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View Full Version : Help! New mpc, now problems


CraigJ
08-15-2003, 02:44 PM
Ok, first off, cheap horn.....Very cheap horn! Which came with the worse mpc I have ever run across. Just purchased a Selmer S-80 D and am using LaVos 3.5's.

Overall I am really pleased with the Selmer mpc, both with the ease at which it plays and the sound. But I cannot get anything above high E flat to sound. And I cannot consistently produce high E flat!

Strangly, when I switched back to the old hunk of plastic, all the upper notes all the way to F# sounded without effort. (though anything below high D requires a lot of effort with the plastic mpc)

I'm at a loss. I've never had any problems with the upper register, it's always been the very bottom that has given me problems on cheaper horns. (The bottom sounds effortlessly on this horn)

Oh, one other thing..... Could it be the ligature? (sorry, am a victim of the MS public school system and can't spell worth a darn!) I'm using the ligature off the original mpc which is smaller in diamater and it just doesn't seem quite right on the Selmer mpc. Also, the original mpc seems to have a larger opening, it fits the cork on the neck much easier and goes almost to the end of the cork before it is seated snugly, say between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch inside the mpc. The Selmer, with effort, goes to about 1/3. I would not have thought that that would matter, but I could be convinced that the ligature might be causing my problems.

Thanks in advance!!
Craig

Paul Coats
08-16-2003, 02:05 AM
I will not try to convince you that the ligature is the cause.

It may be your mouthpiece and reed combination.

You may need to sand the cork so that your new Selmer can be adjusted on the cork easier.

Starting about high C on the soprano, it is necessary to begin arching the tongue slightly, as you do for playing the altissimo notes on alto saxophone.

The response of the palm keys IS influenced by the mouthpiece and reed. The Vandoren reeds are quite stiff and heavily cut in order to produce a very card classical tone, and in combination with the classical type mouthpiece they are both working against you. This is probably a contributing factor to your difficulty. Try a different reed.

Paul Coats
Columnist
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