[3141592ab]

As the title suggests, I'm having a problem with the way I sound on soprano. I play on a selmer series 3 and, on the recommendation of my band teacher, play on a selmer c*. I am fed up with sounding like an oboe with a really nasally tone. Some people have even said it sounds like a duck. Can anyone help me?

 

[Tony5175]

You could start by trying to do some long tones to improve your tone.

 

[Grimmell73]

You can't give us a lot to go on, to be sure; we have never heard or seen you play. Before you start thinking about new equipment. I would suggest you try playing once with your mouthpiece in a corner of your mouth, rather than in the center. If you get a better tone immediately, this means you form your embouchure in the center of your mouth with a lot of bad habits. Most often this means biting too hard on the reed. You can get a similar problem by having the mouthpiece in your mouth at the wrong angle, so that you are either constricting the reed too much on the rails, or in the heart.

Even if the first experiment still sounds like a duck, your oboish tone can still be due either to not breathing deeply and freely enough, or keeping your throat too constricted as you play. As you play in the middle of your range, imagine singing a note in the bottom of your singing range, freely and openly. See what that does for your tone. Also try a different reed. You didn't say which ones you are using. If you still can't improve the tone, have an experienced saxophonist play your horn/mouthpiece/reed combination. If they can produce a more pleasing tone, so can you, with time. If they sound like a duck too, then and only then should you consider changing equipment. If you want a more flutelike tone, you can get it with a Caravan mouthpiece and Vandoren blue box reeds. As long as a tech has verified your horn is in proper working order, there's no need to trade a Serie III for anything else. But Selmer C*'s aren't all alike, and yours could be among the worse ones.

For an excellent home-study guide to working on your tone, try David Liebmann's Complete Guide to Saxophone Sound Production. You can get it off Amazon for about $90. The DVD has a lot of helpful stuff. Good luck!

 

[Dr G]

OP, I'm betting that your tone on any horn is weak and unsupported.

You need to blow THROUGH the horn and not just into it. Air support and correct air stream will set you free.

The III is a good sop and capable of singing with a full voice. I owned one for several years.

 

[BigMack]

An open throat goes a long way in improving your tone. It should feel like you are blowing hot air into the horn. David Liebmann conducted a Master Class at PM woodwind a couple months ago and he really stresses that Sax players really need to better learn how to support their air and make better use of the diaphragm.

 

[davsoprano]

Are you taking a lot of mouthpiece? That's the way it sounds if you do that.

 

[wilsaxo]

Your equipment is perfectly suited to make you sound like an oboe, but if you don't want to waste time fighting it to overcome that then change saxes. Try a curved soprano (modern or vintage) with a large chamber mouthpiece. A straight vintage Buescher or Conn would also have fuller and richer tone (vintage straight Martins tend to have an English horn sound to my ears). There are plenty of dealers who have them ready to play and have a return policy so you can try them and return if they're not for you. If you fall in love with one you can unload that Selmer for a good price because there are plenty of folks out there who think they are worth their high price.

Cheers,
David

 

[rjent]

An open throat goes a long way in improving your tone. It should feel like you are blowing hot air into the horn. David Liebmann conducted a Master Class at PM woodwind a couple months ago and he really stresses that Sax players really need to better learn how to support their air and make better use of the diaphragm.

This X 100. Throat is everything. A trick that was taught to me many years ago, was to "think" the sound. Let your body adjust the sound. It will come. You don't need new equip. Just play. Like it has been suggested, start playing long notes and "think" the sound. Keep doing it until you get what you are after ....

 

[electricfigue]

I agree with davsoprano, if I want an oboe sound I can achieve it taking more reed, and let it vibrate in a more free way, of course you need to keep the air supporting while doing it in order to control the sound, a secondary effect of it is the increased volume.If you are having problems playing ppp probably you are taking too much piece, so you could try taking less, in order to change that oboe sound.

 

[Dave Dolson]

Everyone has an opinion . . . here's mine. That Serie III soprano should be just fine (I used to own one). But from my experiences, the closed-tip mouthpieces like a C* (I have one in S-80 form as well as a scroll-shank model) may tend to give you the oboe sound if you are not particular with reed choices. Of course, everyone's embouchure is different, too.

If a reed discovery doesn't happen soon, then you may want to explore a more open tip. My sops do not sound oboeish - I use open tips and soft reeds. As long as you are experimenting, try something more open. DAVE

 

[BigMack]

My setup on Sop.

Vandoren Optimum SL3 with Van 3 Traditional. Intonation is great, perfect setup for anything requiring a legit dark tone. Very easy to play and lock in and has a nice singing quality. I play the AL3 and TL3 and find these pieces to have a beautiful tone.

An old Otto Link tone edge 5* with Van ZZ 2.5's for more of a Jazz vibe. My experience has been that the wider the tip opening on the SOP intonation begins to go south and will require much more work to play in tune. If you are not in tune on the SOP you will surely stand out like a sore thumb for sure.

 

[3141592ab]

Some people wanted more info so here goes,

I have been asked on multiple occasions to play soprano for quartet pieces. To clarify, It is a school owned soprano and equipment. Reeds are blue box Vandorens #3.mouthpiece is a selmer C* With regards to not sounding good on any sax, I currently rank in the top 20 of my state in Alto. I think that the problem is more a lack of experience than a lack of ability. The only half-decent recording I have is an old youtube video of me on Bari back in middle school.

. I believe this video will convince you that my breathing isn't the source of the problem. Nonetheless, it is probably a good idea to try to fix the problem this way. I would hate to spend anything on a problem that was so stupidly easy to fix

So of all the solutions, take in less mouthpiece, try softer reeds, open my throat, take a deeper breath, check with a professional for equipment malfunction, and loosen my embouchure just a little. Did I miss any?
I will be sure to try all of these the next chance I can get. It is holiday break here so I just recently had to turn it back. These ideas will gnaw at me and I'll never sleep until I can try and figure out which is my problem.

 

[SveinJo]

To clarify, It is a school owned soprano and equipment. Reeds are blue box Vandorens #3.mouthpiece is a selmer C* With regards to not sounding good on any sax, I currently rank in the top 20 of my state in Alto. I think that the problem is more a lack of experience than a lack of ability. ... I believe this video will convince you that my breathing isn't the source of the problem. Nonetheless, it is probably a good idea to try to fix the problem this way. I would hate to spend anything on a problem that was so stupidly easy to fix

So of all the solutions, take in less mouthpiece, try softer reeds, open my throat, take a deeper breath, check with a professional for equipment malfunction, and loosen my embouchure just a little. Did I miss any?

1. Your skills on alto counts for nothing when it comes to soprano. Fifteen years ago I was moderately good on alto and bought a soprano on a whim. It took me six months to sound halfway decent on the soprano. Sounding good - well...

2. I play a more open mouthpiece than you do, but I can change the sound easily. A softer reed and a "live" ligature (e g. a standard two-screw) gives me a oboe-like sound, a harder reed and a deader ligature (e. g. Rovner) gives me a more flute-like sound.

Give yourself time to experiment. Reeds and ligatures are not too expensive.

 

[bruce bailey]

Try different strength reeds, more support, etc. Also make sure you aren't holding it downward like a clarinet. Hold it so the mouthpiece exits the mouth like an alto. The set-up you have should be OK.
Somewhere on an oboe forum, someone is probably saying: Help! I sound like a soprano sax!!!

 

[segaleon]

Yes, support your breath and open your throat.

And as is suggested by the hundreds of threads that deal with mouthpiece selection, the choice of mouthpiece will have a significant impact on your sound. As suggested above, go for something with a larger tip opening and a larger chamber: Bari HR is an inexpensive place to start.

 

[Joe Giardullo]

I would suggest that you try a Hemke # 3 or 3 1/2 reed. The firmer tip on the Hemke reed should take away the "oboe" tendency to some degree, and I suspect that it may take away quite a lot.

I'm also of the opinion that if you're playing an S80 piece, it's a less than ideal match for that Serie III in terms of getting away from that small sound.

But I'd go to the Hemke reeds first.

 

[jth121]

This thread is helpful to me but in a slightly different way. I started playing soprano about a month ago and I think that it sounds like a trumpet or coronet.

 

[Dave Dolson]

jth: Are you happy sounding like a cornet? That is not a bad thing, but some of us would rather sound like a saxophone. My first jazz band had me playing the melodies on soprano because we didn't have a lead brass instrument. I can still play the melodies and provide a good lead in a jazz combo, but I still think it sounds more like a saxophone. DAVE

 

[jth121]

I am thinking that the OP and myself have the same idea in mind, that we do want to sound more like a soprano sax, or the soprano sax sound that we have in our ears. For me it would be the sweetness of the sound instead of the brash trumpet sound. I am wondering how it would sound to someone other than myself? I need to play into a corner or record and playback to see. I am newer at this and do know that I need to work on my tone. There have been good suggestions in this thread as well as in other SOTW postings.

 

[segaleon]

Cornet? Cool, sounds like a unique sound from which to start to develop a personal signature. Let it evolve, but don't lose it!