24hrs with my soprano

1935 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Chico222, Jun 4, 2007

Chico222

Discussion Starter · Jun 3, 2007

Man this thing is something else! As some of you already know from my other post, I put on order a sweet yas-82z in black laquer and rented a jupiter student soprano. I played it for a few hours and man is this thing hard. I thought I was bad ***** and tried to play it like I played my alto......but no way. I was squeaking, my fingers weren't used to the smaller instrument and my intonation is WAY OFF!! Everytime I hold a note it's almost as if my breath is shaking, the pitch goes up and down continously and I can't control it any.

Also, and not to say that I should sound anything like Kenny G, but the overall sound of the horn sounds extremely different from what Kenny G's and other sopranos I have heard. I know I know soprano saxophonists have their own sound, but when I play my soprano you couldn't even tell I was playng the same instrument as them. My sound is so "whiny", for lack of a better word.

I guess it's time to practice.

Any thoughts?

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Dave Dolson

· #3 · Jun 3, 2007

Chico: I assume your Jupiter soprano is tight (no leaks) and is properly adjusted so everything works (a first-step, really).

I see two problems and seargeantsax mentioned them. Number one, develop your soprano chops - it takes time coming from a bigger saxophone. Two, you'll probnably need a different mouthpiece (assuming, again, that you are using the one that came with the horn - most stock pieces at that level are, shall we say, not so good). Keep workin' it. DAVE

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Dave Dolson

· #5 · Jun 3, 2007

Chico: Mouthpieces are VERY personal . . . there is no way for any of us to know whether or not the mouthpiece can play well for you. But most players, especially after developing their embouchure, find that a mouthpiece change from the cheap stock pieces supplied with many inexpensive saxophones (e.g., a move to larger tip-opening or different internal design) can make an improvement.

Most stock pieces are fairly closed (meaning their tip-openings are small), hence they require a stronger reed than do the pieces with bigger openings. I suspect that a #2 reed may be too soft for the piece you are using.

It may be too early in the process (your development on sop), but it is not that expensive to buy a few boxes of different brands and different strengths and experiment with them.

Even most inexperienced players can feel improvements when they have a good mouthpiece/reed match (good meaning a mouthpiece that suits their embouchure AND a reed strong enough to handle the tip-opening but soft enough to blow easily). DAVE

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Dave Dolson

· #9 · Jun 4, 2007

Pinnman: Just for clarification, he is talking about two different horns - alto and soprano. I actually think the Yamaha 4C sop piece is okay for a stock piece. But his soprano is a Jupiter and his pending Yamaha is an alto.

I'm guessing the stock sop piece with the Jupiter is not in the same league as a Yamaha mouthpice coming with a Yamaha soprano. Still, a stronger reed may help with whatever mouthpiece he has with the Jupiter sop. DAVE.

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