Category: Articles

Things I liked and/or bought:

I switched to Boston Sax Shop Silver Label Tenor Reeds. They play great. I used to use Rico Plasticovered reeds. Not any more.

I think I got several of these this year? Or maybe last year. Anyhow, these are great. Boston Sax Shop Voyager Saxophone Multi-Tool.

I sort of started getting a lot of gigs where I had to do lights and/or lightboard. Hey, I go where the money is. And doing tech happens a lot more than getting hired to play music. It’s entertainment related. One of the things I bought was a cmd_key for EOS. Paired with a laptop and a Gadget II, you can run a DMX light system really easy. It’s been a lifesaver on several jobs.

I also paired down my big x32 rack with DL32 breakout (it was in a 10 unit rack case….a real beast to take places) to an Allen Heath CQ-20B. OMG….this things is literally 3/4th the size of the X32, and does just about everything it can do. It fits in a small bag (I have it in an Apache 4800 case). It sounds great, and can do multitrack recordings. Great little box.

I obtained yet another mic for flute. I have been through several. I was using a Shure Beta 57, then a RE-20. I’ve finally settled on using an Earthworks SR-117 mic. It has a Supercardioid pickup pattern, so it works really well in a noisy environment. It sounds very natural and…..it’s just such a great mic.

I have lots of flashlights. My favorite one right now, for the last few months, has been the Sofirm IF24. It has a great magnetic base, and can function as a work light as well. And it does Red light, so you can keep your nightvision.

Finale was discontinued by MakeMusic. I am still NOT happy about that. However, I did buy Dorico……and it just makes things so much easier. Yes, a little bit of a learning curve. Yes, it does a lot of things for you. But it generally does everything how I’d want them, and the output from this program is stunning. While I have like 20 years worth of Finale files…..and converting them into Dorico is going to be daunting to say the least, all my new stuff has been done in Dorico. And I don’t need to run like 5 different plugins on stuff to make it look good.

Great article on Lenny Pickett. I think he doesn’t get enough press for how awesome he is.

https://www.vulture.com/article/lenny-pickett-snl-saxophone-tower-of-power.html

If you’re making an annual pie chart to determine which Saturday Night Live cast members receive the most screen time each season, you may as well add Lenny Pickett to the mix. Nearly 40 years into his tenure, Pickett’s sounds have become as synonymous with Studio 8H as a “Weekend Update” segment. There he is, hovering over the host’s shoulders as the musical director and saxophonist of the SNL Band, patiently waiting for the monologue wrap so he can go wild on the reeds again. “I’ve always enjoyed playing in front of an audience and the spontaneity that comes when you know you have to get it right,” he explains. “In the studio, you can do multiple takes. But on live television, it just happens.”

Great video. Michael Brecker is the GOAT.

Over a year ago, Twitter sorta…….shitted itself. Elon Musk F’d it up big time. It is now paid, and basically a bastion of hate and misogyny and all other sorts of bad behavior.

So, I started a Mastodon site, Musician.Social……and it was thriving really well……until the Hosting startup failed. Big time failed. As in they didn’t have backups (like they said they would), etc,etc. So basically went from a 3k user base down to just me.

However, I resurrected it pretty much the same day, and it is hosted on a proven host, Masto.host, and has been running for about 5 months on it. It has been solid.

If you are looking to move away from Twitter, check it out. Mastodon has a lot of great Twitter like clients, there are NO ADS at all on the platform, and tons of interesting music related topics and other things.

Another by Harry Styles

  Daydreaming by Harry Styles for Eb Instruments (99.0 KiB, 6 hits)
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  Daydreaming by Harry Styles for Bb Instruments (97.9 KiB, 5 hits)
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Hello all. Perhaps you have heard of Twitter? Did you hear that a rather suspect guy now owns it outright and is basically allowing all the bad actors back on the stage? Perhaps you want that sort of interactivity where you can follow people or topics, but not have the Ads or the garbage that comes with Twitter nowadays?

I am proud to introduce Musician.Social, a Mastodon instance that is very much like Twitter, without the crap. There lots of people flocking to Mastodon “instances” now that Twitter is Elon’s vanity project.

Basically, every Mastodon site is linked together via “Federation”. Think of it as like email, where everyone has @gmail or @yahoo or whatever, but are still able to communicate. Mastodon is like that. You can follow people you like (like director Rob Reiner who just started on Mastodon). And you can choose the @ part you want at the end.

So, check it out. Follow some #hashtags, and make some connections.

I’ve been a big supporter of these Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) trackers for items for a while. The idea of them is that everyone seems to have a cell phone, and have their bluetooth on the cell phone enabled. When they are in the area of a BLE item, the cell phone will notice the item. And if it is running a App, it can report the location to a central tracker.

The most popular of these BLE trackers was Tile. It works on Android and Apple, but you need to have the App running for it to report locations.

In 2021 Apple released it’s own version of the idea called AirTags, which doesn’t need an App running in the background. It uses Apple’s really cool FindMe network, which has allowed Mac, iPhone, AppleWatch and iPad owners to keep tabs on their devices. Anyhow, it is transparently running in the background of all Apple devices, meaning the number of devices that can report locations is huge. Huuuge.

AirTags are, however, sorta expensive. Plus they need a case. But……Apple did create a “Find My Network Accessory Program” and one such device to come from this is the Chipolo One Spot. This $28 device works perfectly on the Find My Network, and it has a little hole in it to put on a keychain or luggage tag.

So……..basically, get one. Put it in your case. Your gig bag. IF……and I hope it is a IF……something ever happens, like you forget it somewhere, misplace it, it gets STOLEN. You have a chance of getting it back. There are a NUMBER of stories of people being able to use AirTags to get items back.

I think for $28, it’s a no-brainer, especially if you are a Apple device person. I have one in my case (along with a Tile), my accessories bag, portable PA, etc.

#chipolo #airtags #apple

The MagPi Magazine Issue 119 has an interesting article about a Raspberry Pi project to put a reactive light system on your saxophone. Sadly, seems there is no SOURCE CODE for the pitch part…..