{"id":17746,"date":"2010-03-21T11:06:46","date_gmt":"2010-03-21T18:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=17746"},"modified":"2010-03-23T09:31:18","modified_gmt":"2010-03-23T16:31:18","slug":"where-does-our-tone-come-from-how-do-we-change-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2010\/where-does-our-tone-come-from-how-do-we-change-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Does Our Tone Come From? How Do We Change It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my article of March 14<\/a>, I discussed the 3 aspects of a saxophone’s tone. Now while main tone, shadow tone, and overtones<\/a> are all components of\u00a0tone, where does a saxophone player’s tone actually come from? I was having this precise conversation with someone the other day, and was relating\u00a0this concept of tonal origin to the quest for gear.<\/p>\n

Our unique, individual sound originates in our chest cavities. Our\u00a0internal shape, our lung capacity,\u00a0and the breathing techniques we use: these are some of the key originating factors that will determine the sound that will eventually come out of our horns.<\/p>\n

As the air travels through our throats, and through our oral cavity, those internal structures further effect the sound.\u00b9\u00a0As the air leaves our mouth, our tongue, and what we do with it, our teeth and the shape of our bite, our lips,\u00a0and the embouchure we use, all\u00a0will\u2014to a great degree\u2014determine the sound we have.<\/p>\n

The mouthpiece on a saxophone is what allows the player to project his\/her tone through the horn itself. The reed further shapes and refines the tone that has travelled up through the player’s body, and allows the player to make more minute adjustments to his\/her sound.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Illustration by: H. Kahlke<\/h6>\n

What is difficult for most players to get their head around, is that the further you get away from the origin<\/span> of the tone, the less tinkering, <\/em>or making changes to gear, is going to have an effect on your saxophone tone. In a way this difficulty in understanding or believing makes sense, since buying a piece of gear to fix a particular problem, or to change the type of sound emanating from your horn, seems like an easier fix than changing a fundamental way you play your instrument.<\/p>\n

Sometimes players also just want to buy a new or different horn, so are looking for a reason to justify their purchase. Saying that they are wanting to change their sound, gives them a justification for buying that new horn. (In their minds anyway.)<\/p>\n

For example, if a player wants a darker tone, oftentimes that player will look for a different horn. Or perhaps a horn with a different finish. (Let’s not even go there.)<\/p>\n

Well, if we assume for a moment that by darker<\/em> we mean more main tone presence, then trying different mouthpieces with a smaller tip opening and harder reeds, is going to net more satisfying results than buying a different sax.<\/p>\n

If on the other hand, a player is looking to improve their overall tone, rather than going out and buying a $500 mouthpiece, a player needs to start by working on the fundamentals of good saxophone sound. And as boring as this might sound, doing long tones is one of the necessary\u00a0steps to do this.<\/p>\n

I do long tones religiously every time I practice. That’s how I start my practice session. I don’t do hours of them, I do them for about 5 minutes. That’s all it takes to keep my chops in good shape. And as much of a clich\u00e9 as this might be: If I can’t do anything else, I do long tones.<\/p>\n

BTW, if you play more than 1 type of sax, you need to do long tones for each of them. So if you play alto and bari, you should be doing long tones on each one of them\u2014ideally everyday. If that doesn’t work for you, then at least do long tones on the sax before you play it. \u00a0If you’ve already done long tones on the alto, and have put in an hour of practice, and are now switching to bari, you should do long tones on it, before you go on to the next part of your\u00a0bari practice routine.<\/p>\n

Bringing this conversation back to the question of gear, and when a player might consider switching it, the answer to that question depends on a great many variables\u2014many more then could possibly be covered in an article like this. However, there are a few really good basic tips that could help a player make the decision to buy new gear:<\/p>\n