I'm having saxophone trouble - help me diagnose it! I'm curr...

I'm having saxophone trouble - help me diagnose it!

I'm currently borrowing a bari sax from a local community band. It seems that a wide beating/wavering in pitch occurs for all notes below low C#... except low A. Which means low C-B-Bb have a problem, but the A doesn't...?

I've tried pressing around the pad for a leak with a friend (I play, he presses) on the low C# key but nothing has improved. I assumed that it would be this key because it needs to be depressed for C and lower to work.

I also tried increasing my air pressure, thinking that it may be my fault (I'm still getting my lung strength back), but it just makes the beating/wavering louder.

Isn't this a symptom of a leak, though? Or am I off-base? I haven't had this problem in some time, and usually when I have, it's been a leak around a lower key.

(I don't have time to take it to a shop yet, nor can I because it's not my horn, you know?)

It's a school's Selmer Signet, but I doubt that's relevant.

to be very sure, might wanna get it leak light tested. either way, maybe it is due to the mouthpiece not being pushed back into the neck enough? just some thought. keep in mind like what u say, the more cups being closed, more air goes through and the bigger the instrument may sound.

Jen, what you have ahold of there is a wobble. They can sometimes be hard to pin down, particularly if it were happening on just one note, like low D or B. But since you have problems with multiple notes, it might be a more straightforward fix, yet would likely require a good sax tech.

First thing to check is leaks. Tricky to leak light a bari, but you could get one of those flexible hose-like things with lights inside. All your finer hardware stores have 'em. Get one long enough to shove in the bell and push all the way up to the upper stack. Check all around each pad. Your leak might even be the C key (which is a key without a keytouch, above the B key. Could even be the A (middle finger, LH) key which depends on a piece of felt being thick enough. Point is the leak could be anywhere!

Also important is the fit of the neck tenon into the receiver. Should tighten up snugly.

Also, there should not be gaps between the mouthpieve and cork. Can get oddball problems if the mpc is loose!

How is your tuning with that mouthpiece other than the wobbles? Check with a tuner. I have seen low range wobbles caused by the horn not adjusted to true pitch! Odd, but very true.

In the case of wobbles, it's very common to have "good" notes further down the horn.

More odd wobble trivia from the world of physics -- Wobbles can be caused by "standing waves," essentially sound waves at certain frequencies being reflected by the bow back up the horn, colliding with sound waves being produced by the mouthpiece. It's an acoustic anomaly that I've heard of being solved by placing a cork (or the upper stack end plug) in the bell. I have also heard of techs installing a small baffle in the bow to counteract this phenomenon! Sounds far fetched, but true!

In your case, leaning toward one or more leaks, or loose neck and/or mouthpiece, or maybe even the position of the mpc on the cork. (Just for the heck of it, move the mpc to different positions on the cork and see if the problem goes away. Also try different reeds or mouthpieces.

Having said ALL that, leak light it and let us know.

well, as i mentioned earlier ... leak light it. i wouldnt suggest doing it yourself, as it take experience to actually find leaks with the leaklight as it is quite hard to leak test a bari. it's heavy, i give you that, it's well heavy, but amazing showmanship to see saxophonist to hold a whole bari up and play it like an alto/tenor!

One other quick check- a leak in the the dual octave or spit key on the bari can cause this problem down low. You can usually visually check the spit key to see if the pad is bad. You can also locate the octave keys - find them both - and have your friend apply pressure to them while you play.

Randy www.randyhunterjazz.com www.beginningsax.com

Thanks for the ideas, all. I should've mentioned that I have a leak light (and have done leak lighting before on a bari), and just got down to looking for leaks. I'm not finding anything in the lower register keys, so I'm going to continue with Randy's suggestion of checking the dual octave and spit keys. I'll also see if I can dig up another mouthpiece or two. I was already swapping reeds to see if it went away that way, but no dice yet.

The pads look OK - in general, I believe different pads were changed at different times. Some look sketchy, but pressing on them doesn't assist this.

The neck fits snug, so does the mouthpiece. This wobble is definitely not a standing wave - I've experienced those before. This is unrelated to the space I play in.

I'll keep you posted.