@Donald J Many people cry when they have to listen to saxophones.

@Donald J what you talking about at all?

It sounds more like an oboe to me.

Ehhh it sounds more like an oboe than a clarinet

@@I_leave_mean_comments 😅

Hahaha! That would be something! No lava lamps were harmed in the making of this video.

RubberNut is the orsi good quality?

I think it may be a mix of a (good) oboe and a trumpet.

That's what I thought

that is precisely why i want the sopranino

i'd assume that a sopranino player would say that a clarinet is just a wood sopranino with holes

I dare say ‘nino is completely different from clarinet. I play both.

This is a really good oboe

woah

Hey there. I didn't get to try that horn with a real 'nino reed, sadly. I can't remember for sure, but I believe this horn is keyed to F#. All the best!

Soprano is great, and my personal favorite to play, but if you're so new to the instrument, I'd recommend spending money on upgrading your mouthpiece and ligature first. Truthfully, I'd rather have a great alto before I would invest in any soprano. To answer your question, I love my Yanigisawa, and I prefer the curved shape.

I play saprano in 8th grade its fun

@@andrewz3854 What section do you sit in? Is the soprano popular, or are you one of the only players? I want to switch from alto to Soprano, and I'm in 6th

@@feitanportor6842 theres only 1 saprano

I love any curved bell sopranos as it can push the sound forward without having to lean up more.

Which one? Eb clarinet reed or Bb clarinet reed?

@@zjsjf3435 Eb clarinet reeds are a little long but work perfectly

What I will probably do is buy an extra box of Soprano 3.5 Plasticover Reeds, put each one on the sopranino mouthpiece and shave the sides down if necessary!!! I have been playing sax for 50 years and u learn to do what needs to be done to get the best results!!! And have been playing with Plasticover reeds for close to 25 years or more and stick with them over regular reeds because they stand up to the pressure of 15 hours of gigging every weekend!!! And when u get the strength you need, you will rarely change reeds!!!

@@zangsax Long? I thought they'd be shorter

That's very kind!

Are you going to record an example with a "regular" sopranino reed as well?

@@BleedingEdgeOfProgress No can do. I gave the sax back a year ago.

Their dealer list is here -- www.rsberkeley.com/new-index-1/ Some of them may offer online purchasing, but you'd have to check.

Sadly, I haven't. This is actually the only sopranino I've ever played. Maybe someday!

Don't know. It's not mine, so I couldn't tell you.

It's all about embouchure, meaning the tightness and placement of your lips on the saxophone. Keep the pressure tight on the sides and a bit looser (but still sealed) on the tops and bottoms. Also, make sure that when you place the reed on the mouthpiece that it is a hair's width from the edge of the mouthpiece, not completely over the edge or too far behind it. I hope this helps👍 I wish you luck buddy

I personally find the alto sax much easier than the oboe or the clarinet. And allmost all people find the alto sax easier than the sopran(in)o saxophones.

Start with a recorder. Seriously, they teach you a lot about woodwinds

@Thomas Shelby ASMR connoiseur I got reasonably good at air control on recorder which made the transition to clarinet a lot easier, and I got better with fingerings on clarinet.

Hey dude, how's your intonation with the chinese sopranino?

@@ertugrulkaraduman5008 Hi Ertugrul! When I first bought the 'nino', it was a love and hate thing for me. That was about 6 months ago. I struggled for a long time to get a good tone with the right intonation. Then I found out that soprano reeds work and since I'm a Fibracell user, I bought a #2, chopped the length with a chisel, and it worked. So then I bought a Yanagisawa #7 nino mouthpiece from WWBW and it made the tone better. However, I have to push the mouthpiece all the way to make it in tune. The tuning improved but not quite there. So then, I got my Dremel and sawed off about 1/4" from the neck at the tip of the cork. That made the tuning correct as I needed to push the mouthpiece a little bit more. The thing I noticed was that my air stream had to be continuous and really steady. So I did long tones and still, it wasn't sounding right. After a while, I shelved the nino and began practicing my new Yamaha tenor sax by doing long tones 2 or 3 times a week. Then one day, I picked up the nino and all of a sudden, it was so easy to play and my air stream was really steady. So that's how I got my intonation and tone really good_by doing long tones from the Tenor. Does that make sense? I guess the Tenor required more air support, which in turn made me able to control the nino better, even when i play it really soft. I bought the Chinese nino from: www.ebaystores.com/professionalmusicalshop/. I have a good experience with this Chinese company, having bought my alto, soprano, and tenor saxophones from them over the years. They play really good out of the box. The nino cost me $750. It's a no name brand which I think is a stencil model that they make for other known companies that sell them here for $2K-3K. I couldn't justify buying an expensive nino because I'm not really a professional sax player. Ultimately, you'll agree with me that it's the player and not the sax model that matters. Before Covid, it takes about 7 days to ship the sax to me. These days, I think it takes about a month. Cheers.

BTW, I recently switched to a 2.5 Fibracell and that made my tone warmer.

Mariachi Mexico USA It’s an E flat instrument

Brent Breault wait it’s E flat? So I don’t have to take a few more years to play.

It is in the key of Eflat, that’s true.

Paul Dance as a clarinet player, I can tell you that’s a blessing. Clarinet fingering is wack man.

@@mds67991 not really lol

@John it overblows at the twelfth. So a saxophone G fingering gets you a G in the upper range of the clarinet but a C in the lower. In other words, the octave key is actually a 12th key.

@me notyou42 If you can play a Bb and an Eb sax interchangeably then clarinet should be easy to learn.

Amy Bilyk: WW&BW has an International Woodwinds brand ‘nino for @$1,600. I got mine from Sam Ash store in Orlando, FL. Their store brand is “Jean Baptiste”. Pretty good buy for the price: $1,300 plus tax, brand new.

music and arts has a few, the p. mauriat one is $3,379 but the brand is really good. there are two other ones listed around $2000 as well

Wessex tubas has one for about 600$.

You can find the RS Berkeley 'nino on Amazon, too.

try sax.co.uk. They sell everything from soprillo to contrabass, all brand new and play tested. Ships worldwide and has very fair prices.

I could have put it on backwards, but I decided against it.

John packer makes one for about 1k

Rather different fingerings, and it’s in Eb not Bb

This does not exactly answer your question but a fun fact is that that the only classical piece written for sopranino sax was Ravel’s “Bolero”. Most of the time you hear Bolero played in real life a soprano is used but Ravel did write a sopranino in that piece. I have a 1925 Conn Sopranino and I find it easy to play too. That RS Barkley looks great. A nino s a great horn to travel with. My Rob Kunkel Facebook page has a photo of me playing a sopranino to a camel in Morocco. I had a great time playing with local people in Spain and Morocco.

@@robkunkel8833 oh wow, thank you for that info!! I didn’t know that the sopranino only has one official piece!

There are saxophone ensemble pieces that make use of it, and some niche pieces out there. The repertoire is not extensive, but it exists!

Saxophones have a pattern of alternating between Bb and Eb. The sopranino is in Eb just like the alto, bari, and contrabass. Then for Bb its soprillo, soprano, tenor, bass and subcontrabass.

@@rizzgamer thanks so much.

@@rizzgamer ... the best answer to a question asked a half dozen times in this post. I love owning my nino.

The horns are made in China, but I can't speak to whether they are re-badges or not. I really don't know.

@@edonough What I meant by re badged is the same Chinese factory will put a number of different names on what they make. Marketing names like Jean Paul, RC Berkeley, and probably a dozen others. If you buy more than a few they will put any name that you like on them. Not saying they are bad deals. If you bought direct from the factory it might cost $300. Once the retail;er here has their name on it it sells for $800. Which Chinese manufacturers are the best is the question that I do not have an answer for. Many also have different lines from poor to great.

No. I’ve been playing for 7 years, rookie numbers, and I would be surprised if I could ever get a note out without bursting a vein

Yes, they have palm keys. They're really tiny!

That's the one! He's still in northern NJ. I went to school with his daughters.

@@edonough Way cool. Is it possible that he put me in touch with Russ Ackerman at the Dorn & Kirschner store in Union?

@@jpsned Sure could have! I had a mouthpiece in high school from Russ, and my first alto (a Vito) was from D&K!!

Actually, that was Bob Ackerman, but I remember D&K!

@@edonough I knew both Russ and Bob. In 1984 I bought a dirty, banged-up 1924 King soprano that needed a complete overhaul, and I think it was Les who told me that Russ could do it for me. So I took it to D&K. Russ took the horn and ran the bell over a motorized polisher. Voila! It shined as bright as the day it was made, so I was sold. Price for the complete overhaul? $150. (Amazing.) I guess Russ told me about Bob because I was eventually in the market for some mps. I drove up to Bob's house in northern NJ (I'm from central NJ just outside of Princeton) and we spent the afternoon trying out pieces. I think I bought two mps from him. I also brought my VI alto and told him it didn't seem to be playing as well as a VI should. He tried it out, put a new neck on it, and it played much better. I remember when I left, he had a nice smile on his face--I had given him a lot of money that day! So I owe a lot to those two guys!

I’m not sure if he mentioned the brand ... R S something. lol. I have a 1925 Conn Sopranino and I do love it.

megan cahoon it’s the instrument in the video. one octave higher than the alto sax. in the key of Eb

The same price it would be "for me" -- $2,800 as of September, 2019

7600 for a the best sale possible for a selmer.

Yeah there are curved sopranos.

I’ve seen one in a video once but I bet they’re rare

I mentioned in the video that I didn't buy it. I was offered to borrow it by the owner of the company - RS Berkeley. Search for it, and you can find the current price online.

@@edonough thanks Erik

@eric

Nope.

It's E flat

You and me, both.

Rectxfy - Critical Ops it’s a smaller and higher pitched saxophone than the soprano sax, and tuned in e flat, so it’s one octave above the alto I believe

@@scottwatts9250 oh cool, thanks for the reply

Dude, pro altos/tenors can easily be twice to three times that.

It is very cheap for a sopranino sax. Selmer's sopranino model is around $12.000. Of course, you get more quality, but for 4 times the price of the RS Berkeley.

@@diegoparra8178 Naw, I just saw a Conn-Selmer Avant - Sopranino Sax for about 2200.00

@@reubenyahsrael346 Well, of course with "Selmer" I meant Selmer, not Conn-Selmer, which is a separate maker whose quality standards fall quite below those of the French brand.

Yes, I agree. I have a Conn Nino from 1925 that I have loved for 6 years now. Professionally rebuilt when I bought it, I got it because a Vito that I had just could not play certain mid range notes.

@@robkunkel8833 it's facts like if you want to get good at soprano and have less problems with it when you first blow into it. Then have to buy a top of the line soprano and a more expensive mouthpiece don't go on Amazon to buy a soprano or a mouthpiece you're literally going to be going through hell on earth trying to make it sound good

Don't even get me started on the soprillo!

Bari is best, c'mon. I play sopranino to bari, and I can definitively tell you that bari is unequivocally the best, by far. When I walk into jazz band rehearsal, the lead alto (he is always there before me) always says "the bottom just arrived". I agree with you that without the low voices, the sound is not full. Also, on bari I get to play the sax soli parts with the rest of the sax section and I get to play with bass trombone on some parts, and I also get to counterpoint parts to the whole band. And, I get to play out, because the band needs a solid foundation.

Yes.