Plastic Domed Resonator Seamless Domed Metal Reso
Source: MusicMedic.com Source: MusicMedic.com
Over the years I’ve heard my various repair techs talk about resonators. I’ve looked at resonators. I’ve read about resonators. And I’ve had various resonators put into my horns during overhauls/restorations/ rebuilds or whatever you want to call the taking apart, cleaning of a horn & putting it together again with all new corks, pads, resos, felts, etc.
Over the years I had read & heard so much about resos, that I was ultimately really quite confused by it all, because everyone explained things differently. I wasn’t even sure they were saying the same thing.
Domed Metal Reso Star Airtight Resonator
Source: MusicMedic.com Source: MusicMedic.com
A few days ago I happened to land on Steve Goodson’s Nations of Music site, and ended up on his forum. Under the thread, Saxophone Myths, he addresses one about metal resos making the horn too bright.
This is really the clearest explanation I’ve ever seen on resonators, what they do, & how they work on the horn. Steve says:
A resonator is a mirror. It reflects the wave. If you want the wave to be reflected accurately, the resonator must be of the same material as the saxophone body. If you want to “color” the sound, you can alter the material, which will change the degree of refection of some partials.
The most important factor is the surface area of the resonator. The more surface area, the greater the reflective area. Resonators that are a shape OTHER than flat have a greater surface area, hence they are more reflective. Smaller resonators expose more of the leather surface of the pad, which in turn acts like a sponge and absorbs the sound.
Saxgourmet Pad with Rivet Only Saxgourmet Pad with Star Reso
Source: MusicMedic.com Source: MusicMedic.com
Now this is really straight forward & clear. It ain’t rocket science, 😉 and it doesn’t need to be. I think that all those people who have tried to explain this to me in the past, were trying too hard. I think sometimes we get so caught up in all the info we have, we try to pass it on, when a simple response is best.
Now, if I could just get someone to explain conical bores to me in a way that doesn’t make my head feel like it wants to explode, that would be fantastic!
