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. [Continue]

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 [Continue]

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 [Continue]

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. [Continue]

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 [Continue]

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 [Continue]

I’ve recently become fascinated with Software Synths. These use gigabytes of libraries to deliver incredible sounds to people using Midi. I’ve heard Tascam’s Gigastudio. Wow. The one that I’m totally into now is Native Instrument’s Battery. The drum sound are simply the best I’ve ever heard. It’s amazing [Continue]

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. [Continue]

Ok, so, there was this guy on Ebay that was hinting at giving you information on a mouthpiece that plays better than the 1980s on out Meyer mouthpieces. It was included as a bonus for winning the item on Ebay. So, I won the item on Ebay. I’m very happy with the item. Its great. [Continue]

Andy Davey writes “I’ve been reading through your site for a number of years now and find it really interesting. Recently went to a gig in the UK featuring one of the sax tutors from the Birmingham Conservertiore. She played really well and was getting a great sound out of what I thought was a [Continue]

Master Asia writes “My teacher lended me a E.Rousseau Jazz mouthpiece to test whether I like that one or the Studio Jazz model. The only obvious difference between the two is that the Jazz model has a huge baffle, and the Studio Jazz doesn’t. I was thinking about sticking to the Jazz model but I [Continue]

An anonymous coward writes “the other day i was listening to some jazz music, and i noticed that the sax’s sound was like scraping trough the instrument. how do they get that sound?? could you help me?? Thanks” I have no clue as to exactly what you mean. Want to cite some recordings/songs/people to help [Continue]

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 [Continue]

zappa_zeppelin writes “I would like to know how can I get a good wha wha effect on the sax. I play tenor sax and I have a cry baby pedal but I can’t get a powerfull wha effect on the sax. You know like Brecker’s some skunk funk sound.” I believe that is an echoplexer [Continue]

Most people don’t know about alternate tunings. Hell, most people don’t even know why they should be in tune. I came across this article which I thought was an excellent in introducing and telling the history of alternate tunings. Probably one of the best examples of alternate tunings is guitarist Nick Drake. His music was [Continue]