Just bought a “brighter” jazz mouthpiece and lig along with some jazz reeds and didn’t notice a single thing different from my sound. Although it was pretty free blowing, my tone was almost exactly the same. I’m going to try these three tips on my dark mouthpieces for a good while before trying it on my new, “bright” mouthpiece. I’ll let you know how it goes but first let me write these tips down
Thanks Scott! I watch videos from a couple of sources and you’re the best!! I heard about 1 and 3 but not about how to centre and focus the air. Even compared to other good sources you seem to always have just a bit better information.
Nice to see you back again. I have never heard of centering the air, but I will definitely do that in future. While you are mentioning this subject I have a question. Could you do a video on how not to get a spitty sound when you play? I used to have a big issue with getting too much moisture building up too quickly and causing a spitty sound a few minutes after I started playing. I have looked up online to see if there was any answers to the issue but all I could find was either: It went away by itself overtime, there is an issue with the reed/mouthpiece/saxophone or to suck out the excess moisture. I have no issues with my setup and had my saxophone overhauled as it had a few issues that needed fixing, so my setup isn't an issue. I also know how to get rid of the moisture once its there by sucking it out. I also heard people say that breathing warm air can cause moisture to build up quicker, so breathing like you are breathing on a glass and fogging it up is better as you breath cooler air down the mouthpiece and the moisture doesn't build up as fast. I have tried that and it has started to work, but occasionally I still get the odd spitty sound, especially at times it can happen just as I tongue a note. Do you have any advice on reducing this issue? Could the amount of resistance in the reed/mouthpiece have an impact on this? I play alto sax with Legere Studio Cut reeds and a Selmer S80 C** and JodyJazz HR* 5M and notice I get the issue less with the JodyJazz and I am wondering if that is because it is more freeblowing?
I have been asked this question so many times, and it is really tough to answer. First, yes you do suck the spit out of the sax all of the time, but when I gets extra spitty you have a couple options - take the mp and neck off and clean and dry them, or work on redirecting your airstream. The redirection thing is a really advanced technique, so it would be hard to explain it in a video, and the only time to do that is during a performance.
"Fat Sound" = Stronger harmonics. When you drive the reed hard and allow more reed to vibrate, the reed vibration gets clipped (non-linearity) as the reed strikes against the hard mouthpiece. Different vibrational modes in the reed also become possible. The "overdriving" of the reed produces the rich harmonic content, aka "fat" sound.
I made a small ridge on the top of my mouth piece so I know exactly where my teeth should sit. It made the proper depth with respect to placement very easy to get right.
I tried the air stream thing. It’s hard!! My wife was looking at me like I was crazy until I explained to her what I was doing. I think it has potential!
Scott Paddock - was practicing the air stream thing today with my overtones. If I blew just right I could hear the low note and the octave above at the same time. Then I was able to play up the scale and hear both notes from C to A. It was kind of a cool sound. I’m using the legere signature reed and your SYOS model mouthpiece with my cannonball. I’ve heard this from my Sax before but never this consistent. Am I tripping or do I need to get my Sax adjusted? 😉
One of the best tips is the one concerning where to place your bottom lip. Knowing about the place where the reed meets the mouthpiece is a top tip, since for beginners, getting a secure and reproducible sound is so difficult if you don't know that. :) :)
When you talked about the air stream I remember some years ago a instructor said to practice through a straw. As is the same you telling to tighten our air stream. Thank you for the tip. I had forgot !
thanks Scott! Eagerly awaiting my new Barkely Pop MP arriving soon. I opted for the #8 as I'm used to softer reeds, and Plasticover at that, the #2s. By the way I was watching a Stan Getz video the other day, noticed how he tucked his lower lip completly in, used only breath attacks, with his cheeks puffed out like balloons. No wonder he squeeked so much, horrible! Looked like a dude trying to inflate his bicycle tire with no pump.
Good advice Scott. I tell you what I do to focus my airstream is I blow through a plastic milkshake straw. Do that enough times and it becomes habit. Then transfer that to the mouthpiece and as Scott says blow dead center.
I have a "French" facing on my mouthpiece and it wouldn't be possible to put my mouth where the reed meets the mouthpiece (past the toothsaver/bite plate)--so while this is good advice, it doesn't work for every mouthpiece. I feel like the "lip out" embouchure you've talked about before is made for this type of facing though. Your sound definitely changed when you focused your breath. Heard more low overtones come out, and add body to the sound. My biggest problem with breath support is knowing when to take those quick deep breaths during long phrases or hard pieces with few rests. Then my natural inclination is to tighten up my embouchure as I am running short on breath, and that obviously diminishes my tone as I try to compensate for the dynamics. Would love another video on breathing (so as to facilitate good breath support) if you ever have time. Really enjoy your stuff; the advice is really concise, and your tone is right in line with what I strive for. I go back to your videos as I practice different stuff, and it's gratifying to see the improvement.
Great video, Scott. Shouldn't your stomach/diaphragm deflate as you expel air or do you recommend keeping it pushed out as you expel your air? Thank you much.
@@kanchanaakmeemana3789 , in this video Scott talks about the mouthpiece he uses, see video, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2TjwidIa6kw.html
Shut the front door oh my goodness I've been breathing from my lungs! I'd always hear about breathing from ur diaphragm so I was like okay that means breathe in😳😳this has helped me so much thank u!
@@ScottPaddock I am currently playing on Selmer C* with Vandoren V16 size 4 and i"ve had the most luck with it dealing with the reedy sound, but i'm pretty sure its an embouchure issue
You confusing loud and bright with big fat or bassy sound. who has the bigger sound Sanbourne or Kenny Garret? Brecker or s. Rollins?? More Air = More Volume. Centering = brighter
You're completely missing the point of the video with semantics. Those 3 tips will give you a much bigger sound. You should do your own video of your approach to it on your RU-vid page 😁😁
Maybe you were taking in too much air before? The diaphragm breathing might feel a little weird at first, but once you get use to it you will hear a noticeable difference in your tone.
