More complex tone?

[Saxaholic]

I'm looking for a little more complexity in my tone, but I don't want to alter it that much. I play a CB Big Bell Black Nickle alto, current Meyer 5MM, and orange box rico's.

Maybe a new Meyer 'G' would do the trick? I'm not looking to change very much of my basic sound.

Maybe a new lig? I use a Rovner dark. Reed choice?

Any suggestions would be nice. Thanks. ( I know the player has most to do w/it, but if anything could help me along the way).

Saxaholic

[sjabariiii]

Cheap solution: try alexander DC. You won't get much complexity out of a cannonball though. Cheap, one dimensional horn. Sell it and buy a VI or a 'the martin' alto or some such.

[Saxaholic]

Au contraire, monsieur. The Cannonball has been the best horn I've ever played. It's so incredibly close to my teacher VI it's almost impossible to tell the difference. Plus it's better intonation wise and is easier to play. He loves it, especially the lower range.

However, that aside, I still would like to alter the tone to be a little more complex. Not that it isn't complex already, but an added layer would be nice. I'll try the DC's and see how they work. Thanks for the suggestion!

Saxaholic

[DukoffHollywood]

i would put my CB Big Bell Globalizer Tenor up against any Mark VI. The CB sound is booming, powerful, and resonant. The VI is a smaller sounding horn. Sure, the intonation may be a little better, and the sound is less scattered (if that's what you're looking for) but you have 200% less power on a VI than you do on a CB. And you can take that to the bank.

[sjabariiii]

Zounds, I seem to have stirred up a nest of cannonball aficionados! :shock:

I played a nice Big Bell tenor for a year and tried several more when I went tenor shopping, so I know that horn pretty well. I can't speak for the altos but I will say I can play my relaquered 6 alto so much louder than you would ever want to hear...

-ANDYJ

[Vortex]

Umm... I've never heard of a tone being described as "complex". I've heard the terms bright, dark, edgy, soft, muffled, muted, decayed, weak, powerful, driving, forceful, loud, shrill, deep, shrink-wrapped, professional-sounding, sweet, and countless others, but NEVER complex. Maybe a combination of those? just what exactly are you looking for?

If you're looking for complexity, it's in how you play and think, not your sound.

[Toni Linder]

For me, a complex sound is a rich sound.

All other things being the same, e. g. Alexander reeds give a more complex sound than Rico Royals.

And a RPC mouthpiece gives a more complex or richer sound than a Beechler.

[Thomas]

I would only add to toni linder's post to get rid of that damn rovner POS and put a Francois Louis lig on the RPC mpc.

[Ritchie]

you have 200% less power on a VI than you do on a CB

... hence, assuming you got 100% on a CB, you have -100% on a VI, concluding that if a VI and a CB play a duet together, you'll get 0% power - perfect sound annihilation??? (Sorry, I could not resist... :twisted: )

For sound complexity I'd like to second to try a different ligature. The Rovner dark takes away a lot of the overtones that build a complex tone.

Try many different reeds (Alexander Superial, DC, Vandoren blue box/Java/V16/ZZ, Rico select jazz, LaVoz etc.). There's nothing wrong with Rico orange box (soundwise that is, but I found them not to last as long as others), but a different reed cut may make it easier for you & your sound.

[Mike Ruhl]

Trying different reeds is the best place to start. AFter that, I'd suggest looking at different mouthpieces. To get the most color/complexity to your sound, you want a mouthpiece with a large window and nice thin side and tip rails. It might be worthwhile to email someone like Mojobari about tweaking your current mouthpiece. Or buy another Meyer 5 and have it tweaked. Or, for about the same money, try a Ralph Morgan mouthpiece.

[Ray]

I had the same problem on my Cannonball alto(Mad Meg 1998), the best thing for me was an older hard rubber piece vs the newer pieces. I've got a vintage Bundy(one of the good ones) and it made a HUGE difference. It smells and tastes like crap though.I found the same true for tenor pieces, seems like the vintage rubber pieces make my VI come alive more.