Saxophone Forum


by fractaljazzman
(4 posts)
19 years ago

Large Bore - Articulation problems

Hi All, I`ve recently started playing a new large bore Rampone "saxello" soprano saxophone, and am using my old Selmer Soloist E mouthpiece (with a small custom baffle). The sound is just fantastic, but I am having articulation problems that I don`t have with my SA80 II and the same mouthpiece - does anyone have experience of this kind of problem when switching to an instrument with a larger bore? It seems the lower blowing resistance is messing with my articulation, although I can find no information about this anywhere. I don`t want to move to a more open setup, and am currently trying harder reeds, but I`m thinking maybe the problem is caused by the relationship of the mouthpiece throat bore to that of the neck of the horn... Can anyone provide any information that could help me find a solution? Thanks in advance, Neil

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  1. by sax_maniac
    (984 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

    What's the articulation problem? The notes don't "pop" out as easily? Air could be travelling too fast - is the baffle removable? Do you have any different mouthpieces to A/B compare on the two horns?

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    1. by fractaljazzman
      (4 posts)

      19 years ago

      Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

      The problem seems to be that I can only articulate fast and cleanly when playing very quietly, as soon as I start blowing freely there`s a lack of sync between fingers and articulation that isn`t usually there... The baffle is removable, but I`ve been hesitating since it was set up by a pro mpc technician, and I just love the sound. The problem doesn`t happen with a Bari 66 ebonite, but I don`t like the sound so much, plus the intonation is hard work on that mpc which feels too open for me. I`m playing abroad as I write, so don`t have any other mpc`s to compare with, and no decent sax shops around until I get home next week - trouble is I`ve got 4 important gigs coming up here in the Edinburgh Festival and would like to sort this out asap. I think the only solution, as you suggest, may be to remove the baffle... and pray. I suppose this will increase resistance and slow down the air stream - but I`ll have a darker sound than I had :( Thanks for listening

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      1. by sax_maniac
        (984 posts)

        19 years ago

        Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

        Trouble is having the time to break in a cane reed (while on the road) that suits the set-up. Maybe there's a synthetic that will work for you. This problem suddenly developed? I'm guessing it's your fingers getting ahead of the tone?

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        1. by fractaljazzman
          (4 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

          I`ve got about 10 reeds all broken in and stabilized - all on this mpc that I`ve been playing for many years with no such issues... I repeat my saxquestion: Does anyone know of any information available on the net that describes the physical relationships between mouthpiece bore and design, sax neck bore (and taper), and the effect on air speed, flow and articulation that changes in these variables may have? There is so much serious study available on saxophone acoustics that I find it hard to believe these factors have not been analyzed. Anyway, tomorrow the baffle is coming out, and I`ll see if that clears up the problem, otherwise I suppose I`ll have to conclude that for some unknown reason old Selmer soloists are not compatible with modern larger bore saxophones - unless anyone here has information to the contrary.

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        2. by fractaljazzman
          (4 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

          Well, noone seems to have any info on this topic, so I removed the baffle from my Selmer E Soloist and, Hey Presto, things are back to normal: So it seems that the lower resistance of the baffled mpc (that was a perfect combination with my old Selmer SA 80 II) coupled with the larger bore of the Rampone Saxello was indeed adversely affecting articulation.

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        3. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Large Bore - Articulation problems

          Glad to hear that it was air speed, after all. And you are fortunate that all it took was removing the baffle that was added.

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