[dander9518]

I'm trying out a Yanagisawa 9930 silver soprano, and it plays wonderfully, except that I'm tending to go flat in the upper register (esp 2 octave scales or figures played from lower to upper registers).

Has anyone else had this issue with Yani silver horns? I'm hoping its not an issue with the horn, and that more likely I need to develop more strength to "hold" my embrouchure in the upper register -- I've played much soprano in the past but this is my first "pro" soprano and plays differently up there.

It is a truly beautiful horn, by the way.

 

[Dave Dolson]

dander: I doubt if the body's material makes much difference as to the horn's pitch up there. It is basically an S991 is it not?

My S992 (an S99X series made of bronze) speaks from the bottom to the top, right on pitch. Your trouble may be mouthpiece/reed set-up OR embouchure.

I've been playing a long time and certain mouthpieces are just difficult if not downright flat in that range. For instance, my STM Links are flat upstairs while my HR Super Session J's, S-80's, and Morgan Vintage 7 pieces are in tune. DAVE

 

[TenTenTooter]

What brand soprano did you play before the Yani? It could be possible that your previous soprano was sharp in the upper register and you compensated for that and now that you have an in-tune horn you may be still sub-consiously lowering the pitch because you trained yourself to do that on your previous horn.

 

[dander9518]

Thanks for your replies. I am wondering if the construction of this horn affects its intonation; the tone holes up to C or so are all "drawn" tone holes made of silver. The higher ones are tone holes of a different material (they're brass-colored) and appear to have been affixed to the horn. So you're right that it's probably not an issue of the type of material, but of course the diamater of these higher tones holes could affect the intonation.

Can anyone confirm whether the upper tone holes on your Yani sopranos are "drawn" vs. affixed? (you should be able to tell because an affixed tone hole will have solder or adhesive around)

 

[SaxyAcoustician]

What brand soprano did you play before the Yani? It could be possible that your previous soprano was sharp in the upper register and you compensated for that and now that you have an in-tune horn you may be still sub-consiously lowering the pitch because you trained yourself to do that on your previous horn.

Hear, hear.

 

[Gandalfe]

Thanks for your replies. I am wondering if the construction of this horn affects its intonation; the tone holes up to C or so are all "drawn" tone holes made of silver. The higher ones are tone holes of a different material (they're brass-colored) and appear to have been affixed to the horn. So you're right that it's probably not an issue of the type of material, but of course the diamater of these higher tones holes could affect the intonation.

Can anyone confirm whether the upper tone holes on your Yani sopranos are "drawn" vs. affixed? (you should be able to tell because an affixed tone hole will have solder or adhesive around)

Thanks for the ping Dave. My Yani S-992 front D tone hole does appear to be different color (brass) than the B, C, and down keys (bronze). So I'm betting that this is normal construction for Yani 99x's.

When I trashed my S-901 in a theater pit crew gig and moved to this instrument, it took months for me to get used to it and I was terribly flat in the upper register. I tried a number of mouthpieces but eventually my intonation just seemed to normalize.

You have such a good ear, I'd put money on this problem being fixed in a month of practice.