by admin
February 15, 2005 in Articles
Anonymous Coward writes “I want to cultivate an Earl Bostic sound on the Alto–big and blowsy. (Right now it’s small and lousy.) What equipment did he use to get that unmistakeable Bostic sound?”
Thinking that strickly equipment will help you is a flaw. He could have probably used anything and still sounded like Earl Bostic.
That being sad, a quick search on the net has yielded no information on what he used.
by admin
October 31, 2004 in Reviews
I have to admit, I have never been one to try out “gear” on sax or any instrument. Partly due to the satisfaction of what I already own, and partly due to not knowing if there is something better out there. Namely, I remember how I ended up with my Selmer Alto was because I tried it and found it better than what I had. Yeah…..anyways.
So, for years I’ve been using a Meyer mouthpiece on Alto with some no name generic POS ligature. I’ve been happy with it, but wasn’t happy with my alto sound on recordings (always sounded wimpy to me). So, in like March I tried a Harrison ligature, and noticed a HUGE difference in sound compared to the old ligature. I had been using the Harrison until I noticed a lot of guys using the Olegature, namely Jim Snidero using it on his Joe Henderson Tribute album. So, I decided to try it…..
First thing is that it looks cool. Seriously, it’s all gold and whatnot. But trying it, it plays great. I would never have thought it would be different than the Harrison one, but it is. I would call it “more consistent” or “more responsive” through out the horn. I didn’t believe it, and I did a little recording test, and I could hear the difference.
Ok, so, I kept it. But then I noticed it would fit on my Rubber Berg on Tenor. So, tried it on my Tenor. Whoa. Similar results, except I noticed that the low end of the horn was a lot easier to hit and sounded better compared to the standard Berg Larsen ligature.
So, needless to say I’m using these ligatures for a while. There is another ligature that is supposed to be good too, the Francois Louis ligature, and perhaps you’ll see a review of that soon, but I’m not promising anything 
by admin
September 14, 2004 in Articles
“I’m an old guy getting back to playing after 45 years of “silence”. I’ve found my eye’s aren’t seeing the charts like they used to but, my fingers have an amazing amount of “memory” left in them (thanx to the great old Englishman I had as a teacher all those years ago and the foundation he gave me). I’ve been getting a lot of compliments, to my surprise, on my technique and sound on my old tenor (a Buescher purchased in 1954) and the original mouthpiece / lit. setup. Now I’m trying to educate myself on mpc’s and I’m looking for resources that will explain the differences in chamber, baffle, tip………etc. I would like to find info for both the tenor as well as clarinet (clarinet was always my primary instrument)………can you advise me in this matter? Thanx for any help you can offer.”
The best place to start on this journey would be Mouthpieceheaven.com. I’d recommend spending time at a store with a bunch of mouthpieces and trying them out. Something about a 105 tip opening (Berg Larsen opening type) or about a 5 or 6 start Link/Meyer opening. Chamber size will depend on what kind of sound you want. Good luck!
by admin
August 14, 2004 in Articles
Saxy Beast writes “My friend’s dad bought an old silver Conn Chu-Berry alto about 30 years ago. It has “patented 1914″ on the side. I was able to find out that the patent was for the rolled tone holes. The sax has the original (I think) case, mouthpiece, and lyre.
The screw that holds the neck on doesn’t turn enough to fully hold the neck in place, and the neck will need re-corking as the mouthpiece doesn’t properly fit. I can imagine that the pads are at least 40 years old, but they might be original as well.
Does any one know how much it would cost (roughly) to have the necessary repairs done? And when they are done, what would the value be? I’m interested in buying it from him, so I’d Like to have a price. Keep in mind that he payed $80 for it 30 years ago. Feel free to email me (tweso@earthlink.net) or post a reply if you have any info. Thanks.”
A complete overhaul in the San Francisco Bay Area is going to run about $600. An overhaul would put all new pads, springs, corks, etc, on the horn.
That being said, is it worth it? Well, it depends I guess. I for one would probably go for it as the horn probably has a good chance of play very well after an overhaul. I had a Haynes Flute (closed hole, 1940′s era) that I had overhauled a couple of years ago. Wow, it’s become my primary flute (over my trusty Yamaha 581). AND, when I was in high school (back in the day), I had an old Martin Tenor (1940s model again) overhauled, and it became my primary horn, supplanting my Selmer Super Action 80 Series II that I owned.
So, if you have the money, odds are that you’ll probably be happy with the horn after a good overhaul.
by admin
July 10, 2004 in Articles
One of my projects this summer (2004) was to redo my music studio. I was inspired by watching a lot of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy episodes. Here are the results!
by admin
May 22, 2004 in Articles
Jazz Future Prospect writes “I was wondering what’s the hipe about vintage. Doe sit have a better sound? Quality? Price? I admit to being a relitive newbie to the fine world of jazz and sax’s in general so I’m not to read in the subject. Also (to save the time of making a new post) how about new stuff? Is the new any better than the old? Or is it personal?”
Jazz Future Prospect writes “I’ve heard of set up’s for better playing, but I was wondering what is the point? I know that people get picky, but how do you find out what would work best? Where do you buy the peices (I, living in the middle of nowhere, have no music stores nearby).”To vintage a sax or not to vintage is a good question. It might be compared to people who like old, classic cars to new cars. Some might argue, with good reason, that the metallurgy from decades before might be the key to these vintage horns sound. Some old Selmer horns are supposedly made out of dense “bomb shell” type material. I had a friend in High School who owned an alto that we thought might be one of these. It was very heavy, and had a very unique sound.
It might also be the craftmanship from these times as well. I think the world of string instruments has yet to see the likes of Stradivari instruments being produced. They are valued for their craftmanship, and tone qualities. I think the same goes in the world of other instruments. Some people really gravitate towards a certain kind of sound that a vintage horn can offer (be it Selmer Balanced Actions, Mark VI, or old Conn horns, etc).
To move on to your question, or rather comment as you seem to already dismiss it, about setups. As you develop as a musician, you will try to find that “voice” that you hear in your head. What you think a saxophone should sound like. A different mouthpiece/reed/ligature setup helps one towards that goal.
Though that is not the only thing that will allow you to achieve the sound you want. Most of it is how you blow into the horn, and how your embouchure develops. For instance, I saw Don Menza (saxophonist with Buddy Rich) do a mouthpiece demo where he took 3 different mouthpieces and made them sound the same. The mouthpiece setup will make it easier for you to achieve the results.
by admin
May 9, 2004 in Articles
I was dabbling on the internet today, checking Ebay for vintage Meyer mouthpieces and Selmer saxophones. I remember there was a certain vintage alto ligature I saw once on ebay that was supposedly “the bomb”. This was a while ago (read: years), but it went for something like $400. Anyone know what this was? What are supposedly the “best” vintage ligatures for saxophone?
by admin
May 2, 2004 in Articles
Saxy Beast writes “I recently read somewhere that later on in his life, John Coltrane played on an early EWI type of sax. He used it to play two notes at once, kind of like multiphonics. I was just wondering if anyone knew anymore about this instrument, i.e. who made it and if he ever recorded with it.”
Hmm, I don’t know a thing about this. And looking on the net doesn’t seem to turn up anything. Perhaps he dabbled on a prototype Lyricon? Though ‘Trane died in 1967, so, I don’t think that would be it (Lyricons were a 70s thing).
by admin
September 3, 2003 in Articles
Bopfanatic writes “Can anyone help me decipher this? In his autobiography, ‘Beneath the Underdog’, Mingus recalls a conversation with Lucky Thompson, who tells him that Bird used a “number 30 open lay mouthpiece”. Does anyone know what the “number 30″ means, like what brand used that numbering system, or what the equivalent tip opening or chamber size (in standard terms) it stands for? Cheers!”
by admin
May 19, 2003 in Articles
Bopfanatic writes “Hello! I’m a huge fan of vintage sax styles, and I love the huge sound of people like Coleman Hawkins and Lucky Thompson. The problem is that there are very few resources about what setups these players used (everybody seems to be into Mike Brecker and all that malarkey), and since I’m only 17, most people assume I’m into funk and stuff, not 1940′s bop. If anyone has dredged up some stuff about Hawk and the like, or happens to play with that kind of tone, can they give me a few pointers? Ta!”
Well, Michael Brecker and Malarkey should never be in the same sentance together. As for getting a Coleman Hawkins type sound, part of it has to do with his mouthpiece setup (which makes it easier to get his type of sound), the other part is his general sound concept and how he played. You can get a Hawkins sound out of any horn/mouthpiece combination. I saw Don Menza do it at a clinic years ago….
by admin
February 28, 2003 in Articles
adrian writes “What ligatures do you people use? I’ve been using old Rovner ligatures on my tenor and alto ( on Otto Link mouthpieces) and haven’t really kept up with all the new ones that seem to be available but a pupil of mine recently came along with a new BG ligature which really surprised me. It had a small “rib” in the middle that meant the ligature was hardly touching the reed and really opened up the sound, especially in the altissimo. The harmonics and altissimo were much easier to play as well though there was a loss of warmth in the low register and low subtones. I want to try out some more ligatures and would be interested to hear what other people are using and how its affected the sound, etc.”
Hmm, well, lets see, I use an old Rovner on my clarinet (like one of the original ones), I use some old no name ligature on alto, the Berg Ligature on my Berg on Tenor, and the Yanagasawa ligature on my Berg on Soprano. I haven’t really explored the ligature quest lately either. I kinda found some stuff, and since it works, have been kinda sticking with it.
by admin
October 13, 2002 in Articles
Adrian writes “I’ve been teaching sax for a number of years and a problem I’ve encountered in beginning students has me baffled as to its cause. They can blow a note ok but as soon as they start to try tonguing produce lots of squeals on the start of the note. I can’t figure out exactly what they are doing wrong. I get them to relax the embouchure and try to keep the tonguing as light as possible but the squeals persist. Any help on this would be much appreciated.”
First, what size reeds are they using? I try to get my students up to 2 1/2 or 3s in about 2 months. I find that after about a week most students squeak on 1 1/2 reeds if they practice a lot….
Second, check for leaks. Young students have a tendency to trash the instrument without knowing it. A key not closing right would cause endless problems.
Third, the embouchure should remain constant. What it sounds like, if you checked the above things, is that they are doing something with their throat and/or air stream and/or tongue.
Your tongue should be flat when you try to tongue. Sometimes students seem to try to lift the whole tongue instead of just the tip. The air stream needs to be constant too. I always give my kids this little analogy.
"Think garden hose with a nozzle on it. If you are going to spray your friend, you want it to be ready. Right? So when you attack you have all that water ready to go when you squeeze the handle. What good would the garden hose be in attacking your friends if you pressed the handle and the water had to come all the way from the house again? Your friends would have ample time to push you into the pool or get you wet with whatever weapon they have."
A similar idea occurs when you tongue. You want to think of the tongue as the nozzle. You need to have all that pressure ready to go.
But, if you have a real soft reed on, then all that pressure is going to kill the poor reed. Hence, get them up to 2 1/2s or so. The cheap Rico sax reeds (the no name ricos) are not any harder to play on than the 1 1/2s.
Also, you should make sure that they throat is open as well. You don’t sing with a closed throat (at least I don’t think you’d want to). When you tongue, you don’t need to close the throat off. I’ve seen some of my students have that problem.
So, try flat tongue, constant air pressure, open throat and a stable embouchure (IE: no squeezing, no relaxing, just the same regardless of what they are doing). Try that.
by admin
August 27, 2002 in Articles
BIABfsg writes “Someone was asking about Trane’s horn awhile back. Though I do not have idea where it is, but I do know what happens to Stan Getz’s Tenor Sax. That beautiful horn is now in Berklee College of Music’s Media Center. Though we can not touch that horn, but it looks like a new horn ’cause they cleaned the horn before they put it to Media Center.”
Very interesting. Perhaps Stan’s more recent death allowed someone to have the foresight to save his horn. I still would like to know what happened to Coltrane’s Tenor, and maybe Cannonball’s Alto…..
by admin
August 19, 2002 in Articles
zibalatz writes “I was looking at the Player Setups page and noticed that Greg Osby‘s setup was lacking so I updated it using the information found on his State of the Art page, where he only reluctantly reveals his setup because “it’s too easy to get caught up in those matters when proper attention should be given to study and application”. In particular he says “whenever I have played someone else’s horn I sounded exactly the same as I always do so I am convinced that body type, oral makeup and lung capacity all impact one’s sound as much as (or more) than brand of saxophone and mouthpiece”.
How do you guys feel about this? I am currently playing a very old student model Yamaha alto that my parents bought for me when I was in high school, so I am coincidentally also in the market for a new saxophone. There seems to be two basic camps- those who feel that “hardware” doesn’t matter at all and those who are diehards about a particular brand and feel that it improved their playing immensely. What are your thoughts?”
Excellent question…..
I’ll related what I remember when I was first starting out. I had a friend, Chris, who was taking saxophone lessons with Guido Fazio. Then I started taking lessons with Guido Fazio. Guido at that time had a kick ass Tenor (Mark VI), and either a Vito or Armstrong Alto. I don’t remember which. I think it was a vito. Now, Chris got in his mind that he needed to get a Selmer saxophone. So, after bothering his parents for a while, they got him an old Balanced Action Silver Alto. He honesty didn’t sound any different. Guido still sounded better on his Vito.
Now, that being said, you should always try to have a good instrument. If you can afford the vintage Mark VI, or whatever model, then get it. You will notice tone improvement right away, because a professional instrument generally sounds better than a student one due to the metals used, the craftsmanship, etc. If you can get a kick-ass horn, then get it. Think of it as an investment. Something perhaps you’ll grow into.
BUT. There is always a BUT. After you have played for years, you get to the point where equipment doesn’t really matter. I think this is due to a person finally reaching a level of playing where they have developed a good embouchure and a concept of what they want to sound like. It won’t matter what they play on, they will sound like themselves. I think I sound the same on whatever mouthpiece/sax I play on. A little variation here and there, but nothing “major”.
Saxophone brands are like cars. Some people like “Ford” others “Mercedes”. Whatever you like, that is what is important. Get something that you think sounds good, and stick with it. Getting your embouchure happening is more important than getting great horn. To use the car analogy again, you have to know the rules of the road and how to drive before you can drive a Porsche properly.
by admin
August 18, 2002 in Articles
saxophan writes “At my sax lesson today, my teacher told me that my current mpc (vandoren jumbo java A45) is to bright. I play on a yamaha 23 alto with the above mpc and legere reeds. My teacher had a bunch of mouthpieces, and we went through them and found the Bari Richie Cole 6 to be the best fit. What do you know about these mouthpieces? Are they any good? Is there a mouthpiece that may better suit my needs (junior high jazz band and combo) Thanks a lot!”
Well, they are made by Bari. I’m not sure what the current ones are like, but the older ones were nice. There is also a Meyer mouthpiece out that has a “Richie Cole” facing. Some things to check with the mouthpiece would be to see how well it plays in tune with your sax. You can get a awesome sounding mouthpiece, but if you can’t play it in tune then…..
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