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This study provides scientific explanations for the mechanics of vocal tract influence in various tasks of saxophone performance and their practical application to saxophone pedagogy. First, major saxophone treatises on saxophone altissimo by Raschèr, Rousseau, Sinta, and Liebman are compared. Next, scientific research of vocal tract influence in saxophone performance by acoustical physicists is introduced. These studies demonstrate how vocal tract manipulation affects the sound pressure levels and the overtone spectrum of saxophone tones, especially in the high register, bugling, and pitch bending. The following chapters investigate the influence of air pressure difference between the player's mouth (vocal tract) and the mouthpiece by applying Bernoulli's Principle. Then the study shares the examination of pressure variations in various tasks of saxophone performance with five saxophonists (two professionals and three students) using the manometer to measure the pressure in the player's mouth while playing the instrument. The concluding chapter integrates practical applications of studies into a new pedagogy using phonetics that utilizes vowels and consonants, kinesthetics of muscles, and throat-tonguing. This study allows students to accelerate the process of learning the use of vocal tract by addressing an empirically-based understanding of relationships between vocal tract manipulations and mouthpressures, and how they specifically produce different sound qualities.
This study provides scientific explanations for the mechanics of vocal tract influence in various tasks of saxophone performance and their practical application to saxophone pedagogy. First, major saxophone treatises on saxophone altissimo by Raschèr, Rousseau, Sinta, and Liebman are compared. Next, scientific research of vocal tract influence in saxophone performance by acoustical physicists is introduced. These studies demonstrate how vocal tract manipulation affects the sound pressure levels and the overtone spectrum of saxophone tones, especially in the high register, bugling, and pitch bending. The following chapters investigate the influence of air pressure difference between the player's mouth (vocal tract) and the mouthpiece by applying Bernoulli's Principle. Then the study shares the examination of pressure variations in various tasks of saxophone performance with five saxophonists (two professionals and three students) using the manometer to measure the pressure in the player's mouth while playing the instrument. The concluding chapter integrates practical applications of studies into a new pedagogy using phonetics that utilizes vowels and consonants, kinesthetics of muscles, and throat-tonguing. This study allows students to accelerate the process of learning the use of vocal tract by addressing an empirically-based understanding of relationships between vocal tract manipulations and mouthpressures, and how they specifically produce different sound qualities.