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Mouthpieces Coming very soon...PPT soprano mouthpieces
These have now passed phase 3 of R & D, I have two second generation prototypes sitting here and I am very pleased, they are actually better than the first prototype.
These are not just a small version of the original PPT tenor (just like the baritone is not a larger version).
but, as with the tenor and bari, they are based off an idea I had to make a mouthpiece that was the ultimate for me. If other people like them, then that's a bonus of course.
The soprano piece is sort of inspired by a Selmer Soloist, but with a larger throat/chamber and different facing curves. production models will be in tip size 5 and 6.
Unlike with the tenors and baritones, I won't have any hesitation recommending these to beginners, though it is of course designed to be a pro mouthpiece.
I'm hoping to get them into full production within a few weeks. Priority orders to cafe members, so if you are interested let me know via PM.
These are not just a small version of the original PPT tenor (just like the baritone is not a larger version).
but, as with the tenor and bari, they are based off an idea I had to make a mouthpiece that was the ultimate for me. If other people like them, then that's a bonus of course.
The soprano piece is sort of inspired by a Selmer Soloist, but with a larger throat/chamber and different facing curves. production models will be in tip size 5 and 6.
Unlike with the tenors and baritones, I won't have any hesitation recommending these to beginners, though it is of course designed to be a pro mouthpiece.
I'm hoping to get them into full production within a few weeks. Priority orders to cafe members, so if you are interested let me know via PM.
47 Replies
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30256 views
Tech/maintenance I have no words...
I saw this when shopping for neck cork on Amazon. How does this even happen? Somebody had to go out of their way to do that.
71 Replies
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3994 views
Cafe Moderator
Commercial
Playing the saxophone How to growl on saxophone - tutorial and examples
Examples of the saxophone growl
Before I go on the describe it, here are some audio examples:
Although we think of the saxophone growl as an effect, it can be applied with different intensities. You can use it here or there on one or two notes or add it quite extensively. It's up to your taste and judgment how you use it. It can be anything from a slight edge to brighten the tone to a full on snarling roaring tiger growl.
It is a sort of equivalent to a guitarist using a distortion pedal.
How do you growl on a saxophone
First of all one of the misconception is that you growl while playing. That is not likely to work. Another misconception is that you roll your RRRs. Again, that won't work either - BUT - it does give a different but related effect: flutter tongue.To growl you simply sing, or rather hum, while you are playing. It's not actually possible to sing of course because there is a mouthpiece in the way, but humming (which takes place in your throat) works well.
Which note to hum?
That's the $1000 question. Some people say to hum the same note as you are playing but slightly (or very) out of tune, others to hum a specific harmony or interval relative to the note you are playing.I have found that either of those may work, but nobody I know of has yet come up with an explanation of how out of tune or which interval. The way it works is that the note (being out of tune or different to the one you are playing) causes interference with the sound wave of the saxophone to cause the distortion. It may be that not all saxophone notes growl based on the same amount of pitch variation or harmony in the hum.
My preferred method of learning is via a sort of subconscious process of trial and error. Trying to sing along, whether out of tune, or in harmony is just too difficult a process.
So try this:
- Play a note on the saxophone
- While playing, hum any note and while keeping on the same saxophone note, vary the pitch of your hum
- Listen carefully to the note and as your hum varies and note when it causes the tonal interference - and the resulting growl.
- Play that note again (asa long note) while humming that same pitch if possible
- Repeat a few times and then move on to a different and do the same process over again
Another very quick example...Happy growling evybody!
PS: We are pleased to also bring you a a soundcloud tutorial from our very own cafe member Taz.
View: https://soundcloud.com/taz-16/growl-tutorial
216 Replies
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80394 views
Saxophones Conn 10m.... Could this be the one?
So guys😊☺️. I ve recently discussed with some of you, possible upgrades to move on from my Arbiter Pro jazz tenor. I almost went to try out a selmer SA80I but decided against it in the end.
Now, whilst I am not in any rush to move on just yet, I think it is definitely on the cards to happen at some point over the coming months. 😉
I was very drawn to a Selmer initially, but have stumbled across some YouTube videos on the Conn 10m.
Having watched a few comparison videos on Selmer mark VI Vs Conn 10m, (not that I was looking at the Mark VI 😳) I immediately noticed how different the tone was between them. The selmer sound much cleaner, crisper, whereas the Conn was a little warmer, fluffier 😳 (is that sacrilege to use fluffy and Conn in the same sentence?.... 🤔😳🤷)
I thought it would be just that one video so I watched a few others and yeah, it was still "fluffy" ☺️ I really liked the "fluffy" sound.
Someone said it was because they were made during the Swing era and so were more "harmonic" and "softer" built for a more acoustic environment and they blended well in a section with the likes of Buescher's. In context, this made so much sense to me.
Someone commented in my last post that perhaps I didn't really know at this stage what direction I wanted to go in looking for a new/old tenor, they were correct, I didn't know. But now I think I do 💡😳🤔
So... If this is a light bulb moment could y'all please enlighten me as to your opinions and experience with the Conn 10m tenor sax.
Is there a particular year or time period that was better than others to look for?
Any faults to look out for?
Are they harder to blow because they are so old?
What's an average price these sell for?
And really any other areas I've not thought about 🤔☺️
Now, whilst I am not in any rush to move on just yet, I think it is definitely on the cards to happen at some point over the coming months. 😉
I was very drawn to a Selmer initially, but have stumbled across some YouTube videos on the Conn 10m.
Having watched a few comparison videos on Selmer mark VI Vs Conn 10m, (not that I was looking at the Mark VI 😳) I immediately noticed how different the tone was between them. The selmer sound much cleaner, crisper, whereas the Conn was a little warmer, fluffier 😳 (is that sacrilege to use fluffy and Conn in the same sentence?.... 🤔😳🤷)
I thought it would be just that one video so I watched a few others and yeah, it was still "fluffy" ☺️ I really liked the "fluffy" sound.
Someone said it was because they were made during the Swing era and so were more "harmonic" and "softer" built for a more acoustic environment and they blended well in a section with the likes of Buescher's. In context, this made so much sense to me.
Someone commented in my last post that perhaps I didn't really know at this stage what direction I wanted to go in looking for a new/old tenor, they were correct, I didn't know. But now I think I do 💡😳🤔
So... If this is a light bulb moment could y'all please enlighten me as to your opinions and experience with the Conn 10m tenor sax.
Is there a particular year or time period that was better than others to look for?
Any faults to look out for?
Are they harder to blow because they are so old?
What's an average price these sell for?
And really any other areas I've not thought about 🤔☺️
14 Replies
·
163 views
Cafe Moderator
Commercial
Cafe Announcements 📣 Sensitive content filter
We have had this filter for quite a while now. Part of the reason is compliance with various regulations around the world regarding online safety.
Some of you may have noticed that it isn't perfect, there are inevitably false positives, ie they are mistakenly picked up by the filter. The latest update allows more control over what is and isn't acceptable to view. It includes nudity obviously, but also violence, firearms etc. Currently I only have it set for nudity (and beyond).
It will often pick up images that many find not offensive or even sensitive, for this reason we are introducing an option for members to unblur images. Currently this is in trial and only for supporters.
However as soon as we find images that are false positives, they will be unblurred by moderators. If you upload a picture of a saxophone part and find it is flagged, please feel free to report so we can fix it and tweak the settings.
Thanks
Some of you may have noticed that it isn't perfect, there are inevitably false positives, ie they are mistakenly picked up by the filter. The latest update allows more control over what is and isn't acceptable to view. It includes nudity obviously, but also violence, firearms etc. Currently I only have it set for nudity (and beyond).
It will often pick up images that many find not offensive or even sensitive, for this reason we are introducing an option for members to unblur images. Currently this is in trial and only for supporters.
However as soon as we find images that are false positives, they will be unblurred by moderators. If you upload a picture of a saxophone part and find it is flagged, please feel free to report so we can fix it and tweak the settings.
Thanks
6 Replies
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137 views
Got a killer lineup of players for this one. From Maceo Parker to Bobby Caldwell to Richard Elliot to Grover and all kinds of stuff in between.
Cannot wait!
Cannot wait!
5 Replies
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84 views
Saxophones What to avoid?
New here, first question?
I'm a tuba player, looking to find a saxophone(s) for occasional doubling. I took a saxophone class when I was in school 20+ years ago. Went very well, really enjoyed it. I play in a group that is frequently short on saxophones and abundant with tubas so I can fill in where needed.
My question isn't what horns should I look for, but what i horns i should avoid. There's always those certain ones that are no good all around.
I'm looking for dirt cheap used instruments. I really like old instruments. I'm very good at repairing things and I work in a machine shop with access to all the toys. Thank you
I'm a tuba player, looking to find a saxophone(s) for occasional doubling. I took a saxophone class when I was in school 20+ years ago. Went very well, really enjoyed it. I play in a group that is frequently short on saxophones and abundant with tubas so I can fill in where needed.
My question isn't what horns should I look for, but what i horns i should avoid. There's always those certain ones that are no good all around.
I'm looking for dirt cheap used instruments. I really like old instruments. I'm very good at repairing things and I work in a machine shop with access to all the toys. Thank you
34 Replies
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640 views
Saxophones Pork Tales: Saxophone Repair DIY Adventures.
Tales from a pig that likes to stick his nose into everything.
Paint that S. How difficult could it be ?
1) Search the net.
2) Find the color.
3) Order color.
4) Study task on University of YouTube, aka; For destruction by DYI presented by pro tech.
Do the cleaning & prep.
Paint and cleanup / detail the edges with hard cotton swabs. Sounds easy……
Yeah tha guy Matt makes it look easy.
Anyone remember your first experience cooking bacon crispy while still in the frying pan !
Paint that S. How difficult could it be ?
1) Search the net.
2) Find the color.
3) Order color.
4) Study task on University of YouTube, aka; For destruction by DYI presented by pro tech.
Do the cleaning & prep.
Paint and cleanup / detail the edges with hard cotton swabs. Sounds easy……
Yeah tha guy Matt makes it look easy.
Anyone remember your first experience cooking bacon crispy while still in the frying pan !
1167 Replies
·
66346 views
Blog Tenor Viol's musings
OK. I've thought about doing this for a while - setting up a general thread for me to post in, rather than necessarily creating a separate new thread every time for relatively minor matters, or discussion of how things are going etc.
So, the first item is my FB page got me with an Amazon advert and I seem to have ordered a jazz theory book... It will get delivered to the Amazon lockers at work on Monday
Tomorrow is a Café Trio/Quartet...Septet day where @trimmy is going to demonstrate ascending chromatic scales in augmented fourths, and descending in diminished fifths... 😀
Yesterday was a wind band concert in Maghull. There were about 85 of us playing. We had a contrabassoon in the band...
So, the first item is my FB page got me with an Amazon advert and I seem to have ordered a jazz theory book... It will get delivered to the Amazon lockers at work on Monday
Tomorrow is a Café Trio/Quartet...Septet day where @trimmy is going to demonstrate ascending chromatic scales in augmented fourths, and descending in diminished fifths... 😀
Yesterday was a wind band concert in Maghull. There were about 85 of us playing. We had a contrabassoon in the band...
1936 Replies
·
116837 views
Tech/maintenance testing saxophone for leaks
is there a definitive test you can do to tell if your saxophone has leaking pads?
14 Replies
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226 views
Tech/maintenance Making parts you can’t find.
Missing parts are often a pain to find. Making a new part can be done. Cost, more than a thick combo pizza & pitcher of beer.
It’s all starts with the phone call… “ I didn’t notice that missing on the Goodwill auction pictures “ .
With no carcass horn to pick at…. its time to just make one.
A section of chopstick for size and bit of cork to check fit.
It’s all starts with the phone call… “ I didn’t notice that missing on the Goodwill auction pictures “ .
With no carcass horn to pick at…. its time to just make one.
A section of chopstick for size and bit of cork to check fit.
110 Replies
·
8076 views
Cafe Moderator
Café Supporter
Miscellaneous Daily Check In
Good morning,
We thought it might be good to have a thread where you can just come and say hi, tell us what you are doing today, have a moan, share an idea that you wouldn't necessarily start a thread for ( we can always create a new thread from posts here if it became a substantial discussion).
It doesn't have to be sax related🙂
Basically an easy way to connect on a daily basis.
So to kick us off, I am writing this whilst prepping a casserole for the slo cooker as I am playing sax today with café sax and need a quick easy tea when I get home.
I am still suffering with a cough which will impact my playing today and I am worried as we are playing our first care home gig next Sunday!!
Have a lovely Sunday
Jx
We thought it might be good to have a thread where you can just come and say hi, tell us what you are doing today, have a moan, share an idea that you wouldn't necessarily start a thread for ( we can always create a new thread from posts here if it became a substantial discussion).
It doesn't have to be sax related🙂
Basically an easy way to connect on a daily basis.
So to kick us off, I am writing this whilst prepping a casserole for the slo cooker as I am playing sax today with café sax and need a quick easy tea when I get home.
I am still suffering with a cough which will impact my playing today and I am worried as we are playing our first care home gig next Sunday!!
Have a lovely Sunday
Jx
2890 Replies
·
90718 views
Tech/maintenance 1946 The Martin Tenor - an overhaul thread
I'm a bit crazy. I already have a lovely 1924 Martin Handcraft tenor that was overhauled and plays wonderfully.
But here we are, I couldn't help but get a Committee III tenor to match my alto! Serial # 155,xxx.
My wife found this one too, a little bit of a drive away, but worth the trip a couple of weeks ago.
Its quite dirty and nasty looking, but in overall good shape minus a dent in the bow a couple of small dents. The finish looks bad right now, but I couldn't care less about what it looks like. It has the original pads and I doubt its ever been apart before.
Day of purchase:
But here we are, I couldn't help but get a Committee III tenor to match my alto! Serial # 155,xxx.
My wife found this one too, a little bit of a drive away, but worth the trip a couple of weeks ago.
Its quite dirty and nasty looking, but in overall good shape minus a dent in the bow a couple of small dents. The finish looks bad right now, but I couldn't care less about what it looks like. It has the original pads and I doubt its ever been apart before.
Day of purchase:
86 Replies
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8966 views
Playing the saxophone Bass sax - reading tuba and bass parts
It's been pretty quiet on the bass sax front over here, so I thought I'd share how I learned this new skill to open up more bass sax playing opportunities for myself. Please feel free to share your own experiences and advice here as well.
I've been playing bass sax for a few years now, mostly in a small trad jazz band where I improvise the bass lines 100% from the written chord symbols, mostly two-beat lines (root and fifth) plus some Rollini-style embellishments. But a local 10 piece trad jazz band needed someone to replace their tuba player and asked if I could do it on bass sax. I really couldn't. But I really wanted to. So I said yes and went about figuring out how to pull it off. Since this band used entirely written charts with no chord symbols, I had no choice but to learn to read the tuba/bass violin parts and play them on bass sax. Luckily I had 6 months before our first gig. Turns out I needed every bit of that to climb the mountain ahead of me.
First I had to decide how I was going to approach this problem. I could learn to read the bass clef parts as-is, then transpose each note up a step on the fly. Or I could read the bass parts as-is and just learn a new set of fingerings, i.e., read and F, finger a G and think of the new note as an F. Or I could treat it like learning an entirely new clef, Alto clef, so the note I read matched the fingerings I already knew. Since I already had a little bass clef reading skill from playing piano and tuba years back, I opted for the first approach - read as-is and transpose up a step.
My bass clef reading skills weren't all that great to begin with. So I spent the first month with flash cards until I could read the bass clef notes instantly and reliably. Next, I had to tackle the transposition. I did this with the sax, fingering the note that was one step higher than I was reading. This process took me a solid two months to get reasonably fast and mistake-free. I spent the subsequent three months reading every tuba/trombone part I could find. Unfortunately the band leader would only share a few actual bass parts with me ahead of time. The rest I'd be sight reading at the gig.
One wrinkle I only learned once I started reading lots of different parts is that tuba and bass violin parts aren't the same. Bass violin parts are written an octave higher than they sound. So I had to read up high, and play down an octave. Tuba parts are written as they sound. So they're written lower on the staff and don't have to be taken up an octave. My main difficulty was not being great at reading the higher ledger lines. Otherwise, it wasn't too terrible going from one type of part to another.
Finally, D-day came, and the first gig was upon me. Most of the tunes had fairly simple written two-beat bass lines. A few had quarter note walking lines, but at pretty brisk tempos. I'd say I did ok, at least well enough to get asked back for the next gig. At least now I have all the parts which I can practice on my own. It's still a work in progress as my old brain doesn't retain as much or work as fast as it used to.
I've been playing bass sax for a few years now, mostly in a small trad jazz band where I improvise the bass lines 100% from the written chord symbols, mostly two-beat lines (root and fifth) plus some Rollini-style embellishments. But a local 10 piece trad jazz band needed someone to replace their tuba player and asked if I could do it on bass sax. I really couldn't. But I really wanted to. So I said yes and went about figuring out how to pull it off. Since this band used entirely written charts with no chord symbols, I had no choice but to learn to read the tuba/bass violin parts and play them on bass sax. Luckily I had 6 months before our first gig. Turns out I needed every bit of that to climb the mountain ahead of me.
First I had to decide how I was going to approach this problem. I could learn to read the bass clef parts as-is, then transpose each note up a step on the fly. Or I could read the bass parts as-is and just learn a new set of fingerings, i.e., read and F, finger a G and think of the new note as an F. Or I could treat it like learning an entirely new clef, Alto clef, so the note I read matched the fingerings I already knew. Since I already had a little bass clef reading skill from playing piano and tuba years back, I opted for the first approach - read as-is and transpose up a step.
My bass clef reading skills weren't all that great to begin with. So I spent the first month with flash cards until I could read the bass clef notes instantly and reliably. Next, I had to tackle the transposition. I did this with the sax, fingering the note that was one step higher than I was reading. This process took me a solid two months to get reasonably fast and mistake-free. I spent the subsequent three months reading every tuba/trombone part I could find. Unfortunately the band leader would only share a few actual bass parts with me ahead of time. The rest I'd be sight reading at the gig.
One wrinkle I only learned once I started reading lots of different parts is that tuba and bass violin parts aren't the same. Bass violin parts are written an octave higher than they sound. So I had to read up high, and play down an octave. Tuba parts are written as they sound. So they're written lower on the staff and don't have to be taken up an octave. My main difficulty was not being great at reading the higher ledger lines. Otherwise, it wasn't too terrible going from one type of part to another.
Finally, D-day came, and the first gig was upon me. Most of the tunes had fairly simple written two-beat bass lines. A few had quarter note walking lines, but at pretty brisk tempos. I'd say I did ok, at least well enough to get asked back for the next gig. At least now I have all the parts which I can practice on my own. It's still a work in progress as my old brain doesn't retain as much or work as fast as it used to.
12 Replies
·
187 views
Cafe Moderator
Commercial
Playing the saxophone What does professional musician mean?
I think this is the basis for an interesting discussion/debate.
My take is that a professional is someone who makes a living from playing. No other work. So in that case a couple of bucks or free meal is not it.
And of course there is semi-pro
102 Replies
·
3606 views
Miscellaneous Is AI taking over!
I just made this with AI today (inspired by my daughters recent wedding) and was totally mind blown... The song itself, band, singer and sax solos were just too good... There's no future for humans in music if this is just the early stages!
Walk her to forever
Walk her to forever
657 Replies
·
29564 views
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Saxophones Pork Tales: Saxophone Repair DIY Adventures.- Started by PigSquealer
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