Month: October 2005

Metal Mouthpieces and Spoilers

October 17, 2005May 29, 2009 ericdano 5 Comments

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.

Articles

EM Reviews Field Recorders

October 3, 2005September 30, 2007 ericdano No Comments

Electronic Musician reviewed a bunch of field recorders, including the the Marantz 671, Marantz 660 and the Edirol R1 among others.

Basically, they panned the Marantz 671 (successor to the 670, which I love) for having firmware issues causing the mic preamps to be noisy. The Edirol R1 came out on top of the two Marantz units. Though I would really call the article a “introduction” to field recording. They do not list exactly what they tried to record, and with what. We all know that the microphone is key to getting a good recording.

I would totally recommend the Marantz 670. I used it this weekend and got some great recordings putting it about 6 feet infront and 7 feet above the band. Of course using my Rode NT4 mic (awesome piece that it is).

I imagine the issues with the 671 have been fixed. I would take the EM article with some grains of salt. The reviewer used these units to record a snare drum (why??), the “ambience in a suburban neighborhood” (um, ok), and dialog. Ok, great tests there. NOT.

Oh, and EM was reporting, like it was news, that Sony introduced a new format called MiHD. Um, guys, these things have been out for OVER A YEAR. Get with the program!

Articles, Reviews

In The Xmas Mood

October 3, 2005May 31, 2008 ericdano 9 Comments

I did this last year. Resurrected it, and cleaned it up a little. It’s a bunch of Christmas Songs put around In The Mood. Score and Parts for Big Band (5 Saxes, 5 bones, 4 trumpets). Enjoy!

XMas In The Mood - Parts (1.2 MiB, 355 hits)
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XMas In The Mood - Score (421.1 KiB, 258 hits)
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Sheet Music

RIAA Being Counter-sued Under The RICO Act

October 2, 2005August 31, 2007 ericdano 3 Comments

An Oregon mom is fighting back. She is suing the RIAA for being in violation of the Oregon RICO Act in addition to ‘fraud, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, negligent misrepresentation, the tort of “outrage”, and deceptive business practices.’ She is also demanding a trial by jury.

The Rico ACT. Basically, I think the RIAA is guilty of Extortion (as they sue, but demand a settlement. None of the suits have gone to trial). It could possibly be guilty of price-fixing. My problem with these RIAA lawsuits is that they are vague. They really prove nothing. They have not done a criminal investigation with any law enforcement agency (to my knowledge). All they have been doing is gathering IP addresses, making assumptions, and then suing.

News