sampleaccurate
New Member
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Hi all,
I'm an excellent drummer by experience and profession and an electrical engineer by profession, and I dabble with several other instruments, mostly guitar as well as several others but I'm not very proficient at anything except the drums. I also enjoy recording and have a well equipped home studio.
I just "discovered" the saxophone. On a whim I decided to buy one (alto) never having even held one in my hands to see if I could learn how to play it, one reason being it's almost impossible to use samples to create a convincing sax performance on a recording, and I've always loved the sound of the instrument. Turns out that my embouchure has developed rapidly, I can get some nice tones out of the instrument after only a short time practicing, and I find it quite enjoyable. I think if I practice this instrument I could eventually become a decent sax player, or at least a better player than I am on other instruments except the drums. The key word is "practice" since my 3 year old son puts a lot of demands on my time.
Up until now my focus has been on developing the muscles in my mouth and embouchure and lung capacity to make some nice tones. I haven't yet begun to learn read. I was practicing the chromatic scale but otherwise everything I play is by ear. I play everything in the key that I find it easiest to play in. I've developed the ability to pitch bend and vibrato and change the character or tone of the sound but I have to search around for the fingering of the note I want to play, then memorize the fingerings to play a simple tune.
I don't know if this is the ideal approach, but my goal is not to become a sight reader. My goal is to compose original songs and use the saxophone as one of the instruments without resorting to using samples (ugghh!) and play relatively simple parts. The quality of the sound and the control of the tone, vibrato, and pitch bend, and other forms of articulation are my main focus.
One thing I hope to lean here are practice tips, as well as recommendations for mouthpieces and reeds. There are so many choices for mouthpieces I don't know where to begin. I purchased a good quality hard rubber Vandoren mouthpiece that blows away the Yamaha plastic mouthpiece I initially tried (don't remember the model numbers of either one right now) but changing mouthpieces made it very clear how important the mouthpiece is to the sound and ease of playing.
I look forward to participating in this forum as time permits and will have many questions in the future that I hope some of the more experienced members here would be so kind to answer. I think this is my first post in the Doorbell section of the Forum. If not I apologize for posting twice. I also hope I'm supposed to create a new thread for my introduction - I couldn't see any other way to post. If I'm doing something wrong please set me straight.
Thanks everyone!
Stephen
I'm an excellent drummer by experience and profession and an electrical engineer by profession, and I dabble with several other instruments, mostly guitar as well as several others but I'm not very proficient at anything except the drums. I also enjoy recording and have a well equipped home studio.
I just "discovered" the saxophone. On a whim I decided to buy one (alto) never having even held one in my hands to see if I could learn how to play it, one reason being it's almost impossible to use samples to create a convincing sax performance on a recording, and I've always loved the sound of the instrument. Turns out that my embouchure has developed rapidly, I can get some nice tones out of the instrument after only a short time practicing, and I find it quite enjoyable. I think if I practice this instrument I could eventually become a decent sax player, or at least a better player than I am on other instruments except the drums. The key word is "practice" since my 3 year old son puts a lot of demands on my time.
Up until now my focus has been on developing the muscles in my mouth and embouchure and lung capacity to make some nice tones. I haven't yet begun to learn read. I was practicing the chromatic scale but otherwise everything I play is by ear. I play everything in the key that I find it easiest to play in. I've developed the ability to pitch bend and vibrato and change the character or tone of the sound but I have to search around for the fingering of the note I want to play, then memorize the fingerings to play a simple tune.
I don't know if this is the ideal approach, but my goal is not to become a sight reader. My goal is to compose original songs and use the saxophone as one of the instruments without resorting to using samples (ugghh!) and play relatively simple parts. The quality of the sound and the control of the tone, vibrato, and pitch bend, and other forms of articulation are my main focus.
One thing I hope to lean here are practice tips, as well as recommendations for mouthpieces and reeds. There are so many choices for mouthpieces I don't know where to begin. I purchased a good quality hard rubber Vandoren mouthpiece that blows away the Yamaha plastic mouthpiece I initially tried (don't remember the model numbers of either one right now) but changing mouthpieces made it very clear how important the mouthpiece is to the sound and ease of playing.
I look forward to participating in this forum as time permits and will have many questions in the future that I hope some of the more experienced members here would be so kind to answer. I think this is my first post in the Doorbell section of the Forum. If not I apologize for posting twice. I also hope I'm supposed to create a new thread for my introduction - I couldn't see any other way to post. If I'm doing something wrong please set me straight.
Thanks everyone!
Stephen
