After reading Pete Thomas article ”Loud and Hard” on his blog which is good and gives me some reflections about the phenonmenon called Rocksax (Blues, oldtime R&B, Rock & Roll, Funk, Soul, Pop, Ska, Reggea and maybe also Country …).
I agree on Pete’s writing. Being a hobbysaxophonist in the Rocksaxfield I’m always trying to to blow/play loud and maybe also hard. I’ve my own methods to achieve a loud tone/sound. But what do we mean when we say loud? Is it high screaming tones with growl (altissimo or overblowing) or low powerful tones? Or is it just to blow into a microphone and amplify your sax?
And there are lots of terms that I use and that I think are close to Rocksax: Loud, big, large, full-body, punchy, full-tone, rocky, screaming, greasy, slabby, filthy, rough, powerful, fat, attackful, raspy, strong, bellow, wild, frantic …… (some of these words are taken from a Swedish study called ”Modelling Perceptual Dimensions of Saxophone Sounds”).
What exercises are you doing to get a ”loud/big” tone?
”Blow Your Brains Out” and ”Cryin’ My Heart Out” are two good samples of early R&B-sax songs. ”Blow Your Brains Out” is a Wynonie Harris song. Hal Singer and Tom Archia are blowing on their tenorsaxes. ”Cryin’ My Heart Out” is a Red Prysock tune and Red is is really blowing his heart out on his tenor! For me Red Prysock is #1. None of the tenorplayers is overblowin’ or playing out the ranges of their saxes. But they are using other Rocksaxtricks! And there is no loud trigging guitar on the songs. I like the guitar but less is more even when it comes to guitars. Where did the low-tuned 4-string guitar go?
Thomas
I agree on Pete’s writing. Being a hobbysaxophonist in the Rocksaxfield I’m always trying to to blow/play loud and maybe also hard. I’ve my own methods to achieve a loud tone/sound. But what do we mean when we say loud? Is it high screaming tones with growl (altissimo or overblowing) or low powerful tones? Or is it just to blow into a microphone and amplify your sax?
And there are lots of terms that I use and that I think are close to Rocksax: Loud, big, large, full-body, punchy, full-tone, rocky, screaming, greasy, slabby, filthy, rough, powerful, fat, attackful, raspy, strong, bellow, wild, frantic …… (some of these words are taken from a Swedish study called ”Modelling Perceptual Dimensions of Saxophone Sounds”).
What exercises are you doing to get a ”loud/big” tone?
”Blow Your Brains Out” and ”Cryin’ My Heart Out” are two good samples of early R&B-sax songs. ”Blow Your Brains Out” is a Wynonie Harris song. Hal Singer and Tom Archia are blowing on their tenorsaxes. ”Cryin’ My Heart Out” is a Red Prysock tune and Red is is really blowing his heart out on his tenor! For me Red Prysock is #1. None of the tenorplayers is overblowin’ or playing out the ranges of their saxes. But they are using other Rocksaxtricks! And there is no loud trigging guitar on the songs. I like the guitar but less is more even when it comes to guitars. Where did the low-tuned 4-string guitar go?
Thomas
