[magical pig]

I've been playing sax for 6 years (well, almost) and I've been frustrated at the lack of improvement in the tone area for about a year. I don't have a bad tone, but there are a lot of things I'd like to hear in it that are just not present. I tried many things over this period but recently, two exercises have unlocked a whole new dimension so I thought I would share them.

The first one is "plugging both octave pips". I put a small piece of tape over both and do my regular practice sessions like that. It has made me realize what I do right or wrong and when. I've been able to consciously adjust to it, but more amazingly unconsciously do the right thing.
This trick has made obvious various things I do wrong to stay in tune, when I tongue, how I use my air at various dynamics and how I compensate for the lack of proper air support, etc... Really an eye opener. Also, when I try various things to get my tone brighter, darker, more or less focused or buzzy, I instantly get an obvious feedback of whether or not I'm screwing up my air production.

The second thing is to free the sides of my embouchure. I got the idea from this great Joe Allard resource: http://joeallard.org/pedagogy.html. I practice a scale or chord type, or just freely improvise (octave pips still plugged) but consciously let air escape from the sides of my mouth and really try to feel the reed's vibrations. Then I go back to a closed embouchure position while trying to keep the same feeling than when I played with the sides of my lips too loose.
This exercise really have added a lot of resonance and vibrance to my tone. Even my wife was able to tell the difference (and she's not a musician).

A little caveat may be "de rigeur" here however: I have always been practicing quite hard on my tone, playing long tones, overtone exercises, etc, on a daily basis. I've also recently started working with Donald Sinta's book "Voicing:An Approach to the Saxophone's Third Register" and on my tonguing and articulation. So it may just be that these two exercises were just what I needed to "unlock" something and allow me to apply everything I have worked on in the past. Even if it is, I think these two tricks could be worth playing around with if you feel frustrated about how you sound. They probably aren't anything revolutionary, but they have helped me tremendously.

That's it! You're welcomed to comment and/or try them and share your experience.

Edit: just wanted to add to the caveat that I switched to a smaller tip opening and softer reeds a few months back which may also have contributed to the end result.

 

[SaxTMan]

i haven't fully understood your first exercise (maybe because i'm not a native english speaker) but can you explain simpler, maybe with images?

 

[SaxPunter]

I've found using Matt Ottos drones makes long tone practice far more interesting in my pursuit of a better tone. I'd like to hear more about the first tip also. After some advice from a very good local player this year around that exact issue of letting air escape while tying to "free" my chops I've seen small, gradual improvements. I think once you accept that the measurement timescales are months and years you can just settle in for the long haul

 

[Smooth Sop Berator]

i haven't fully understood your first exercise (maybe because i'm not a native english speaker) but can you explain simpler, maybe with images?

magical pig is inactivating the octave key by blocking the neck and body octave pips (holes), forcing him to voice the higher octave notes instead of relying on the octave key to make these notes sound an octave higher. Hopefully, you understand voicing and overtones.

 

[magical pig]

magical pig is inactivating the octave key by blocking the neck and body octave pips (holes), forcing him to voice the higher octave notes instead of relying on the octave key to make these notes sound an octave higher. Hopefully, you understand voicing and overtones.

That's exactly it. I put a piece of tape over those vents basically "plugging" them. The octave key and arms still move, but they're rendered useless because they're not venting anything (they're shut down by the tape). You could get the same results by not using the octave thumb key, but I prefer the method I'm using because I can still use proper technique when playing.

 

[LampLight]

MP: First of all, you are a great player, and it is encouraging to hear that you have been playing less than 6 years.

As for the tape: Can't the same affect as taping be achieved by simply not pressing the octave key? This is what we do when we do overtones. What does taping add? Also, when you remove the tape, it sounds like you don't have to readjust to the tape not being there, and you don't want to readjust either. Is that correct?

 

[magical pig]

MP: First of all, you are a great player, and it is encouraging to hear that you have been playing less than 6 years.

As for the tape: Can't the same affect as taping be achieved by simply not pressing the octave key? This is what we do when we do overtones. What does taping add? Also, when you remove the tape, it sounds like you don't have to readjust to the tape not being there, and you don't want to readjust either. Is that correct?

Like I said in my previous post, I tape the vents so I don't have to think about it. This way, I can do all my practicing with the tape on (scales, chords, tunes, you name it...) and I only remove it when I play gigs. And you're right, I don't need to readjust dramatically to the tape not being there; it only has the effect of making me sound better. Certain notes sound and respond a little different with the octave pips open but that's minimal.

I'm thinking there must be a reason why the saxophone was created with these octave pips, so that's why I still want to practice using the thumb key. Blocking the vents just makes slacking off (airwise) obvious; like a constant reminder, someone listening to every note you play and whipping your @ss everytime you're not doing what you're supposed to.

As for the first part of your comment: thank you! I've been working hard.

 

[gary]

That first exercise seems to me to have a similar effect as the exercises thet Dave Liebman describes in his book "Developing a Personal Saxophone Sound" in one of his first chapters, which is matching tones with and without the octave key on the same pitch and also playing in the second octave without the octave key. This might have also come from Allard.

The two sets of exercises that have worked best for me in tone development have been those first few Liebman exercises I just described, and the first exercises in Rascher's "Top Tones" book. Although (cough, cough) I did spend the first fifteen or twenty minutes of each warm-up period for the first six months or so of my playing, playing conventional long tones.