Old pads=more difficult altissimo?

[Noel Mac]

I just got about half the pads on my tenor replaced. I bought this horn about a year ago and it was never very easy to play altissimo. But with about half of the pads replaced the altissimo is much easier. I am thinking about getting the rest of the pads replaced and the my alto repadded. Do new pads actually have that big of a difference?

[singlereed]

It shouldn't matter strictly how old the pads are, its whether they seal or not that matters - and I am sure the reason you had yours replaced was because of leaks - I know, because they were old.... :roll:

Seriously, you really want a leak-free horn for altissimo to work at its best.

[Razzy]

Considering that leaky pads will cause the regular range to be tough on its own (and you may not even notice because you're used to adjusting to accomodate), it will be twice as bad for altissimo which relies on splitting the air column's partials beyond the normal range.

[colibri]

Certain leaks will actually make the horn easier to play, believe it or not.

[Cameron Wigmore]

colibri -- which leaks do you think are good ?

[colibri]

That is of course the secrets of a good technician. 8)
But I'm serious.

[Jeff D]

Yes this is something mentioned in musical acoustics texts. Determining the exact location for a leak, however is not general practice for technicians. The bassoon gurus always say that if you make a bassoon as tight sealing as an oboe it will play like crap.

Are the resonators the same on the pads that were replaced? Sometimes this can have a slight effect (affect?) on the instrument. The teacher at the local college has a piece of electical tape on one of his metal resonators to make his regular c and side c have the same character. (this was discovered through hours of trial and error)

JD