[saxophonedaniel]

Hi,

I am going to try a baritone (Jupiter entry model) in my local shop.

I have never had a chance to play on any baritone before, but play a few years on Alto, Tenor, Soprano.

So, is that any different in term of intonation tendency of a bari as compare to, say, Alto? And what other important points I need to test on the bari?


I may probably try a Yamaha 5C mpc. I normally use reed 3.0 Vandoren in Alto, so I guess I may use the same kind of reed in Bari, right? OR I may better go up half step to 3.5 for Bari.


Thanks

 

[paulwl]

Bari intonation depends on the horn and how it's set up - pad height, mouthpiece, and of course player.

The heart of the bari is its lowest register - from low A up to middle C#. That has to be full, easy, and steady at every dynamic level. Once you get a little feel for the horn, go for those low notes and blow some big loud room-shakers. Feel and respect the power. Like your signature says, fill the horn with air.

Then I recommend you take a big slow breath, relax the diaphragm and the throat, then blow very steadily and very quietly and see how long and soft a tone you can make...on low D...then C#...C...B...Bb...and finally the A. Don't expect a long quiet note at first - there's a trick to it. You need to focus on steady air supply, open relaxed throat, and just the right tension in the embouchure (not necessarily too loose!). Fill the horn, with steady, soft, gentle air stream.

A good playing bari - and good bari player - will also be able to jump cleanly from the upper (octave key) register to the lower. It's easier to jump up than down.

Happy baritoning! It's a marvelous sax and can do so much.

 

[paulio]

Bari is very different (imho) to say alto/tenor. You will have a ball trying out the jupiter but you need at least modest bari chops to judge one horn against another.

 

[AhCheung]

I'd recommend at first to use a mpc that is a bit more closed than what you're used to on alto and tenor, and probably a softer reed. Eg if your set up is Yami 5/reed 3, try Yami 4/2.5. But if midde D (or another note in the range G1-G2) "breaks", then use a stronger reed.
With a mpc a tad too open and a reed a tad too strong at first, you'll exhaust yourself in the low register.
My 2c...
Have fun! If there is an earthquake in HK we'll know why.

 

[saxophonedaniel]

Hi

I did the test today. As for the intonation, I noticed that in the second octave, go from A to G (that is the change of the octave venting hole), the G is about 25 cents higher than A. I can compensate it, but it is not easy (and abnormal to me). I do not have this problem in any Alto or Tenor. Is that usual in Bari?

Any opinion?

Thanks

 

[soybean]

Is that usual in Bari?

No. Every bari is different. I played a Jupiter bari recently too, and it had some intonation problems. But i also heard that Jupiter improved their bari at some point. Try some other baritones if possible.

 

[KeithL]

I would agree - try a few more before you buy. If you can find a way to try several horns in one session do it. I owned a "The Martin" bari for several years and tried a number of other horns whenever I had the chance. When I needed to get a low A bari I went to USA Horn and played a Selmer SA 80 Series II, Yamaha YBS 62, and three different Yani's. For me playing the baris back-to-back-to-back showed how different they were- much more so than most modern altos and tenors IMO.

 

[milandro]

I think that a beginner bari player would have all sorts of problems which could impart some poor intonation to even the best of horns , so, if possible, bring along some other and more expert bari player to have a reasoned and impartial evaluation of the horn which you might not be able to do at this stage of your baritone playing.

If you are anything like me (I too play tenor , alto and soprano) you will have some problem to relax your lower jaw to play the baritone. I am definitely an amateur at playing saxophone in general and more so when it comes to baritone but I found that the embouchure for bari (and bass wenever I had the rare chance to play one!) has to be nothing like the rest of the horns and this can be very challenging even for the best of multisax player at times.

 

[soybean]

^^ very good advice

 

[saxophonedaniel]

Hi Thanks for your advice.

Actually, I am a Bass Clarinet Player as well. That's one of the reason I am interested to extend my experience in Baritone Sax.
As for the embouchure, I am quite using the embouchure of Bass Clarinet in Baritone Sax.
Would that help me?

 

[milandro]

I have played some bass clarinet too (well, I had a go at it........more than exactly playing it) and that required some jaw relaxing as well but there are differences (also because I think that there are different embouchures within the bass clarinet itself due to the different shape and and angle of the neck) .