The Physics of Coltrane's Technique


	The Physics of Coltrane's Technique

Sgzby

2-15-2008 3:28 PM

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tags:

music, science, technology, entertainment, jazz, coltrane, sax, horn, musicians, woodwinds

Sgzby says:

Anyone who has had the pleasure of watching a world class sax player up close knows that he/she is silently singing into that ax. Coltrane was a genius at it; science can now prove that.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/8019132e-840f-4ffe-a6b7-d24504aae984/15E7F0EA-68A4-4AF0-8D23-50C9A19AE4A3/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper" style="font-size: 11px;">www.nytimes.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper"><P>But in the very high notes, called the altissimo range, the professional players tuned their vocal tract — adjusting their tongue, jaw, pharynx, larynx and glottis, the middle part of the larynx where the vocal chords reside — to the note they played. </P><P>Amateurs, not capable of this trick, could not play these notes.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper"><P>“It seemed pretty clear there was something happening in the vocal tract,” Mr. Chen said. “In hindsight, it really makes sense now.”</P><BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class="inlinePlayer box"><IMG width="13" height="10" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/multimedia/icons/audio_icon.gif" /> Here is a sample of John Coltrane playing altissimo notes in the composition, 'Venus.' (<A target="new" href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/audio/science/12saxophone/coltrane.mp3" linkindex="51" set="yes">mp3</A>)<DIV id="p357571"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/multimedia/swfs/multiloader.swf" class="abp-objtab-09507115076979522 visible ontop" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" linkIndex="52"></a></DIV>
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<P>The researchers expect the same effect for other wind instruments — they are now testing clarinets — and perhaps also brass instruments like trumpets and tubas.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper">Five professional saxophonists and three amateurs went to the laboratory to play a saxophone</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/12saxw.html?ref=todayspaper">researchers found that over standard lower-frequency notes in the saxophone repertory, the resonant frequency of the vocal tract varied between players and did not matter much to the note being played</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/15E7F0EA-68A4-4AF0-8D23-50C9A19AE4A3/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>