Interesting! All these video's on RU-vid with different explanations about creating a subtone (not losing jaw, losing jaw, no jaw pressure, more jaw pressure). However, this is the way it works just fine for me :) Aldo I am jalouse on those who manage to create subtones with not using their chin.
Subtones are not much of an issue on Alto or Soprano. I wonder why so many videos deal with subtones on these instruments as hey should rather focus on Tenor. Are they afraid of failing the subtones on Tenor?
I never knew that subtones could be produced on the alto. Could you please give me a few links or even one link to alto solos played entirely on subtone. Thank you for the simple , lucid and practical demonstration. Perhaps you could do another video dealing more exhaustively with the alto subtone which I feel sure would be most welcome most certainly not merely welcomed but appreciated and looked forward to by myself. This is the very first video I have watched and listened to demonstrating the alto subtone. Thank you again.
Hey thanks for the comment! Well, full sub tones on the alto are more reserved for the lower register. You will be hard pressed to find a recording of an alto player doing full sub tone the entire time. But there are varying degrees of straight tone and sub tone within the tones of some of the greats. Any recording by Cannonball or Phil woods is a good place to start. Really what I was trying to explain is the difference between classical tone (which is pure straight tone) and jazz tone (which has a bit of sub tone inherently in it).
Thank you very much Mr Bene for your reply and comments. As suggested by you I did watch and listen to Phil Woods playing Body and Soul. This was an absolutely incredible performance for sure As rightly indicated by you subtone is possible and perhaps desirable only in the lower register.You have very briefly, too briefly I should say, dealt with the means by which the subtone may be produced. I have been attempting on and off for perhaps twenty years or so to be able to produce at least a semblance of the subtone on both tenor and alto. All that I have achieved is the ability to play very very softly. My sound bears no semblance to a subtone with its characteristics which need not be gone into here. There is in feel an astronomical lack of information on the subject both on the part of professionals as well as theorists and researchers. Just this should be so is quite beyond my understanding. You may find tomes of research on every single aspect of mouthpiece and reed design, embouchures etc etc but next to nothing on the subtone. Is this aspect of saxophone playing considered profane or low brown or obscene or whatever? You mention along with others , that the lower jaw is to retracted to enable the reed edge to rest on the lower lip. My anatomical structure is such that I am not able to retract my lower jaw to anything more than one or two millimeters which is totally inadequate to position the reed edge over the lower lip. For this t o be possible the lower jaw must be retracted by at least 5 or more millimeters. I would dearly appreciate help in locating a properly researched treatise detailing the methods, all the methods ,that have been used by performers over the ages to produce the subtone, if such a treatise does in fact exist or else a reference to an academic or research scholar interested in the subject. I do not feel the need to acquire vast wealth or super robust health or any of the usual items on most wish lists. My only wish is to be able to play in at least an approximation to the subtone if not the real thing.Thank you again Mr Bene for your reply and comments.
@@vivianastridge2167 good point that there really isn't too much info on this subject. I think a reason why this is is because it is very much a mystery. It is a technique that is extremely hard to dissect in literal terms and can only be truly learned aurally. You said that you cannot retract the jaw very much. Another thing that you can do is drop the jaw while keeping the fleshy part of the lip pressing against the Reed. Also make sure you are using enough air and proper air support... I am sorry you have had trouble finding this tone, as of right now this is all the insight I can really offer. An in person lesson with a teacher would probably help the most. Good luck!
hi, any idea why I can't play low notes other that using Subtone and with double cushion. If I try the full sound with my teeth resting on the mouth piece, the notes just break or stay high. Actually I never learned how to play with my teeth resting on the mouth piece, and I hate it. please what am I supposed to do in this case?
It could be a lot of things... For starters it could simply be that you are not used to playing with your teeth on top of the mp and just need more practice with that. It could also be that your horn has leaks, you may consider taking it to a repair guy especially if it is an old horn or has not been maintained in a while. It could also be fixed with a reed switch, you might be playing on too high a number. Experimenting with reed sizes could do the trick. The most common remedy out of all of these is more practice! Hope this helps a bit.
