“Custom-made high-quality saxophone necks, made of top quality carbon fiber and water-resistant epoxy resin coated with ultraviolet-light-resistant polyurethane, are designed by musician/engineer Antoine Lefebvre and Zen Composites. For any wind instrument, composite materials may replace copper to produce stiffer, lighter and shock resistant bodies, which may be particularly attractive for large brass winds and saxophones”
Except that saxophone necks aren’t made of copper…..I don’t think. Interesting stuff though. Wonder if it sounds better than the plastic saxophones….
There are already several apps for the iPad for viewing sheet music PDFs, including apples iBooks. It makes sense, the iPad is just about the right size for viewing a page of music.
$39.95. Now we just need a Bluetooth foot peddle page turner…..for that price….
And for saxophone players, if you use this with a microphone stand, this also solves the problem of how to hear yourself….as in the iPad should provide some reflection of the sound back at you if you have it just above the bell. Wonder if that would mess with the microphone capturing one’s sound correctly…..I should get one and try it out….
The career path of a musician can be pretty difficult. I was reminded of this last weekend when visiting a favorite hangout which serves decent food, good drinks, and the occasional band. This night, the band was rather excellent, playing cover songs like “Free Bird” from southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. What made it a bit sad was the obvious talent of the band coupled with the low crowd attendance. One can imagine the possibilities of the band with the right opportunities and luck.
Most musicians probably do not have that planning session where they consider the benefits and downsides of their chosen career. Being that it can be a tought road, here are some things to consider before you decide to be a musician:
Wired magazine is running a story pondering the MP3 format, how long it will last, and where surround sound is going to fit in. Basically, it looks like it will be around for a while even though better formats, like AAC or MP3Pro, are out. AAC is part of the MPEG4 standard, but a lot of people, like the geeks on Slashdot have issues with Fairplay encoded AACs (or Digital Rights Management (DRM) AACs. Stuff you buy off iTunes Store for example).
For myself, I gave up encoding to MP3 years ago. Most everything I encode now is 160 or 192 (due to cymbals in some jazz recordings getting “washed out” at 160) bit AACs. They sound great on my iPod (and new iPod video), and on both my stereo systems (studio and home).
I see AAC and MPEG4 winning out over other formats, though we will probably have to put up with WMA (Microsoft) formats for a while longer.
Ok. Brass instruments have had that Silent Brass system for a while. Most sax players wish they would use it all the time ;-). Now, it seems saxophone players can have something similar.
E-Sax is a new case/silent practice thing. Interesting stuff. Looks really funny, but they say it works. You can even do Karaoke with it. Woohoo!
I have always been hoping for some sort of noise cancelling system to come out. A system where you’d hook a mic up, and while you play a digital box takes your sound, and then produces and blasts out the inverse and cancels out the sound. Perhaps someday….
