Instrument or Me?
My current saxophone is falling apart after only two years of usage. The pads are not sealing properly, and the local instrument repairman says that it’s honestly not worth fixing. In the mean time, I’m stuck with a horrible saxophone that gives me a sort of breathy tone. It’s really resistant to play on, and not in a good way. A little resistance is good, but it’s honestly like playing with the next reed size up. I twisted my mouthpiece onto another saxophone (a beginner level, YAS-23) and my tone was a lot better. The high palm key notes on my saxophone don’t come out, even with an open throat and thoughts of the note in my head before I actually play it.
On my trip to Oakland, I put my mouthpiece on a Selmer Reference 54, and all the notes came out cleanly like butter. The resistance was gone, and apparently the Selmer Reference 54 is supposed to be “resistant”. My intonation was a little off because of all the little things that I have to do to account for intonation quirks on my current saxophone. The tone was dark, mellow, and it had the Selmer characteristic to it. The high palm key notes had substance behind them, and even when I applied vibrato to them, they didn’t crack. With the Reference 54, I could play up to the first altissimo A (I didn’t know the fingerings to the rest of them).
Most of the time, when I complain about my instrument, people tell me that I should practice more and not blame the instrument but… I honestly practice two to three hours a day in thirty minute intervals. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I’ve only been playing the saxophone for two years, but on the other hand, I’ve been playing the clarinet since fourth grade. I doubt that my breathy tone is because of my own faults, however I’m not saying that if a person handed me a professional saxophone that I would have amazing tone. If someone handed me a professional saxophone, I would marginally better tone than on my current saxophone—whether the tone on the professional saxophone is amazing, I don’t know (it’s subjective).
I should have gone with the YAS-23 as a starter saxophone instead of my Mike Phillips alto from Hollywoodwinds. It looked really nice in the store, but who knew it was going to start falling apart? *sigh* This is what I get for being superficial.
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