Ruby,
I think you and the band are doing fine. I listened to the MP3's on the bands website and I liked it. To be the only sax/horn player in a band is different compared to playing in a hornsection. You have to blow a little bit harder and use the sax in a wider range. Try to play some barilines on your tenor.
There are no Rock 'n' Roll saxophones or ditto setups. There are just saxes that are more suitable than others for Rock 'n' Roll. I think a Yanagisawa is too good to use as a Rock 'n' Roll sax. But you can get a Yani to sound nasty, evil, greasy.... . It depends on if you want it to sound like that. The same goes for mpc's. If you go back to the late 40's and early 50's most R&B saxplayers used mpc's that we today wouldn?t consider to be a Rock 'n' Roll setup. Wide openings, huge chambers ... and they sat the standard for Rocksax. In those days there were no ampiflication or PA worth the name. To take a solo and to be heard in a place, among hundreds of people who were dancing, screaming ...., they simply had to play loud and to play in a more spectacular way, otherwise the audience wouldn't pay them any attention. No attention - less money, or worst they were replaced. Most of the players in those days were playing a lot and they became very good. Players like Red Prysock, King Curtis .... from what I know, changed horns and mouthpieces over years. They played well on everything.
When I hear Rockers preaching Rocksax they use to recomend:
Play more dynamic when you are backing. Barilines, staccato lines .....
Add Rocksax effects to your playing: False fingerings, some altissimo tones, growls, note bending ......
When you're soloing, don't start at the root tone of the chord.
Play loud!! You want to be heard because you`ve got something to tell the audience!!! As a Rocker you are supposed to project/cute through.
Keep it simple! Less is more! A long tone can be very expressive!!
There are other ways to get into Rocksax. In an interview Clarerence Clemons (Bruce Sprinsteens saxman!!) said about his tone:
' Well is animal. It's an animal that's lives inside of you that you can't be afraid to unleash. Everybody got it, but a lot of people are afraid to let it go, because they can't control it.
I don't practise a lot of scales. I practice circular breathing, which builds up diaphragm and your embouchure. Circular breathing, keeping a note right there on the same pitch 10 or 15 minutes. You do that three or four times a week and you'll create something. You'll see that the animal come out. It's your approach to your instrument, your are mastering the instrument instead of the instrument is mastering you. I look at the saxophone as an extension of myself. It's a part of me, and we've kind of developed each other as we went along'. (CC was playing a Berg Larsen ss 130/0 and LaVoz MH reeds at that time)
A friend of mine had the oppertunity to meet King Curtis and 'kissed his feet' for a couple of times. He talked to Curtis and asked him about his saxplaying and his big tone: ' You blow in one end, you move your fingers up and down the outside!' Curtis was playing a wide open Link with really hard reeds in those days!!
Try to get in touch with a Rocksax player teaching, and arrange a Rockssax clinic/workshop. Pete Thomas must be the right person to talk to in this matter. I arranged a Rocksax workshop (for amatuers) and co-arranged a clinic for professionals last November. Andrew Clark was the teacher/leader. We would be more than happy to come over to England for Rocksax seanses next time Andrew is here!!! Get together 10-12 honkers, a place/room to play and we?ll book the flight!!! Just let me know.
Listen to Sax Gordon on the the song 'Merry Christmas Baby' w Luther 'Guitar Junior' Johnsson. Fine sample of tenorplaying!! I just uploaded the song to my webite on Live 365.
Sorry for my English but this time I'm not out of topic!!!!
Rock On'
Thomas
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