[Dixielandjazz] C sax

Mon Mar 10 16:20:49 PDT 2008

First of all there is no instrument except the viols and the trombone that 
are capable of playing in tune by themselves without help.

The entire saxophone family tends to be out of tune above A above the staff. 
There are other trouble spots  4th line D and D# as well as E.  C# has a 
poor sound so must be worked on by it's self.  There are also differences 
when the sax is played loud, medium and softly.

Having said that there are saxes that are more in tune with themselves and 
require less liping.  Those horns are usually the Custom or Professional 
grade instruments.

The C sax is a special category.  They have a unique sound as does the 
soprano.  The C just doesn't blend very well in a section and there are so 
few people who play the soprano well that I will say that it doesn't fit in 
the section either.  The soprano is particularly difficult to play in tune 
and especially in it's high register even with a Pro horn.  The soprano also 
has a break in sound.  When played by an amateur it sounds like a duck in 
the low register and a totally different instrument in the high.

The other problem with the C is that manufacturers didn't have time to work 
out many of the bugs.  Saxes have undergone a constant experimental phase 
that isn't over yet.  For example there is at least four different models of 
the Buescher "Top Hat" 400 alto made in the 40's and 50's.  Selmer produced 
a legendary winner with it's Mark V1 (flat in the low register below G).  If 
it was so perfect why do we have all of the newer models (super action etc) 
if the Mark VI was that good?  The saxophone continues to change to make 
it's action better and to improve fingering and intonation but they aren't 
perfect yet.

There is also a variety of sounds out there.  My half nude Conn Tenor has a 
semi bright sound with a good upper register and not too many intonation 
problems.  Newer Conns have a brighter more out of tune sound.  I think of 
them as wilder but they have more projection.  Older Bueschers had a much 
better low register.  My silver Buescher had a low register to kill for but 
the high register was weak.  Intonation was pretty good.

My Buescher Aristocrat Alto made in the 50's is very similar to the Mark VI 
alto in intonation that is flat below G and sharp above high G.  It has a 
narrower more focused sound whereas the Mark VI has better projection but 
all of these things have a lot to do with the player and mouthpiece being 
used.

Mouthpieces and reeds are a whole different thing too and can influence how 
a horn plays in various registers.

A good player will automatically compensate for the horn errors and may not 
even know that they are doing it.  I was teaching a class of saxophone 
players and one young guy insisted that his D was not sharp.  He was 
actually starting to compensate and didn't know he was doing it.

I had my alto overhauled one time and when I got it home it was terribly out 
of tune.  I took it back to the shop and the repair man told me to play on 
it for a month,   If it was still out of tune he would adjust it but he 
believed that it was so bad I was compensating for all those out of tune 
notes and compensating incorrectly now.   He was 100% right.  A funny thing 
happened, the thing started to play in tune all by its self.

You can line up 10 horns of the same model and brand and each will have some 
different characteristics.  Some guys will visit the factory and pick a horn 
there.

All in all the saying that the Saxophone is the easiest instrument to 
play...........................Badly, is still true.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "PHIL WILKING" <philwilking at bellsouth.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 2:22 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] C sax

> Is it true that most C saxophones are not in tune at one or the other end 
> of the register?
>
> Phil Wilking
>
> Those who would exchange freedom for
> security deserve neither freedom nor security.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
>
>
>>
>> It's interesting how much C saxes bring today.  >
>
>
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