Bari Stance

[Ol Danl]

Well, I'm kind of new to the baritone -- I bought this one on ebay and took it to a local tech. It was a fixer-upper, and he took a while to go through it, so I've had it a couple of months, and still haven't had much time with it. It's an old Bundy that was a school horn (late '70s), and I bought the Rico Royal Graftonite B7 mouthpiece, because it was cheap, and it seemed to be a similar opening to the Link 7* I use on tenor. I've started with 2 1/2 Rico royal reeds, although I use 3 1/2 on tenor. I'm probably going to have a few questions, but this is the first. When playing standing, should I be holding the horn with the bow in front of my leg (like I do with tenor), or should it be to the right? It feels like I have better control in front, but it's fairly strenuous on the old thumb. I also need a thumb-eez or something.

[rico royale]

Go with the stance that causes you the least stress.
And if anything starts to hurt - change your position.
There is no one way.
There's more than one way to skin a cat, or to play a bari sax.
And the "correct" way is the one that doesn't deform you or the music.
Eventually you'll find a position that feels "natural" for you.

I think most people use harder reeds on bari though.
Softer reeds don't have the volume and they don't hold up for long.
Although there's probably a lot of different ways with reeds too.

Good luck.

[Razzy]

I believe most players hold it to the side. Not only is it easier for my particular body type (about 6', slim), but it makes sitting to standing transitions much easier too. I turn the neck to the left and the mouthpiece a bit to the left before standing to take a solo in big band or sax quartet.

[Ol Danl]

Well, I played it again awhile last night. Looks like the best I can do right now is to alternate every few minutes. I think in the long run, I'd feel better with it in front of the leg, but I don't have the thumb strength to do that for long periods of time. Probably have to experiment and move back and forth for the time being. Thanks for your input.

[saxfreak]

You might want to look into a harness for baritone, if you aren't using one already. I find that the harness takes the weight off my neck and distributes it over my shoulders, which is a lot more comfortable than using a neck strap.

[hgrail]

FWIW try to keep any real weight off your thumb.

It's been something I've been working on -and it does help your playing as well as prevent some long term problems.

If you're wondering why - do a search on the illness/injuries thread for thumb use with a bari. It's recent.
john

[BayviewSax]

Holding the horn in front definitely is harder on the thumb, but I prefer it to holding it to the side. You just have to be careful not to put that extra pressure on the thumb. One of the ways I do this is to let the Eb guard actually rest against my thigh. There is some bruising, but it beats hell out of the pain in the thumb. To the side, I feel like I have much less control; it has a tendency to effect the lip pressure in my embouchure. (Ah the fun of playing the big horn):twisted:

[shmuelyosef]

On tenor and bari, I try to get a setup so that with the horn hanging on my harness (for bari) or neckstrap (for tenor), the mouthpiece is gently presented right in front of my face. I use the thumb only to provide pressure into my upper teeth for embouchre stability. I have been known to move strap hangers to make it so (when I used to play old Conns). Besides the wear and tear on your thumb, having to support the horns weight limits your control...

[Pinnman]

There are pros and cons either way.

I agree with the posters about control: the angle of the mpc in the mouth is better by far when the sax is in front. However, I usually only do this for short periods; on a longer blow, as in a sax 4-tet performance, I play to the side - largely to protect my back as much as my thumb (although that, too, is a consideration).

Agreement again about neck straps: don't! Some form of harness or shoulder cross strap (I use the latter) is far better. I do have a playing stand, but have real difficulty matching the height with any of the chairs I have ever sat on. So the mpc angle is wrong again and I stretch the neck to the detriment of intonation (because of the position).

On comparable mpc's and reeds - e.g. Brilhart Ebolin & Hemke - I use 2 strength on also and tenor and 3 on bari.

[gspiegel]

Had an interesting conversation with a bass player, who said it was important to be able to move the instrument around because it was a very "physical" instrument to play. For that reason, he never sits on a stool while playing.

I think the bari is the same. If you can 't feel the weight and the inertia involved in swinging it around, I don't think you can play it to the fullest.

That said, I use a harness and hold it across my body for better balance. (I also do regular back-strengthening exercises).

Glenn

[bariman]

Off to the side for me. I sometimes go for in the middle, but the position just dosen't feel right for long. I also use a harness if i'm going to play over 20 minutes, though I do keep a neotech strap around.

Bariman

[Ol Danl]

Obviously I'm going to have to get serious about the bari to deal with the size of it. I have a Neotech harness around here somewhere, but didn't like it for tenor, because they came in 2 lengths, and I ordered the longer one, thinking I would eventually use it for this bari. When it came, I had to adjust it as short as possible for the tenor, and then after about a day, it had stretched out, and was just too long. I think I tried it with the bari when I first got it, too. I guess the need for the longer length is in part determined by your own girth. Maybe I can get the wife to shorten it so I can use it on the bari. It also sounds like there is commonly a need to be able to move the horn around, which is going to involve a bit more physical effort than with the smaller horns. Oh well, I need to be doing something to cope with this middle-age loss of upper body strength, anyway. :)

[shmuelyosef]

If you're going to get serious about the bari, I can highly recommend the Gemini straps. I had a Neotech until the plastic hook broke (don't ask)...The Gemini is more adjustable and the hook slides back and forth, allowing more freedom to move the horn around. It is also the only harness I've found where you can easily adjust the height up and down while the horn is hanging there...comes with your choice of 3 or 4 different hooks.

[cleger]

Maybe you should talk to this guy about playing "big" horns:

http://www.jayeaston.com/galleries/sax_family/ContrasaxJCE.jpg

[Ol Danl]

I did get the neotech harness to work last night. It is pretty comfortable if I hold the bow to the side -- I could even totally take my thumb off the horn. I will probably replace the hook with a brass dog leash hook, or look into the Gemini or some other. I've read several accounts of the plastic hooks breaking.

[chsbarisaxy]

In any case, be sure to brace yourself for the sheer greatness that eminates from the bari!