Couple of questions and a sorry

[Amaranth]

First the sorry, I've been a bit lapse on virtual activities due to a run of bad luck and subsequent hectic real life activities which I won't bore you with (yet ) so sorry to have been more of a lurker than a contributor recently.
However one of the good busy parts of offline life is that I'm playing more Sax now as the group that I've been jamming and practising with have now formed a Band and we had our first official gig last weekend which was enormous fun . We have our next Gig as "Dixie & Co." on the 29th of this month and this is the part where I need some advice, I play my Tenor standing up, sometimes still, sometimes jigging about a bit but always standing up. 5 days before our (Paying!) gig on the 29th, I am in hospital for a left knee arthroscopy and possibly the right one too so there is a good chance that I will still be on crutches for the Gig. Even stone cold sober (which happens quite often in these restricted financial times) there is no way that I can cope with crutches and the tenor so I will need to sit down on a stool - so what stool height should I go for? My OH's drum stool feels a bit low but will I be able to perch on a bar stool and play? what do others do who don't stand up all the time?
The set will be 2 X 45minutes.
My other question concerns reed choice for my Dukoff H7 as my Plasticover died on saturday quite dramatically and I need to replace it with one that's a little wider in diameter to fit the mpc better - any suggestions?
Thank you
Aly

 

[Nick Cook]

Hi Aly,

At the orchestra we have to play sitting down, and we just use ordinary chairs (we play in a school so they are just ordinary mass produced chairs), so a chair height stool should be ok. You might have to change the position of the crook and mouthpiece too, depending on how you're going to hold the sax. If you're going to hold the sax in front of you, between your legs, it should be exactly the same, otherwise, if you're going to hold it to the side, you will need to make adjustments. I'd have a practise first to see what suits you!!

Nick

 

[Amaranth]

Cheers Nick, I just don't want to damage my Sax by knocking a chair leg and as I'm a fidget i just know I'm going to fall off the bloomin thing! (Note to self - NO short skirts!)
Aly

 

[TomMapfumo]

Sorry to hear about your predicament. A fender 30" bar stool would be an excellent choice for gigging. I use it playing guitar, but also great for trombone /sax when I need a bit of a break from standing. With a comfy revolving seat it shouldn't restrict your movement and is very comfortable.

Kind regards
Tom

 

[Amaranth]

Ooooh they're lovely, I want one!!

 

[saxnik]

Speaking as a teacher - crossing your legs is a no-no as it restricts your diaphragm and therefore your breathing! Maybe trousers or a flowing skirt then...?
Oh and (fairly obviously) have a practice at playing sitting down before the day! I favour slinging a tenor down to the right while sitting - I end up in an uncomfortable position with my right arm playing in front. However it might be ok if you're tall enough!
Good luck!

Nick

 

[Amaranth]

Speaking as a teacher - crossing your legs is a no-no as it restricts your diaphragm and therefore your breathing! Maybe trousers or a flowing skirt then...?
Oh and (fairly obviously) have a practice at playing sitting down before the day! I favour slinging a tenor down to the right while sitting - I end up in an uncomfortable position with my right arm playing in front. However it might be ok if you're tall enough!
Good luck!


Nick

I'm only 5'4" and down the right hand side feels closest to Natural (still a bit "disconnected" though compared to standing)

Aly

 

[saxnik]

Fair enough - I've played in a lot of big bands so I'm used to sitting to play. Keep your back straight!!
With regards the op - my wife had arthroscopy in her knee a couple of years ago, they did some abrasions on the cartilage and sorted her pain out (after a few weeks on the crutches and in a rather fetching leg brace thing, maybe it does require a long skirt!) so hopefully yours will be just as successful!

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Amaranth]

Fair enough - I've played in a lot of big bands so I'm used to sitting to play. Keep your back straight!!
With regards the op - my wife had arthroscopy in her knee a couple of years ago, they did some abrasions on the cartilage and sorted her pain out (after a few weeks on the crutches and in a rather fetching leg brace thing, maybe it does require a long skirt!) so hopefully yours will be just as successful!

Cheers,

Nick

Thanks Nick, that's reassuring - how's your wife's knee now?
By the way what reed do you use on your Dukoff?
Aly

 

[saxnik]

No probs Aly,

I can't pretend that her cartilage is good as new - it doesn't work like that - but there's a lot less pain, and it's only now and then. The specialist thinks it was a pre-existing condition that was accelerated by her taking part in the Oxfam 'Trailwalker' (100k walk in 30hrs) a couple of years ago. She had to stop after 92k, and has now had to give up any thoughts of doing it again to complete it, or the London Marathon or anything else excessive! Probably she'll need a knee-replacement in 20 years or so, then she plans to do the marathon!! Incidentally, she's only a little 'un too, but plays baritone sax, sitting down, slung right!

As for the reeds, it depends a bit. Usually I use La Voz medium-hard, though I have tried the free ones (I ordered 3's) from internetreeds.com, and find that with a bit of blowing in (they're harder than the numbers suggest) they work pretty well. At 85p instead of about £2 I might get some more.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[dooce]

Hi Aly

I hate playing sitting down, but on the rare occassions I've got no option, a stool is enough because you don't really want to be leaning back on a chairback, and stools tend to have smaller seat as well so there's less chance of knocking the sax against it.

Good luck - where's the gig?

 

[Amaranth]

Thanks again - ordered

 

[Amaranth]

Hi Aly

I hate playing sitting down, but on the rare occassions I've got no option, a stool is enough because you don't really want to be leaning back on a chairback, and stools tend to have smaller seat as well so there's less chance of knocking the sax against it.

Good luck - where's the gig?

It's at the Bricklayers Arms, Marston, Oxford - we have about 25 songs so we are working on another dozen or so for the gig and I have either got a part foor the Sax (mostly on the Amy Stuff or Mustang etc) or add accents (Black velvet etc) on about a third of them so I'm working on bolstering my part so any suggestions for 60's - Current covers for Rock/blues with nice Sax lines for primarily female singers (we have 2 plus me as a last resort ) are welcome
Aly

 

[dooce]

You could try Rosalie - Thin Lizzy and Man on the Moon - REM. Neither of them had much, if any, sax on the originals but I found it quite easy to work in some interesting lines.

 

[Amaranth]

You could try Rosalie - Thin Lizzy and Man on the Moon - REM. Neither of them had much, if any, sax on the originals but I found it quite easy to work in some interesting lines.

Thanks Bill, I'll have a listen

 

[Amaranth]

Deleted double post!

 

[thomsax]

What about your Dukoff mpc and reed?

Listen to songs with The Crystals, Darlene Love, Veronica, The Ronettes and Tina Turner. Lots of sax/horn lines and saxsolos. I have the Phil Spector box "Back To Mono (1958-1969". Phil Spectors regular saxplayers were: Steve Kreisman (Steve Douglas) Jim Horn, Nino Tempo and Jay Migliori: But also saxmen like King Curtis, Plas Johnson, Art Pepper, Clifford Salomon (pianoman Charles Brown saxplayer).... joined the "Wall of Sound"!

Thomas

 

[Amaranth]

What about your Dukoff mpc and reed?

Listen to songs with The Crystals, Darlene Love, Veronica, The Ronettes and Tina Turner. Lots of sax/horn lines and saxsolos. I have the Phil Spector box "Back To Mono (1958-1969". Phil Spectors regular saxplayers were: Steve Kreisman (Steve Douglas) Jim Horn, Nino Tempo and Jay Migliori: But also saxmen like King Curtis, Plas Johnson, Art Pepper, Clifford Salomon (pianoman Charles Brown saxplayer).... joined the "Wall of Sound"!

Thomas

Im going to try a couple from Internetreeds.com and maybe a V16 rather than replace the plasticover for now. I really only use the Dukoff now although I'll occasionally use the Cannonball mpc that came with it for a breathier sort of sound. Thanks for the song suggestions - i'll steal the PC from my daughter this evening for a listen!

 

[Taz]

I hope I haven't posted this too late, but this sort of thing is great. You can either sit on it properly, or just perch on it. That means that your knees should remain fairly straight. They are very comfortable and look pretty cool too.

I hope the knees are better soon!