[paulwl]

Attention Aristocrat Series 1 tenor players!

Have you had persistent octave jumping or split tones on C# through F in the first register?

What was the cause?
What was your solution?

Just talking with a fellow player of this model...he says he has it too, and so has a friend of his who plays one!

I always suspected buzzing side keys, or perhaps something off with the key bridge on F#. Haven't taken it to a tech but the other fellow has been to several - no leaks detected!

TIA...

 

[JL]

I have one of these horns and no, absolutely no tendency to jump the octave on those (or any) notes. So, unless my horn is an anomaly (which I highly doubt), this is not a characteristic of this model. However, it's highly characteristic of ANY horn with leaks. I'd take it to a good tech.

Not sure what's with the other fellow's horn. Maybe those techs he's taken it to missed something.

 

[saxoclese]

Typically the lowest notes on a saxophone have a tendency to jump an octave when played softly or without the needed adjustments in the oral cavity due to the fact that the fundamental is weaker than the 2nd and 3rd harmonics. That is true not just on saxophones, but on all conical woodwinds. It is unusual that this tendency would go as high as the note F. It would be interesting to see the "harmonic footprint" of each of these notes on a spectrum analyzer to see what that reveals. "Split tones" can be caused when the vent that forces the fundamental to go to the second mode does not disrupt the vibration of the fundamental enough to let the second mode to take over completely, hence both frequencies can sound at the same time. The embouchure and voicing used by the player can also have an influence as well.

In my repair experience I have found that small leaks that are not apparent when using a leak light in a well lit area such as a typical shop become visible when checked in a pitch dark room. I always check my pad work in these conditions which is possible since I work in a one man shop.

 

[paulwl]

Just messing with the 291k tenor. I think the issue - in MY horn at least - may be certain keys in combination with each other.

- On middle finger F#1: I hear a slightly duller timbre than on fork F# and feel some extra vibration in Bb-bis.
A lot of bises aren't quite tight to the bridge linkage on F# that makes fork Bb, and as a result, the cup has a little motion in it. You can tell if you touch the bis while playing fork and the Bb changes timbre.

- On E1 (sometimes): there's some extra vibration in trill G#, as if it's buzzing the G# cup THRU the lever.
This might be a bigger issue as the G# trill is "positive" - meant to OPEN G# and not CLOSE it, as it does on older horns. It might be able to buzz G# out of seat on every note below.