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Does The Finish Affect The Sound?

April 7, 2011 in Articles

Found this interesting article at WWBW (which is a great place to get stuff BTW) by Greg Vail.

“With that said, let’s start with the most common finish – lacquer. Lacquer is a liquid substance that dries hard, protecting the metal of the sax and maintaining its beautiful appearance. Most saxophones are made primarily of brass, and then lacquered. There are saxophones available that do not have lacquer on them known as un-lacquered instruments. The difference between the same model with and without lacquer can be significant.”

Check it out.

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DYI Saxophone Reflector Project

November 16, 2010 in Videos

Interesting project from the UK. Here, I think you’d need to go visit TAP Plastics and get a 8 1/2″ by 12″ sheet, and maybe a Pop Screen to modify.

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Interview with the creator of the Apple startup sound

March 1, 2010 in Articles, Videos

TUAW had a great article last week. An interview with the guy who created the startup sound on Macs, Jim Reekes.

It’s amazing the amount of math, thought and stuff that went into this. Long live the Cmajor startup sound.

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Boots Randolph’s Rock And Roll Saxophone

December 9, 2007 in Reviews

Boots Randolph’s Rock and Roll Saxophone – Techniques and Fundamentals for Today’s Players by Boots Randolph and Mike Shannon is 63 pages that try to show you how to play rock and roll like Boots. Not that Boots playing could in any way be condensed down to so few pages.

The first part of the boot, about 20 pages, deals with scales. Major, minor, blues, dorian, mixolydian, in thirds, fourths and arpeggios. Nothing new. Then the book moves into long tones, and has a little discussion about how tone/ear training is important. It is worth reading.

Page 30 on out gets into the stuff you wanted to know, how to play Rock and Roll saxophone like Boots. The book goes over Growls, Slap tonguing, Throat trills, pops, and vibrato in addition to a bunch of other things. There are some excellent examples of what these sound like on the CD. Then there is an excellent discussion about altissimo, and how to do it, when to use it, how to practice it, and Read the rest of this entry →

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Beechler vs Larsen

August 18, 2007 in Articles

Saxcessful writes “I have been playing a Berg 100/0 on my tenor with various reeds, depending on the mood. Recently I have been offered (on the net) a Beechler Bellite 8 which is about the same lay but I have no idea about what sort of sound they produce. I am familiar with a Lawton 6 (a friends) and also play a modified Otto 7. I like all the sounds that I can get out of these mouthpieces but “the” sound alludes me. I would appreciate comments about the Beechler as they are not too common here in NZ and they are rather expensive. Thanks….”

Yes. “the sound”. We all know what you mean. You can’t describe it, but you know what it is. I haven’t used a Beechler since………..um……..Clinton was in the White House. Beechlers, as I remember them, were really punchy mouthpieces. I would describe them as similar to a metal Berg Larsen, but without the body (or tone). I would really suggest trying one before buying it, otherwise you might be stuck with something you don’t use. I mean, I think we all have that mouthpiece box (or boxes) of various pieces you liked for a week or two, then discarded.

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Saxophone Necks?

July 31, 2007 in Articles

hammertime829 writes “I was wondering if anybody could tell me if getting a new neck for a saxophone makes a big difference in the sound or intonation?”

Great question. Anybody? I know a guy who plays a Selmer Mark VI with a Yamaha neck………works for him, so he says.

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Metal Mouthpieces and Spoilers

October 17, 2005 in Articles

pika writes “What do people think about the metal mouthpieces with spoilers? How much louder do they make you sound(tener sax) because i was thinking about getting one for marching band. Email me if you know anything.”

First off, we don’t “email me if you know anything”. That also goes for people who “please email your XXXX arrangement”. You won’t believe how many times a week I get that. It is so Middle School.

Back to your question. A baffle indeed makes your mouthpiece louder. I think that is what you mean by “spoiler”. It would make a metal mouthpiece louder obviously. However, it does change the quality of the tone you get out of the mouthpiece. I tried Power Tone Baffles briefly on alto, and did not care for them. I got more volume, but the tone just didn’t sound good.

There is another thing you could try. If you put some paper underneath the reed (where the reed and mouthpiece contact), that will give you a little more buzz and power.

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Jazz Oboe – Yusef Lateef

April 20, 2005 in Articles

yampol writes “As long as we’re talking about doubling on oboe, let’s talk about jazz oboe. The first player that comes to mind is the amazing multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, band-leader Yusef Lateef. His Eastern Sounds and Three Faces albums made a very strong impression on me. Check out the track “I’m Just a Lucky So and So” on the Three Faces album.

Anyone else have a favorite jazz oboist?

–Todd”

I don’t recommend the album with Bob Cooper and Bud Shank. They did an album that was jazz flute and jazz oboe. Bob Cooper played Oboe. I couldn’t bear it. I love Bob Cooper in Bob Florence’s band, and in solo albums, but his jazz Oboe….unbearable to me.

Update: 04/22 18:25 GMT by E :You know, I posted this story, and low and behold iTunes decided to put 2 of those Bob Cooper/Bud Shanks songs in my Random Selections Smart-Playlist. I still think Jazz Oboe is not cool. Hopefully someone can point me to something to change my opinion.

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