Skip to content

Jazz-Sax.Com

Jazz-Sax, all things Jazz and Sax

  • About
  • Home
  • Gallery
  • Polls
  • Articles
  • Toggle search form

Tag: wtf

Saint John Will-I-Am Coltrane Church in Trouble

Posted on October 20, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on Saint John Will-I-Am Coltrane Church in Trouble

From the SF Chronicle:
“..earlier this year one of its principal funders, the New College of California, collapsed financially, leaving the church without a vital income source. The school had paid two-thirds of the church’s rent, so now King and his retinue are again asking its members and the community to help the church.”

Background is that the church was founded by saxophonist Franzo Wayne King back in 1971. He and his wife had a “religious experience” at a Coltrane concert in 1965. So, I guess the natural outcome was to found a church for it 6 years later during the whole hippie thing in the Bay Area? Dunno…..but it’s time of existence is getting rather short unless there is some “divine” intervention (or a large influx of money…or both).

News

SmartMusic 11 Released

Posted on September 12, 2008September 17, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on SmartMusic 11 Released

MakeMusic released SmartMusic 11 on Thursday. After nearly 3 hours of downloading at a whopping 10k/sec, I got it. Installed it. And…….well, it looks the same. No interface changes. Can’t really tell what they did to it.

Certainly not worth a 11 release. Maybe a 10.2 or something.

They really need to change the interface, fix the green follow line (STILL lags behind on my iMac 2gigahertz Core 2 Duo on up tempo songs), and all the other things I’ve complained about before.

Oh, and add Grainger’s Children’s March to the Concert Band library………

UPDATE: I also get this message on my Mac:
“Warning: you do not have write access to all files and folders under ‘/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/SmartMusic Studio’. Certain aspects of SmartMusic may not work, including Impact assignments. To fix this issue, contact your network administrator.”

First thing is that the program installs SmartMusic in the System Library, not the user area. Why? Dunno. And looking at the directory permissions I see: “drwxrwxrwx 7 ericdannewitz admin 238 Sep 13 11:46 SmartMusic Studio”

So……what gives guys?

UPDATE: Oh, found another thing. You can continue to use the program while it downloads new music. That certainly qualifies for a 11 release (tongue in cheek).

News

MakeMusic To Charge For Finale Notepad 2009 Downgrade

Posted on September 4, 2008 By ericdano 6 Comments on MakeMusic To Charge For Finale Notepad 2009 Downgrade

MakeMusic announced today that they are going to be charging for Finale Notepad 2009, which for almost 8 years has been a free product.
“In the next few weeks we plan to release Finale NotePad 2009 with even more features, including an all new Expression Tool and the ability to import/export MusicXML files. It will continue to include free online support. At the same time we will begin charging $9.95 for the NotePad 2009 download.”

Ooo, Online support? XML importing? Wow. Sign me up. NOT.

Meanwhile, get Finale Notepad 2008 while you can. Finale 2009 is a downgrade. Staff Lists limited to 4 (used to be unlimited). Most of TGTools handy utilities do not work (Align/Move, which I use a lot) because of “new” Expression tool. *sigh*. Just avoid it. Unless they are going to be including Garritan sounds with it (hahahaha, yeah, right), $9.95 for their new expression tool and XML importing?

MakeMusic needs to cut down on the number of products it has. It has Finale, Finale Allegro, PrintMusic, Songwriter, Notepad and SmartMusic. Just keep Notepad free, drop Songwriter, drop the price of PrintMusic to $60, and drop Allegro to like $150. Simple.

Articles

Finale 2009 – Defining Mediocrity

Posted on July 9, 2008 By ericdano 10 Comments on Finale 2009 – Defining Mediocrity

Continuing it’s yearly practice, MakeMusic announced Finale 2009. Basically, they are not raising the bar at all, again, with this. For $99, you finally get:

  • Engraver Slurs fixed (which really should have been fixed 5 years ago)
  • a Baritone Sax in the included Garritan sounds (plus, vintage electric piano, electric guitar, electric bass, vibraphone, handbells…and other instruments…yawn)
  • Virtual Drum Line……..yeah. Woot!
  • Improved SmartMusic Tools. Finally, TWO versions after they put in support for linked parts, they let SmartMusic support it. But it will probably be like what happened before, where Finale comes out in August, and SmartMusic isn’t updated to support the new file format for 6 months+. Oh, and you STILL are stuck with the 90s video game sounds instead of Garritan sounds.
  • Better Markings…..Something that maybe should have been added in Finale 2008.
  • Two Page Editing. Finally, a new, useful feature. But this really should have been added a long time ago.

Basically, MakeMusic hasn’t done anything new or exciting in this release. No Ideas Hub, like Sibelius has. Nothing really…..at all. Looks like I’m still going to be stuck with 2007……

News

The Lamest Product Ever

Posted on June 22, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on The Lamest Product Ever

I was watching Versus Network (cycling sundays….yeah), and I saw an ad for this thing called Guitar Idol. I thought Guitar Hero was stupid. This is a whole new level of stupid. Really. Singing in the car rates way higher than this. Singing in the bathroom rates higher. Watching American Idol rates higher.
Somehow, I feel the dumbing down of music is somewhat insulting.

Articles

Reed Prices…….WTF?!?

Posted on June 10, 2008 By ericdano 4 Comments on Reed Prices…….WTF?!?

So, I finally depleted my supply of reeds. I generally buy a couple of boxes. Last time I bought some from The Woodwind and the Brasswind. Not this time. They have this really deceptive thing going on. Example, Rico Plasticovered reeds for Tenor. For 3.5 (3 1/2) size, it’s $16.49 a box. But I use 3 size, and selecting that, the price jumps to $23 a box. WTF? Clarinet reeds have a similar thing going on.

When last I ordered reeds, back in August, the Rico Plasticovered were $15.95 a box from WWBW.

This last order of reeds went to USAReeds. They had good prices, and reasonable shipping. Anyone have a good source for reeds?

Articles

New Yorker’s 100 Essential Jazz Albums

Posted on May 13, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on New Yorker’s 100 Essential Jazz Albums

There seems to be a lot of these “lists” that magazines/newspapers/your mom are doing right now. Anyhow, the New Yorker published it’s “100 Essential Jazz Albums“. I think it is kind of bogus. No Herbie Hancock? At all? Nada? Eric Dolphy is in there twice, and Josh Redman is in there, but not Herbie?

Articles

Microsoft Enters The….Music Accompaniment Making Department

Posted on April 7, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on Microsoft Enters The….Music Accompaniment Making Department

I’m not quite sure what to think of this. Though it does/can use Band in A Box, the demo video rather disturbs me. Visions of Sanjayas popping up all over the place is something even the late Charlton Heston would have a tough time conquering.

This software, from Microsoft, has great little sliders for Happiness and Jazz. No EMO slider? No rock? What?

Here is another article about this Microsoft “research”.

Articles

CMEA and Technology

Posted on February 15, 2008February 15, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on CMEA and Technology

I just was given, to look at, some technology thing from some guy named Wilson, who is in charge of CMEA (California Music Educators Association) technology or something. Anyhow, it was about Band in a Box. It read like this guy had just found the Holy Grail. And, he had really BAD rendered backgrounds done off the Macintosh version of it. Like Nintendo type backgrounds.
First off, I don’t know if I should be amused or saddened by this. On the one hand, it is great that this guy has found Band in a box, but at the same time, it has been out since….the Atari ST. Which would be 1988 or so. And CMEA is just now finding out about this? And they want tax payers to pay more money for the schools? What?
Band in a Box is a great program, but you should avoid the Macintosh version. It is 5 versions behind at my last count. It lacks a ton of features that the PC version does. If you want to run it on a Mac, get an Intel mac, and do the Boot Camp thing or run it with Parallels. It works fine.

Articles

Scientists With Too Much Free Time

Posted on February 12, 2008 By ericdano 6 Comments on Scientists With Too Much Free Time

I wonder why things like this get funded.

John Coltrane and other famed jazz saxophonists hit piercing high notes that amateurs can’t by expertly changing the shape of their vocal tracts, research now reveals.

No shit Sherlock. It’s called having chops. Practicing for a long time.

Untangling this mystery has proven hard, since it is challenging making precise acoustic measurements inside the mouth during playing.

You think? Really? No way.

“It’s wet in the mouth and the acoustic conditions in there are really variable, and it gets really loud in there during playing,” explained researcher Jer-Ming Chen, an acoustician at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

No, you think?
Can I get a grant to do pointless research like this? Jer-Ming Chen, why not focus on IMPORTANT SCIENCE? Oh, maybe creating renewable energy, or creating a cure for cancer? No? Too hard? Is that why you had to spend time on this “science”?

Chen added that for pro saxophonists to reach these notes, “they say they have to hear the sound in their head, to kind of get a mental image of the sound. This suggests they have some muscle memory with this tuning. I think that means anyone can learn how to do this, but you need to put in a lot of practice to get that same muscle memory.”

A scientific study which “proves” the obvious. I give you a nice “golf clap” for this. Now go freaking do something worthwhile with science. Geeze.

Articles

All Plastic Saxophone

Posted on January 28, 2008 By ericdano 2 Comments on All Plastic Saxophone

There seems to be a resurgence in this idea. Enter the Vibrotosax.

To create more saxophonist in the world is our prime concern. Our designer team need to accomplish 3 objectives….Design a saxophone that everyone can afford, provide a standard fingering configuration and producce a solid saxophone sound. The solution: to replace brass with polymer. By doing so we not only change the material but also the process of saxophone manufacturing which has remained unchanged since 1843.

Besides the strange English (they are a Thailand company and refer to the King of Thailand in their about page), aren’t we experiencing a strange sense of Deja Vu? I mean……haven’t we been there, done that?

Articles

Music Education Alliance

Posted on January 19, 2008January 20, 2008 By ericdano No Comments on Music Education Alliance

This was announced today:

Leaders in their respective fields, Garritan, MakeMusic, Steinberg and Yamaha have formed a partnership that will provide integrated solutions to the music education market in the United States.

Announced at Winter NAMM 2008, the Music Education Software and Hardware (MESH) initiative brings together hardware, software, sound content and curriculum to provide compelling and complete turn-key solutions for today’s music educators, who are often faced with an array of products that can be difficult to navigate and integrate. In addition to aggregating four major components of music education technology into a seamless bundle, the alliance will also provide training to teachers based in the U. S., enabling them to fully utilize the power of computer music technology solutions.

Honestly, why? It sounds to me like a way for school teachers to waste money. Again. Spending thousands of dollars or more on some “solution” to make kids learn better. Money like that could be spent on lowering the student/teacher ratio. Very strange bedfellows as well. Leaders in their fields? Marketing speak at it’s finest!

Read More “Music Education Alliance” »

Articles, News

Selmer – What Are They Thinking?!?!

Posted on January 9, 2008January 10, 2008 By ericdano 8 Comments on Selmer – What Are They Thinking?!?!

I’m not sure what to think about this. Selmer, I gotta ask, why?

Conn-Selmer, Inc. announces the U.S. availability of the limited edition 2006 issue Selmer (Paris) saxophone avian series. In 2005, the Henri Selmer company of Paris embarked on a five-year adventure honoring each of the continents by depicting a native bird in highly detailed hand crafted engraving on its new Reference Series saxophones. Last year’s edition featured the hummingbird of the North American continent. For 2006, Selmer (Paris) has selected the kookaburra bird from the Australian continent. Selmer Paris “bird” models are based on the popular Reference 54 Series saxophones, capturing the essence of the famous Mark VI instruments made in the 1950s and 1960s. Selmer Paris will produce 330 of the standard edition kookaburra alto saxophones for the United States and Canada. The standard kookaburra will feature deluxe hand engraving on the bell, along with a unique case.

Oh, and they have a Flamingo one as well. Personally, I’m holding out for the Lisa Simpson limited edition Selmer Reference series sax for 2008. And the Peter Griffin limited edition Selmer Reference sax for 2009. Oh, and the Bevis and Butthead series in 2010. Why not just offer to engrave a reference series with whatever image you want for an extra $500 or so?

Articles

And We’re Back….

Posted on December 31, 2007January 9, 2008 By ericdano 2 Comments on And We’re Back….

No no, it was not some sort of FBI raid, or something that took us down. It was signing up for AT&T’s new Uverse service under the impression that you could keep your existing DSL line (on another number other than what Uverse was going to be installed on). Well, that was NOT the case as the DSL went down on December 11th. After a few calls on the 11th, and 12th, on the 13th someone from AT&T informed me that you cannot have Uverse and DSL coming to the same residence even though they are on different phone lines. So, I cancelled the Uverse service (not all that great anyhow), and the next 2 1/2 weeks began my struggle with AT&T to get them to activate the DSL again. They promised the following Tuesday, 18th, which they missed and said that Friday the 21st it should be up. Nada. Then on Monday the 24th, someone finally saw that there was some sort of Uverse hold on it, and cleared it, and Thursday the 27th was the date to get it up. No. The tech who came out on the 27th finally went to bat for me, and today, the 31st, the internet is back. Whew. What a pain. AT&T is getting a nasty letter from me, and the PUC is getting one about this as well.

Two good things came out of this whole mess. One good thing though was that I discovered Google Applications. There is a way to host your email there. That is huge, and it filters out a ton of spam. Previously, email was being served by this server, and I got all the strange spam and stuff. The other good thing was that I really, really relied on my iPhone during this. Even on the Edge network, I was able to connect to my daily sites, email, etc. In fact, I seem to miss the whole browsing with your fingers thing now……though it’s nice to have it hook up via WiFi now.

News

Louis Armstrong’s Trumpet Used As A Fruitbowl?

Posted on November 17, 2007November 17, 2007 By ericdano 6 Comments on Louis Armstrong’s Trumpet Used As A Fruitbowl?

I don’t know about you, but this is disturbing:

Matt Mullenweg, lead developer of the open-source WordPress blogging software, last night celebrated a $25 million “bonus” from investors by purchasing a $1 million Louis Armstrong trumpet, which he plans to use as a fruit bowl.

There are a lot of things a trumpet used by Louis Armstrong could be used for. A Fruit bowl is not on my list. In fact, why not donate the money to some worthy foundation? Or maybe set up a scholarship program in the bay area for music? There are a lot of things you could do instead of buying a historic instrument and using it for a fruit bowl. Seriously. And $7 million for a house? Hope the tech bubble does not burst again….

News

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 3 4 5 Next
  • Articles
  • Featured
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Sheet Music
  • Sheet Of The Week
  • Videos

Akai Apple Bad Band-in-a-Box Big Band Brecker Computer Education EWI Finale gear History Humor iPad ipod itunes Jazz Katy Perry mac makemusic Maroon 5 Michael Brecker Music Obit Opinion OS X PGMusic pop Practicing protools Recommended Recording Saxophone Sheet Music Sheet Of The Week SmartMusic Software Taylor Swift technique Technology Technology video Wordpress wtf youtube

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Donate

Donate to Jazz-Sax.Com

Downloads

  • Zinn Practice Regimen III (592.7 KiB, 52,857 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • Zinn Practice Regimen (211.9 KiB, 20,275 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • Breckerisms - Michael Brecker Type Patterns (379.6 KiB, 15,069 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb (4.6 MiB, 12,512 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns Reference (600.9 KiB, 12,110 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Eb (4.7 MiB, 11,716 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 1 to 100 (1.7 MiB, 11,500 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 201 to 289 (1.6 MiB, 11,001 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 101 to 200 (1.9 MiB, 10,986 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Eb Pages 201 to 289 (1.6 MiB, 10,925 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.

Bb Fingering

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Downloads

  • Zinn Practice Regimen III (592.7 KiB, 52,857 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • Zinn Practice Regimen (211.9 KiB, 20,275 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • Breckerisms - Michael Brecker Type Patterns (379.6 KiB, 15,069 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb (4.6 MiB, 12,512 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns Reference (600.9 KiB, 12,110 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Eb (4.7 MiB, 11,716 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 1 to 100 (1.7 MiB, 11,500 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 201 to 289 (1.6 MiB, 11,001 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Bb Pages 101 to 200 (1.9 MiB, 10,986 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.
  • II-V-I Patterns in Eb Pages 201 to 289 (1.6 MiB, 10,925 hits)
    You do not have permission to download this file. Go register first.

Sites

  • A-NO-NE Music
  • Aebersold Music
  • AKG Headphones and Microphones
  • Apple
  • BopLand.org
  • Boston Sax Shop
  • Bret Primentel
  • Casa Valdez Studios
  • Charles McNeal
  • Create Digital Music
  • Dorico
  • Eric Dannewitz
  • EWI Musician
  • EWI Reason Sounds
  • EWI-EVI Page
  • Greg Fishman
  • Hollywood Saxophone Quartet
  • Horn Pedalboard Subreddit
  • iRockJazz
  • Jazz Standards
  • Jazz-Clarinet
  • Jazz-Flute
  • Jazz-Oboe
  • JazzBariSax.Com
  • Joe Allard.org
  • Kenyon Carter
  • M-Audio
  • McDSP
  • Metric Halo Labs
  • Michael Brecker
  • MOTU
  • Norbert Stein
  • PG Music
  • Phil Woods
  • Ricci Adams’ Musictheory
  • Sammy Nestico
  • Save A Bunny
  • Sax Pictures
  • Seventh String Software
  • Shure Notes
  • Sound On Sound
  • Tape Op
  • USA Horn

Copyright © 2025 Jazz-Sax.Com.

Powered by PressBook WordPress theme