Tenor sax octave too high

Not seen this one mentioned.

The tenor sax plays back an octave too high.

I’m not a saxophonist, but I checked with John, who most certainly is a saxophonist, and we both think that Dorico’s notation and playback octave of the tenor sax is correct.

I have written many jazz charts in Dorico, and the tenors play back in the correct octave for me, for what it’s worth.

I’ve had a similar experience with the guitar, only to find out that I had concert notation turned on, rather than transposed notation. Even though it should be more obvious with the tenor sax being pitched in Bb and transposing, this might be the issue here, too?

i also had a similar experience

Weird… I transposed it in Halion yesterday to play correctly and today have had to untranspose it to get it play correctly. User error somewhere…

The tenor sax is playing 8va. There is no argument otherwise.
If the score is selected as ‘concert pitch’ then there is no reason why the instrument’s notated pitch ought to differ from the sounding pitch.
This needs rectifying.

N.B. I have had to use a similar workaround for the tenor voice type by creating a new instrument called ‘tenor’ but which is in fact a baritone voice.
This surely shouldn’t be necessary. A440 is not A220!

Bb, but +octave. A Bb tenor sax is written M9 above concert.

I get precisely the same transposition that Amy Schumacher provides here: http://www.amyschumacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/rangetrans.pdf
when using the “Default” Tenor Saxophone. HALion seems to play it back correctly, too.

The Tenor voice instrument in Dorico intentionally transposes by an octave, because it’s generally notated in treble clef. Whether there’s an “8” underneath that treble clef (and whether the score’s in concert pitch or transposing), tenors will always sing an octave lower than the notated pitch.

it’s a little confusing to me because you have the label “saxophone” on the right staff so I assume that is the music the sax player is holding. If so, and you asked a tenor sax player to play that Eb, you would hear Db a ninth below.

if however the sax player were holding/playing the left staff, you would hear the right staff. Perhaps that is what you meant.
The left staff does look like the complete written range of the Bb tenor sax.

Look at the tabs at the top of each side…

ah… so tiny. now I’m with you.
thx.

…although… now I’m wondering why the keysig didn’t change. sax part should be in Dmaj, no ?

I didn’t bother to input a key signature. If I had done, it would have transposed automatically.

The “default key” in Dorico is “atonal” not “C major”.

i see. thx.
I just realized I haven’t written anything in Cmaj yet with Dorico, so I haven’t encountered this.
One less future post I’ll need to make :slight_smile: