Resistance in Sopranos

[alto86]

My problem:

For the past 5 years or so I’ve been playing on an older Antigua Winds soprano – not the nice to models that are raved about here on SOTW. The horn isn’t actually that bad – intonation problems and a lack of focus in the sound are it’s biggest problems.

I have to do some pretty serious playing next year so I’m looking for a new soprano to buy. I’ve visited Roberto’s in NYC and played my teacher’s horns, but I usually end up disliking most of them for the same reason – they all feel a little more “closed up” or resistant than my Antigua. I feel this most on the Mark VI horns that I’ve been trying.

My theory is that my mouthpiece/reed setup could have something to do with this. I’m using a Meyer 8 with a Fibracell MS reed. It works great on the Antigua, but perhaps the amount of air that I use on the Antigua isn’t working out correctly when I play the VI’s and Borganis and such.

One more interesting wrinkle – the horn that I’ve liked the most that I’ve tried (that avoided these resistance problems) is a silver-plated 235xxx Mark VI. Does anyone have any theories on this – were the later horns more open?

If I don’t get any great suggestions in the next couple months I’ll probably end up buying one of the newer Antiguas or just sticking with my current one for a while. I just wish I could get that great VI sound without the resistance problem…

[Thomas]

through the years I've owned several MK VI sops and they're really not very good sops. Shop around getting the MK VI idea out of your head and you're bound to find something that plays and sounds better.
Resistance is really more a function of mpc reed set up. try a more open piece or start by trying different reeds on the piece you have

[sessionsax]

I agree that the mouthpiece and reed setup is one of the major issues that cause stuffiness in a soprano. Another is acoustics. You a pushing a fast air stream through a smaller tube opening, so some natural back pressure will occur. But all in all, a good mouthpiece will help tremendously with the back pressure issue.

I have a real disagreement with the way that a majority of soprano mpcs are made. I just don't buy into the whole small squeeze chamber approach that a lot of pieces take.

Alto / Tenor / and bari in general don't use this design so why should soprano?

I have found that opening the chamber on my soprano pieces helped greatly with the stuffiness issue.

[alto86]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses - however, I have some follow-up.



Resistance is really more a function of mpc reed set up.

Yeah, I know that's true in general, but my issue is that my setup *isn't* stuffy on my current setup. I was wondering more why that could be (mark vi vs antigua) than anything else.

I know that Mark VIs aren't necessarily the best. I do know, though, that they can be really good. I'm not focused on them though. I've tried Borganis and later Selmers that have the same problems for me.

[betelsax]

I've tried Borganis and later Selmers that have the same problems for me.

Ever try a vintage Conn, Martin or Buescher with a Selmer HR medium-open (F) mouthpiece? If not, you should...you might be surprised.

[MojoBari]

You can compensate some by trying different mouthpieces for a better match up for each soprano, but this takes time. Still, some saxes will be stuffier than others.

I think it has to do with bore taper design and tone hole placement. Some designs are just easier to play in a way that the upper harmonics line up with the lower ones. This "rings" the note being played. Some sops ring better if they are tuned sharper or flatter than you are used to playing with your embouchure. You can try that and then see if you can use a different embouchure to get on pitch. But if you need to use a lot of embouchure corrections this is not a good approach if you double on other horns. If you just play sop, muscle memory can be used to stay on pitch. But this is tougher to pull off if you play a variety of instruments.

I have a curved modern Asian-made sop that has a smaller stuffier sound than my vintage straight Conn. I can use a looser embouchure with the Conn. I have played Roberto's Borgani sops and thought the straight was fantastic (but pricey). The curved was a little off in comparison. I've played some wonderful curved Bueschers and Conns. I guess my tastes lean towards vintage dark sops. The high notes are squeeky enough. No need to add more brightness in my opinion. I like squeeze chamber designs on soprano. They give some projection without resorting to a baffle to do it.

[Dave Dolson]

Here I go again . . . I think "bright" and "dark" are in the ears of the beholder. My favorite straight TT sounds bright (focused, metallic, but can be warm when I want it to be warm) to me.

Another TT straight I have is also bright, yet the person with whom I traded to get this second TT wanted a brighter horn (!!) and traded me for a gold-plated Rampone tipped-bell that sounded very mellow (dark?) to my ears. She expressed satisfaction with the trade, though. What I learned from that trade was that one person's dark is another person's bright. Maybe it boils down to mouthpiece and playing concepts, eh?

And, I don't particulalry like curved sops although I've owned four over time and still have my SC902. The vintage curved sops I've owned/played were mediocre to my ears, but bright or dark doesn't adequately describe what I heard from behind those horns. And, when listening to recorded play-backs, I can hear no differences between curved and straight designs. Just some comments . . . DAVE