I bought a new soprano and it's so nice. It's amazing the difference a good sax makes to your sound. I also tried a metal mouthpiece which I don't normally like, but it was actually very nice - ideal for producing a loud sound when playing in my sax quartet. I ended up with a Yanigasawa 901 with a Yanigasawa metal and ebonite mouthpiece no. 6. Any advice re. good ligatures?

cool!! i want to get a soprano but its goign to have to wait!

QUOTE (Appassionata @ Aug 21 2004, 09:52 AM)

I bought a new soprano and it's so nice. It's amazing the difference a good sax makes to your sound. I also tried a metal mouthpiece which I don't normally like, but it was actually very nice - ideal for producing a loud sound when playing in my sax quartet. I ended up with a Yanigasawa 901 with a Yanigasawa metal and ebonite mouthpiece no. 6. Any advice re. good ligatures?

Change the mouthpiece, that one won't work for you very long. Buy some Rico Plasticover reeds too if you like jazzy volume

Only use a rovner ligature - they're fantastic, and the best value

wow! i love soprano, but i think im going to have to give it up in september because my teacher asked me if id play baritone. yikes! i agree with you about the mouthpiece. the sax i play is the schools, and it's not a great model, but when i got a new yamaha mouthpiece it played like a totally different instrument!

wow! i love soprano, but i think im going to have to give it up in september because my teacher asked me if id play baritone. eek! i agree with you about the difference a mouthpiece can make. the sax i play is the schools, and it's not a great model, but when i got a new yamaha mouthpiece it played like a totally different instrument.

thats interesting about the mouth piece, I can see my birthday list coming on nicely.
Nice to hear about a soprano sax, let us know how you get on with it.
I'm gonna try a Clarinet I think.

One of my neighbours has one - anyone know is their a shelf life to reeds or do they last forever?

QUOTE (josax @ Aug 23 2004, 10:52 AM)

thats interesting about the mouth piece, I can see my birthday list coming on nicely. Nice to hear about a soprano sax, let us know how you get on with it. I'm gonna try a Clarinet I think. One of my neighbours has one - anyone know is their a shelf life to reeds or do they last forever?

You have to remember that the clarinet and sax may look a little similar, but they're completely different. It's not like the soprano sax which is exactly the same fingering and virtually the same embouchure.

I thought you already played the sax, so why don't you know about how long reeds last? I'd expect you to know that different reeds last different times

Anticipation is seldom fulfilled by expectation.
Questions are frequently proactively replied by answers, unless they are either rhetorical or posed to encourage thought.
Unfortunately, my previous question on reeds falls without doubt into the former category.
I would hope to gain an answer for the following reasons:
1) I started playing the sax on the 17th May 2004,
2) I found a friend willing to teach me in June,
3) Shes a flute player, whos partner is a horn player,
4) so now Im intending to continue to visit my friends, but also find a specialist sax teacher.

Perhaps then specifics will be forthcoming. I hope my teacher will give me the knowledge Im looking for in the same way I would give them my 12 years of Architectural knowledge if they were in need...

Wonderful thing specialisms, for those involved in them.

Do you think we naturally create a segregating and enveloping society? Do we all crave to be in herds? Or does modern society allow for truly free interaction where the barriers aren't in our minds or through others preconceptions but through fiscal retraints?

Any way, enough harping - will the reeds my friend has in her garage still be worthy of a toot on her Clarinet? I imagine they dry out after a period?

QUOTE (josax @ Aug 25 2004, 12:34 PM)

Anticipation is seldom fulfilled by expectation. Questions are frequently proactively replied by answers, unless they are either rhetorical or posed to encourage thought. Unfortunately, my previous question on reeds falls without doubt into the former category. I would hope to gain an answer for the following reasons: 1) I started playing the sax on the 17th May 2004, 2) I found a friend willing to teach me in June, 3) Shes a flute player, whos partner is a horn player, 4) so now Im intending to continue to visit my friends, but also find a specialist sax teacher. Perhaps then specifics will be forthcoming. I hope my teacher will give me the knowledge Im looking for in the same way I would give them my 12 years of Architectural knowledge if they were in need... Wonderful thing specialisms, for those involved in them. Do you think we naturally create a segregating and enveloping society? Do we all crave to be in herds? Or does modern society allow for truly free interaction where the barriers aren't in our minds or through others preconceptions but through fiscal retraints? Any way, enough harping - will the reeds my friend has in her garage still be worthy of a toot on her Clarinet? I imagine they dry out after a period?

Yes, reeds dry out after a period - they dry out in under 5 minutes in dry weather, and I once did a concert where when I wasn't playing I left my entire mouthpiece in a small jar of de-ionised water (metal mouthpiece, hence de-ionised so it wouldn't rust).



The point is that when you play you wet the reed - put it in a glass of water, hold it in your mouth - whatever you wish, as long as it's damp but not soggy - the reason why reeds such as the rico plasticover (plastic covered) or the legere (totally plastic) are so expensive and so popular is that they're virtually indestructible and far more importantly, they play perfectly without being wet

Hey when i first aquired a cheap and nasty soprano sax i used clarinet reeds at first, i think they were Eb ones though so they were almost right. Switched to soprano reeds when i had the opportunity to get some. Point is clarinet reeds will do until you get the real thing. A nice mouthpiece will make a big difference, thats what i discovered anyway. I still think the soprano is the hardest of all the saxes as you have to work real hard at getting the intonation just right and then some!
Watching Classic FM TV, there is a really cool neo-baroque song on there at the moment featuring soprano sax, doubling as a oboe with a very strange set up of bass guitar, trombone ect..... sounds good though.