). The mouthpiece is pulled out in an attempt to get better intonation. But, this messes up the length of the air column and can result in low B and Bb warbles. Thus, the length of the air column can affect the low notes. Since you're playing a new horn, I wouldn't think that this would be the reason. Never the less, it wouldn't be a bad idea to check your intonation against a tuner (all notes on the horn) and make sure that the mouthpiece is at the right place on the neck cork. Since this is a new horn, are you having any trouble getting your mouthpiece at least half-way on the neck cork?

Here's a question that comes to mind.....

Are you able to get the low B and Bb to come out softly and clearly on your previous horn? If so, it's possible that the new alto has a little more resistance than your old horn. If this is the case you'll need to give it more breath support than what you're used to doing. Anyway, it's just a theory. :lol:

Please let us know how the new horn works out for you.

[Sigmund451]

Aside from leaks a mpc with a small chamber can really make it hard to bring out those lows. Go for a bigger chamber with perhaps less or no baffle.

[tubbycub]

By throwing a cork in, will it affect anything in terms of intonation an such?

[werkinsnake]

The baffle idea will not affect intonation at all. I put this in another post, but if anyone would like plans for the bow baffle, I have one that I can e-mail you. Just send me an e-mail, and I'll send one to you.

[xiang]

Hi, i encountered this problem for quite some time too recently , only after i started trying out the new vandoren ZZ reeds. Initially, on a selmer C*, but after doing long tones for some time, i managed to overcome this problem somehow. But recently, i got a 2nd hand BARI metal mpc (high baffle and small chamber), and with the ZZ reed, the problem came back. Again, after practising on long tones on low B and Bb, i noticed that it could be due to a grip on the mpc that may be too tight. My teacher once taught me that the grip on the mpc should be just right, not too tight or too loose.

[Texax]

I think the "physics" of the problem is blowing the fundamental. Like the previous posters have mentioned, there are tons of factors that contribute to playing the low notes: mouthpiece, reed, horn, leaks, etc. All of these things aside, and as long as your horn isn't leaking, you have to be blowing a tone on the mouthpiece that is low enough to initiate the fundamental resonance mode of the horn. If you're blowing a high pitch (relatively) or can't even produce a sound on the mouthpiece, the fundamental will be interrupted and the overtones will disturb it and cause a "beat," which is the warble you're hearing. Try working on just the mouthpiece. Many people recommend blowing a concert A or Ab on the mouthpiece alone (you did say alto, right?), but try to go even lower than that. Play the lowest possible note you can. Work on opening your throat, keeping your tongue down and reducing the pressure on the reed. If you can produce a low tone on the mouthpiece, and then transfer this to the whole horn, you may have some more success.

Hope this helps, good luck! :D