Jazz-Sax, all things Jazz and Sax
Great band!
The Good Life by Three Days Grace for Eb Instruments (79.3 KiB, 70 hits)
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The Good Life by Three Days Grace for Bb Instruments (80.5 KiB, 46 hits)
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I don’t think I did one last year, but this year I think I am. So…..you have a saxophonist that you want to get a little holiday gift for huh? Well, here are some ideas.
Band-in-a-Box – Though they have different versions of this program, you need the version with the Real Tracks. Period. This is an essential practice tool. Always at the top of my list.
iPad – Yes, there are other knock off tables. But with the huge, rich, totally awesome App eco-system Apple has, why mess around? ForScore is my App of choice for storing and reading PDFs, with GoodReader a close second. Plus, add programs like Garageband on……there is so much you can do with this device.
iPod Touch – This little device is awesome. You can record stuff on the fly. Or perhaps take a picture of some chord changes you need to work on? Or maybe listen to some tunes? The iPod Touch is great. Use it as a tuner, a metronome, a camera……so many uses. I find I use mine (well, the iPhone version of it) for tuning, or snapping a shot of a chart I need to shed, or doing a spot recording.
Just Joe Strap – There was some make believe controversy about this strap, but it is still hands down the best neck strap I have ever played. Comfortable. Well worth investing in.
Ultimate Support JS-DS100 Jamstands Double Sax Stand – Everyone needs a stand, and the Woodwind & Brasswind has these for $4.99 with FREE Shipping. How insane is that. I have another one of these on order just because it was so cheap!
Dayton Audio Sub-800 Subwoofer ($79) – Add some bottom to your sound. This is a great little subwoofer.
Logic 9 or Reaper – Reaper is a great, almost free program that does a LOT. Logic is a battle tested Pro Audio program that many musicians have done whole albums with. Logic also comes bundled with a TON of Loops and plugins. Either will get you making music.
Mighty Bright Orchestra Light($40) – The best stand light. Hands down. Includes some batteries, a case, and an AC Adapter.
Pelican Cases – I am not happy with my current case, a SBK tenor case. For Alto, I use a Selmer Tripack case. Not really happy with that either. When I came across Battle Cases, I know what I want for my next case. At least for Alto. After seeing Battle Cases, I think a 1650 case modded to hold a curved soprano, alto, clarinet, flute, piccolo and oboe would be awesome. Sadly, since Battle Cases wants $150 to set up each instrument in the case, I probably would do this myself. I suppose another option is something like a Walt Johnson case.
Microphone – Recording yourself is a great way to refine your art. You can’t go wrong with a Shure SM57, or if you have some more money to spend, a Rode M3 or Rode NT1A or a Blue Spark (Engadget Review). These are just starting points. There are plenty of other microphones out there.
Portable Recorder – I myself have an OLD Marantz compact flash recording device. Old, I mean probably 8 years old now? There are a LOT of portable recorders on the market now. Though everyone and their mom swears by the Zoom Recorders, I have never heard anything recorded on them that sounds good. The microphones are really not very good. That being said, a flash recorder that does 24bit and 48khz or above that has XLR inputs would be ideal. Something like the Tascam DR100 MKII.
Another Jazz Legend has left the house.
Dave Brubeck, jazz legend, dies at 91 – latimes.com:
Dave Brubeck, the jazz pianist, composer and bandleader behind the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet, has died at age 91.
(Via www.latimes.com)
Yes, it is December. And I don’t think I’ve ever put up a Xmas song…..so here we go.
Santa Baby for Eb Instruments (90.0 KiB, 132 hits)
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Santa Baby for Bb Instruments (86.3 KiB, 83 hits)
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Food for thought.
So, the Woodwind and the Brasswind had this insane thing on their website. $4.99 for a double stand (Alto/tenor). So, I bought one. And it came today. And it is GREAT!
The Ultimate Support double stand was a freaking steal. It is basically a knockoff of the Hamilton Double Saxophone stand. They look identical.
Anyhow, it seems they are out of them now, but it was a great deal. I’d watch their site to see if they offer another deal like that soon.
I think I have seen the best case ever.
And David Freeman has a modified one for EWI. Awesome.
I’d love to have a one of these that fit Alto, flute, piccolo, clarinet, curved soprano, and oboe. Or one that was just for curved soprano, flute, piccolo, clarinet and oboe. It would be great if they had build your own case combinations.
UPDATE: I inquired about getting a case for alto, flute, curved soprano, clarinet and piccolo. Sadly, they do not have such a combination. To get such a case made, it would be $150 per additional instrument. So an extra $450 on top of the $450. Plus shipping. Plus tax. Ouch. considering the cases only cost $250 apiece…..that is a lot. It looks like a great case, but…..that is a lot of money for a case.
Sorry guys and gals, but the site might be a little slow for the next few days? Why? Well, Crashplan has a amazing sale this weekend. A whole year of the Family version of it for $17. Well, it started off free supposedly, but then it was going up in price every two hours and when I got word of it Friday, it was at $17. Right now it is about $60 for a year of the family plan (up to 10 computers, unlimited data backup).
If you DON’T backup your computers, you should. Crashplan is PERFECT for this. It’s unobtrusive, and gives you another layer of protection in keeping your stuff safe (I can’t imagine losing all my Finale files……) in addition to your TimeMachine or whatever else you backup to. And even at $60 for a family plan, it is still a steal.
Crashplan works on Mac, Windows and Linux. Since the Jazz-Sax server is a Linux box, I can now finally backup the server files to the cloud. Whew. So, until the initial backup is done (about 2 days according to the program…..since it doesn’t use ALL the bandwidth I have), we might be a little slow for a while. Plus, my MacPro is also sending stuff to the cloud.
Here is this week’s tune.
Blue by Eiffel 65 for Eb Instruments (70.4 KiB, 145 hits)
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Blue by Eiffel 65 for Bb Instruments (67.5 KiB, 78 hits)
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Strangely addicting song…..
Honey and the Bee by Owl City for Eb Instruments (77.1 KiB, 64 hits)
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Honey and the Bee by Owl City for Bb Instruments (76.8 KiB, 41 hits)
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This is kind of old, but it’s an awesome site (was cleaning out things I flagged in Google Reeder)
The MPV Hub is free educational resource for Mac users:
macProVideo.com, an online education company specializing in tutorial-videos for Mac users, has launched a new educational portal called The MPV Hub (http://www.macprovideo.com/hub/).
It’s a free resource developed for the Mac creative community. You can use the MPV Hub to find written articles about how to use software, short tutorial-video tips & tricks, interviews with industry experts, product reviews, and other article.
(Via MacMinute)
Just got this written out. Whew…..
Skyfall by Adele for Eb Instruments (90.8 KiB, 407 hits)
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Skyfall by Adele for Bb Instruments (93.1 KiB, 220 hits)
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Music Notation and Music Education Software News | MakeMusic, Inc.:
Minneapolis – November 12, 2012 – MakeMusic, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMUS) today announced the upcoming release of an iPad version of SmartMusic, the interactive practice software, in the spring of 2013. The app will be previewed to the public at the New York State School Music Association Winter Conference, November 29 – December 2, 2012, and The Midwest Clinic Annual Conference, December 19 – 22, 2012.
(Via www.makemusic.com)
MakeMusic should have this out in the Spring of 2012, not 2013. And hopefully it should run on ALL iPads (including the original) since Apple’s Garageband still runs on the original iPad (and it runs quite well actually).
For some reason, I really like this song. I think it is the music video….
We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift for Eb Instruments (98.8 KiB, 149 hits)
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We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift for Bb Instruments (108.0 KiB, 72 hits)
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Since leaving ProTools, I had to redo my default recording presets in Logic. Here is how I currently have it set up. First, I record everything at 96Khz. Why? Because I can. I think it sounds better too. More open maybe? I dunno.
Here is a picture of my channel setups. The first track is the track I am recording to (input 1). I have the output bussed to Aux 1 on Bus 27 (could be any bus, it doesn’t matter). This Aux will have all the plugins and EQ setting setup on it. So, if I do another track, I don’t have to recreate everything.
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