- #1
Anton Alice
- 68
- 1
Hello people,
I have started 2 days ago with alto saxophone, since I have to take a year off violin because of several shoulder injuries due to overpractise.
I observed a strange thing with the sax, which I would like to discuss with you:
The sax is delivered in three parts: mouthpiece, saxophone neck, and the the heavy body.
Sometimes it is useful to practice sax separately on the mouthpiece, without the body.
I have done that with the mouthpiece + neck, so I put the mouthpiece onto the neck, and practiced toot-technique. What I observed was the following:
If you blow into it, then you will hear some resonance note. Now if you put your finger from the other side into the neck, then the frequency goes down. Of course the finger does not completely close the neck, so that air can still pass by.
The naive expectation would be, that the frequency goes up, because the length of the resonator has become shorter? (apparently?)
Why does the frequency go down?
EDIT:
I use the index finger, because it fits into the neck, such that air can still travel past.
Maybe the reason is, that the finger has a certain thickness, and the resonant modes are not simply excitations along the length of the neck, but also along the thickness (diameter). But why should the freq decrease, if the thickness decreases? (The thickness only decreases in that section, where the finger has been intruded. The finger can not be intruded all the way up to the mouthpiece)
I have started 2 days ago with alto saxophone, since I have to take a year off violin because of several shoulder injuries due to overpractise.
I observed a strange thing with the sax, which I would like to discuss with you:
The sax is delivered in three parts: mouthpiece, saxophone neck, and the the heavy body.
Sometimes it is useful to practice sax separately on the mouthpiece, without the body.
I have done that with the mouthpiece + neck, so I put the mouthpiece onto the neck, and practiced toot-technique. What I observed was the following:
If you blow into it, then you will hear some resonance note. Now if you put your finger from the other side into the neck, then the frequency goes down. Of course the finger does not completely close the neck, so that air can still pass by.
The naive expectation would be, that the frequency goes up, because the length of the resonator has become shorter? (apparently?)
Why does the frequency go down?
EDIT:
I use the index finger, because it fits into the neck, such that air can still travel past.
Maybe the reason is, that the finger has a certain thickness, and the resonant modes are not simply excitations along the length of the neck, but also along the thickness (diameter). But why should the freq decrease, if the thickness decreases? (The thickness only decreases in that section, where the finger has been intruded. The finger can not be intruded all the way up to the mouthpiece)