🤦🏻♀️Just found out my new saxophone I bought months ago is full of leaks... Even after 'having it repaired', explains why my fingers hurt all the time.
I have been play the saxophone for over 2 years and recently it seems I might have a leak in the neck of my alto. I play on a Yamaha YAS-280 which I find quite easy to play and keep in tune. A few weeks ago, I changed my mouthpiece from a Selmer S80 C** to a Selmer Soloist E and it felt a little harder to play on initially due to the wider tip. I play on Legere reeds and got new reeds in various strengths and found the right strength worked the best. A few days after I started noticing something wasn't right as low notes suddenly felt a bit stuffy and middle D would constantly want to squeak rather than come out cleanly. If I was careful I could get the middle D to come out OK, but not always. First I replaced my reeds with new ones and tried different strengths. I wasn't sure if the mouthpiece was a bit too resistant for me or something else was happening. Slightly harder reeds than I was using felt better to play on and tuned better but I could feel resistance especially in low notes and still had the squeak issue and the sound was a little stuffy. I changed to my Vandoren Optimum AL5 which has less resistance and it played fine but I still could feel the middle D wanting to squeak. I tried putting cork grease on the neck tenon to see if that would temporary seal any leak and it has helped a little. I had sent it to my repairer back in July for a full check over and it played great once I got it back, but I can't afford to send it right now. I am saving to upgrade to a professional alto within the next few months anyway and thought I could play through the issue for now if I did have a neck leak, so I am wondering if I does. I checked all the pads and they seem to be sealing fine.
ok so i recently got an alto saxophone and now that i see how to look for leaks is very helpful! im stuck playing low notes and not a single high note plays....
Repairing general leaks is easy, brass is very soft and 90% of the time it's either pads or bend arm sliighty. It's very much a DIY situation in most cases for even generally experience players.
If you are talking about low C then it can also because of the way you are blowing into your horn. You want to voice down to play lower notes especially low C. That might explain your problem but it could be that your pad needs to be replaced as he explained.
my f e and d won’t play but I can’t tell if it’s due to a leak or not but when I play the f and e it comes out high the d note won’t even play at all and it sounds muffled when I try and it’s also harder to blow with those 3 notes
Thanks, excellent.. just sharing some thoughts which came to mind when watching this. Purchased a second-hand saxophone and still waiting for it to arrive... So go easy on me if I've missed something😊 What if you 1. Put a balloon in place to block the output of the saxophone.. 2. Tried blowing and running your hands bye to feel for air escaping. Maybe something similar could be done using a second 'larger balloon' placed over the neck as a source of air pressure?
Would particurly be problem when buying a used instrument (buying someone elses problem)? Had my 50+ year old clarinet reconditioned by a repairer, mostly for sentimental reasons, and the cost brought a tear to my eye. Have seen saxophone pads for sale online, with all the online information available might now make sense to DIY repair a cheaper instrument if you have the time? Possibly also a good way to learn how your instrument works?
Brilliant. I had the same problem with the low D and I’ve only taken up saxophone for a week now. I took it back to the shop and it was a leak. I was so frustrated but so glad it’s been fixed
🤦🏻♀️Just found out my new saxophone I bought months ago is full of leaks... Even after 'having it repaired', explains why my fingers hurt all the time.
I have been play the saxophone for over 2 years and recently it seems I might have a leak in the neck of my alto. I play on a Yamaha YAS-280 which I find quite easy to play and keep in tune. A few weeks ago, I changed my mouthpiece from a Selmer S80 C** to a Selmer Soloist E and it felt a little harder to play on initially due to the wider tip. I play on Legere reeds and got new reeds in various strengths and found the right strength worked the best. A few days after I started noticing something wasn't right as low notes suddenly felt a bit stuffy and middle D would constantly want to squeak rather than come out cleanly. If I was careful I could get the middle D to come out OK, but not always. First I replaced my reeds with new ones and tried different strengths. I wasn't sure if the mouthpiece was a bit too resistant for me or something else was happening.
Slightly harder reeds than I was using felt better to play on and tuned better but I could feel resistance especially in low notes and still had the squeak issue and the sound was a little stuffy. I changed to my Vandoren Optimum AL5 which has less resistance and it played fine but I still could feel the middle D wanting to squeak. I tried putting cork grease on the neck tenon to see if that would temporary seal any leak and it has helped a little. I had sent it to my repairer back in July for a full check over and it played great once I got it back, but I can't afford to send it right now. I am saving to upgrade to a professional alto within the next few months anyway and thought I could play through the issue for now if I did have a neck leak, so I am wondering if I does. I checked all the pads and they seem to be sealing fine.
ok so i recently got an alto saxophone and now that i see how to look for leaks is very helpful! im stuck playing low notes and not a single high note plays....
Which note is affected the leak is almost always somewhere above the said note.
Repairing general leaks is easy, brass is very soft and 90% of the time it's either pads or bend arm sliighty. It's very much a DIY situation in most cases for even generally experience players.
Thank you, my new saxophone won’t reproduce the C note , I think is due to air leak
If you are talking about low C then it can also because of the way you are blowing into your horn. You want to voice down to play lower notes especially low C. That might explain your problem but it could be that your pad needs to be replaced as he explained.
my f e and d won’t play but I can’t tell if it’s due to a leak or not but when I play the f and e it comes out high the d note won’t even play at all and it sounds muffled when I try and it’s also harder to blow with those 3 notes
Thanks, excellent.. just sharing some thoughts which came to mind when watching this.
Purchased a second-hand saxophone and still waiting for it to arrive... So go easy on me if I've missed something😊
What if you
1. Put a balloon in place to block the output of the saxophone..
2. Tried blowing and running your hands bye to feel for air escaping.
Maybe something similar could be done using a second 'larger balloon' placed over the neck as a source of air pressure?
Would particurly be problem when buying a used instrument (buying someone elses problem)? Had my 50+ year old clarinet reconditioned by a repairer, mostly for sentimental reasons, and the cost brought a tear to my eye. Have seen saxophone pads for sale online, with all the online information available might now make sense to DIY repair a cheaper instrument if you have the time? Possibly also a good way to learn how your instrument works?
And don't forget the neck joint has to be tight too! If it's not that's definitely a trip to a good repairer
Brilliant. I had the same problem with the low D and I’ve only taken up saxophone for a week now. I took it back to the shop and it was a leak. I was so frustrated but so glad it’s been fixed
Love your videos!
Excellent very clear, thanks..
Thank you. Very helpful.
All nonsense.