[John S]

I have this reoccurring issue with a note on my tenor :space5: When I start playing I can sound the note, but there is a high overtone in the background. After playing 15 minutes or so, that G goes straight to the overtone and it becomes practically impossible to sound a G. I looked with a light and it doesn't look like my horn is leaking anywhere. I have several reeds in rotation and it happens immediately with the new, dryer one. I am trying all sorts of things with my embouchure and mouth shape. The only thing that seems to work is to move way out on the mouth piece and bite harder than I should.

The horn is a Kaiser tenor (in nickel), stock mouthpiece and Rico 2's or 2.5's for reeds.

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. I just started playing again after a bunch of years and I am finding practicing to be hard because I lose one of the notes along the way


Thanks,

John

 

[hakukani]

Sounds like there could be a problem with the automatic octave mechanism that opens the octave vent on the body vs. the octave vent on the neck.

 

[saxoclese]

First make sure you are not playing too high on the mouthpiece pitch which can exacerbate the problem. The pitch for tenor on the mouthpiece alone should be no higher than G concert, and the pitch of the mouthpiece + neck should be close to E concert.

I have found that on some tenors the interior geometry of the bore of the instrument produces a strong 3rd harmonic of G which is palm D. Unless the player's voicing of G2 is set a certain way the predominant harmonic wants to sound. Try this exercise: sing "AHH" and play low G forte using this shape inside the mouth. Without pressing the octave key, make the note jump to its 2nd harmonic G an octave higher by speeding up the air stream and raising the back of the tongue as if singing "EEE". Do this back and forth until you can produce either note you want. Next start on G2 (with or without) the octave key and use the same technique exaggerated to make the note jump to high D and drop back down. Do this repeatedly until you can produce either note you want.

If you want to check hakukani's suggestion, finger low G and watch the neck octave key as you hit the thumb key repeatedly. If the neck octave key does not lift or bounce when you do this, the mechanism is adjusted properly. Also check to see if there is at least 1/16" clearance between the ring on the neck and the post that extends beyond the top of the saxophone.

 

[John S]

Thanks for the advice. I played just the mouthpiece, and with the neck and I discovered that I was taking a bigger bite than I needed to. I backed off a little and it got much more manageable.

 

[mijderf]

You might also try to run a bit of a pipe cleaner into the body octave key and see it it is dirty or clogged. This helped clear up the G2 on a horn I used to own.