Resources

Soprano Saxophone Extended Techniques

(work in progress : ver. 13-dec-2005)

1: Multiphonic Soprano Saxophone

2: Studies

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1: Multiphonic Soprano Saxophone

Resources for the study of multiphonics on soprano sax: bibliography, fingerings and samples

by Andrea Biondi

go to the multiphones table

Bibliography consulted and recommended:

A classic work dedicated to flute, clarinet, bassoon and oboe is:

Nuovi suoni per i "legni" / Bruno Bartolozzi. - Milano : Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1974. - Orig. title: New sounds for woodwind. - London : Oxford University Press, 1967

For the clarinet:

Metodo per clarinetto / Giuseppe Garbarino ; traduzione inglese di Reginald Smith Brindle. - Milano : Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1979

For the saxophone a general method is:

Preliminary exercises & etudes in contemporary techniques for saxophone : introductory material for study of multiphonics, quarter tones, & timbre variation / by Ronald L. Caravan. - [S.l.] : Dorn productions, c1980

A work completely dedicated to multiple sounds on saxophone is:

Le sons multiples aux saxophones / Daniel Kientzy. - Paris : Editions Salabert, [198?]. - (Salabert Enseignement : Nuovelles techniques instrumentales)

The sounds numberation, the fingering and the links of the following table are from the Kientzy's manual for the sound from 1 to 88. The sounds from 89 to 103 and some link are from Caravan's one.

Table of Keys:

        o
        1    c1c2c4
c3   P
Tc   2
Ta   3    G#
              C#BBb
c5   4
c6   5
Tf   6
Eb
7

Colors:

	Very easy
	Easy
	Difficult
	Very diffucult or impossible

N.B. My axophone has not the c6 key and than the sounds 28, 38 and 75 in the table are labelled "black" as "impossible" (for me ;) ).

Setup

Saxophone: Yanagisawa

Reed: Marca 1-1/2

Mouthpiece: Selmer S80 B*

Note (May 2020): This work must be understood in the making. I see now that the setup I had in 2005, when I made these recordings, was a little unusual (soft reed and close mouthpiece) and perhaps this has conditioned the result. I intend to try again in the future the whole series of sounds with my current setup (soft reed and open mouthpiece)

Samples recording

Stereo Microphone technique: coincident cardioids angle 90° apart (mono-compatible)

Sample rate: 44100 Mhz

Resolution: 16 bit

These sounds are also posted to The Freesound Project

Here ... enjoy a composition with all the sounds in succession.

Multiphones Table

Level	Nr. of sound & Links	Fingering
	Nr.: 001 Links: 085 034 067 092 045 031	1 2 3 Bb 4 5 6
	Nr.: 002 Links: 003 054	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 5 6
	Nr.: 003 Links: 002 050 064	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 004	1 Tc 2 3 Bb 4 5 6
	Nr.: 005 Links: 011 020 031 066	1 2 3 Bb 4 5 7
	Nr.: 006 Links: 009	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 7
	Nr.: 007 Links: 006	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 7
	Nr.: 008	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 7
	Nr.: 009	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 Eb 7
	Nr.: 010	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 Eb 7
	Nr.: 011 Links: 005 025 046 012	1 2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 012 Links: 011	1 2 3 Bb 4 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 013 Links: 065	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 014	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 015	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 016 Links: 017 052	c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 6
	Nr.: 017 Links: 016 046 051	2 3 Bb 4 5 6
	Nr.: 018	c4 2 3 Bb 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 019	1 c1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 020 Links: 005	1 2 3 Bb 4 7
	Nr.: 021 Links: 047	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 7
	Nr.: 022 Links: 023 066	1 Tc 2 3 Bb 4 7
	Nr.: 023 Links: 022 024	1 Tc 2 3 Bb 4 Tf 7
	Nr.: 024 Links: 023	1 Tc 2 3 Bb 4 5 Tf 7
	Nr.: 025 Links: 011	2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 026 Links: 012	1 2 3 Bb 4 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 027 Links: 069	1 2 3 Bb c5 5 6 7
	Nr.: 028 Links: 70	1 2 3 Bb c5 c6 5 6 7
	Nr.: 029 Links: 072	1 2 Ta 3 B 4 5 6
	Nr.: 030	1 Tc 2 3 B 4 5 6
	Nr.: 031 Links: 032 033 005 035 001 046	1 2 3 B 4 5 7
	Nr.: 032 Links: 031 039	1 c1 2 3 B 4 5 7
	Nr.: 033 Links: 031 035 046	1 2 3 B 4 6 7
	Nr.: 034 Links: 073 001 067	1 2 3 B 4 5 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 035 Links: 033 031 066	1 2 3 B 4 Tf 6 7
	Nr.: 036 Links: 074	2 3 B 4 5 6
	Nr.: 037 Links: 046	1 2 3 B 5 6 7
	Nr.: 038 Links: 075	1 2 3 B c5 c6 5 6 7
	Nr.: 039 Links: 032 063 079	1 c1 2 3 4 5 7
	Nr.: 040 Links: 056	1 c1c2 2 3 4 5 7
	Nr.: 041 Links: 054	1 2 Ta 3 B 4 5 7
	Nr.: 042 Links: 048	1 Tc 2 3 4 5 7
	Nr.: 043 Links: 077	1 c1 2 3 4 6 7
	Nr.: 044	1 c1c2 2 3 4 6 7
	Nr.: 045 Links: 046 001	1 Tc 2 3 4 6 7
	Nr.: 046 Links: 011 017 031 033 037 045 083 086 089 092 096	1 2 3 5 6 7
	Nr.: 047 Links: 021	1 2 Ta 3 B 4 7
	Nr.: 048 Links: 042	1 Tc 2 3 4 7
	Nr.: 049 Links: 079	1 c1 2 3 5 7
	Nr.: 050 Links: 003 053 054	1 2 Ta 3 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 051 Links: 017 052	2 3 4 5 6
	Nr.: 052 Links: 016 051	c1 2 3 4 5 6
	Nr.: 053 Links: 050 054	1 2 Ta 3 4 5 Eb
	Nr.: 054 Links: 002 041 050 053	1 2 Ta 3 4 5
	Nr.: 055	1 c2 c3 2 3 4 5
	Nr.: 056 Links: 057 058 080	o 1 c3 2
	Nr.: 057 Links: 056 058 080	o 1 c3 P
	Nr.: 058 Links: 056 057 059 089	o 1 c3
	Nr.: 059 Links: 058	o 1 c3 Tc
	Nr.: 060	o 1 c1c2 2 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 061 Links: 081	o 1 c1c2 2 4 5 6 7
	Nr.: 062 Links: 082	o 1 c1 2 4 5 6 7
	Nr.: 063 Links: 039	1 c2 2 4 5 6 7
	Nr.: 064 Links: 003	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 5 Eb
	Nr.: 065 Links: 013	1 c1 2 3 4 6 7
	Nr.: 066 Links: 035 005 089 022	1 Tc 2 3 Bb 4 6 7
	Nr.: 067 Links: 001 034 087	1 c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 068	1 2 3 Bb 5 6 7
	Nr.: 069 Links: 027	2 3 c5 5 6 7
	Nr.: 071	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 5 7
	Nr.: 072 Links: 029 084	1 2 Ta 3 B 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 073 Links: 034	2 3 B 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 074 Links: 036	c1 2 3 B 4 5
	Nr.: 075 Links: 038	1 2 3 c5 c6 5 7
	Nr.: 076 Links: 040	1 c1c2 2 3 4 5
	Nr.: 077 Links: 043	1 c1 2 3 B 4 6 7
	Nr.: 078 Links: 044	1 c1c2 2 3 B 4 6 7
	Nr.: 079 Links: 039 049	1 c1 2 3 5 6 7
	Nr.: 080 Links: 056 057 058	o 1 c3 2 5
	Nr.: 081 Links: 061	o 1 c1c2 2 B 4 5 6 7
	Nr.: 082 Links: 062	o 1 c1 4 5 6 7
	Nr.: 083 Links: 046 085	1 2 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 084 Links: 072	2 3 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 085 Links: 001 083	1 2 3 Bb 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 086 Links: 046	1 c2 2 3 5 6 7
	Nr.: 087 Links: 067	c1 2 3 Bb 4 5 6 Eb 7
	Nr.: 088	1 c2 2 3 c5 5 6 7
	Nr.: 089 Links: 090 091 066 046	1 3 4 5 6 Eb
	Nr.: 090 Links: 089 091	1 3 4 5
	Nr.: 091 Links: 089 090 091	1 3 4 5 Eb
	Nr.: 092 Links: 001 046	1 2 3 4 6 7
	Nr.: 093 Links: 094	2 3 Bb 4 Eb
	Nr.: 094 Links: 091 093	2 3 C# 5 6 7
	Nr.: 095 Links: 096	1 2 Ta 3 Bb 4 5
	Nr.: 096 Links: 046 095	1 2 Ta 3 4 5
	Nr.: 097 Links: 098 100 101	o 1 2 3 B 4 5 Eb
	Nr.: 098 Links: 097 099 103	1 P 2 3 4 5 7
	Nr.: 099	o 1 2 3 C# 4 5 Eb
	Nr.: 100 Links: 097	1 P 2 3 B 4 7
	Nr.: 101 Links: 097	o 1 2 3 4 7
	Nr.: 102 Links: 103	o 1 2 3 C# 6 7
	Nr.: 103 Links: 098 102	1 2 3 B Eb

2: Studies

Around one note

Girando intorno al Sol

Short fluttering explosive notes

Esplosioni frullate

Short explosive notes

Esplosioni

Long fluttering notes

Frullato lungo

Portamento

Gommoso

Regular fast notes

Indaffarato

Like a random melody generator

Meccanico, quasi casuale