Month: August 2005

Oleg Strap

August 23, 2005September 27, 2007 ericdano 2 Comments

About two months ago, I purchased a Oleg Strap to replace my Ray Hyman strap.

The Oleg strap is VERY COMFY. Very. It’s leather, and padded, and feels great. Blows away those Neotech straps. However, the cord adjustment drives me nuts. The one thing I loved about the Hyman strap was the easy ability to adjust to the right level right away. I can’t seem to do it as easily with the Oleg. Ok, it’s nitpicking, but, that’s my only complaint.

If your looking for a great, durable strap, get the Oleg strap.

Reviews

Another Brecker Article

August 23, 2005September 1, 2007 ericdano 1 Comment

The A.P. has another article about Michael Brecker up.

"Brecker, who gave his last public performance in March, had written and arranged the music for a new small ensemble album before he was sidelined, but that project has been put on hold. He will be returning to Sloan-Kettering next week for a second round of chemotherapy and is taking an anti-inflammatory steroid to relieve his muscle pains."

After reading Lance Armstrong’s book about his fight with cancer, Chemo sounds terrible.

Update: 08/25 19:26 GMT by E :Here is another article. Man, it sounds bad. Hang in there Michael!

News

RIP Jey Clark

August 10, 2005September 29, 2007 ericdano 2 Comments

From Steve Goodson:

"Jey Clark, owner of Saxology in Berkeley, Ca, passed away last night after suffering a massive stroke on Sunday. I have no other details at this time, but the information was confirmed this afternoon in a conversation with his friend. Jey was a long time friend, a frequent visitor to my home, played his ass off, and made me laugh. I'll miss him."

Once upon a time I tried out some mouthpieces from him (when he ran Four Winds). I believe I have a vintage Berg Larsen alto mouthpiece I bought from his shop over ten years ago. Good guy to deal with as I remember.

News

Articulation At Fast Tempos

August 10, 2005September 30, 2007 ericdano 3 Comments

harry63 writes “In slow and medium swing tempos I understand that “off-beat” articulation is used most often (I know there are times of course, that you don’t use this articulation, but I am generalizing on purpose). With fast tempos this articulation can really make your playing sound heavy and tend to drag. I am curious to know what sort of articulation patterns you all use at break-neck tempos?”

Articles

EWI Buying Advice

August 2, 2005August 19, 2007 ericdano No Comments

Professor writes “Advice needed: I am an alto player who would like to buy a MIDI wind controller. I read Scott Wilkinson’s May 2001 Electronic Musician piece, which was helpful but provides no buying advice for the uninitiated (and is out of date). Does anyone know where I can try out and/or buy these various controllers (EWI, WX5 or Softwind Synthophone– or the new EWI Brecker was playing recently). Any advice on which one to buy, where to try it, and where to buy it would be greatly appreciated. (I’m on the East Coast). Thanks.”

From what I can tell, the one Michael Brecker has been playing is current is a prototype from Niles Steiner. The Akai 3020s are being produced, but are still hard to find. And it’s really it’s own instrument, as it requires some practice to get used to and sound good on. The best solution right now seems to be the Yamaha WX5 coupled with the Yamaha VL70m. Some sites to check out are:

Reviews