Tone or Sound Madness tenor sound

[Moz]

The band Madness had a very distinctive sound most of which came from a tenor sax I believe. The sound that came out of the sax can be achieved by 'growling' whilst playing but this is difficult to do for very long and I'm wondering if that notable sound was achieved in some other way; perhaps an odd mpc reed combo.

Anybody know?

Moz

 

[Saxlicker]

I don't know for sure whether he aided that growl in any particular way but I doubt it:-

The mouthpiece/reed combo will definately effect the amount of effort involved in sustaining a good growl and indeed it's overall sound. Though it is unlikely he had anything 'odd' to achieve this.

I also doubt that (other than practise) anything else would have been needed.
I can do it reasonably well through madness tracks but as you say, it does get hard to sustain.

 

[thomsax]

At the last Rocksax workshop, Andrew Clark demonstrated how to growl (humming a-long with the sax) in a more lenient way. Most players growl in a low pitch. By moving up the pitch of your humming you can growl easier and for a longer time. You have to practice to hym in a higher pitch (an octave or something.....) There is a small differnce between the 'regular' growl and the 'up-pitched' one but I don't think is not notable for the listerners. Right setup also helps up when you want to produce a growl.

Thomas

 

[Taz]

Thomas is correct as usual, you can hum along whilst you play, the more effort, or the louder you hum, affects the "growl" quite noticeably. I find it difficult to concentrate on humming the tune and playing along at the same time, so you can hum vaguely in tune and it still sounds ok. Its all a case of practice. Don't give up on it because you think it sounds bad or you cant do it well, it comes remarkably quickly!!! 8)

 

[spike]

Thomsax lives in the land of the "Roaring Elks" that's why he knows how to growl.

I think it's called cross modulation or a modulation of some sort when two notes interact with and interrupt and modify each other. - or is it oscillation?

If you sing "exactly" in tune with what you play you'll find that it doesn't work at all.
I usually hum along quite vaguely in a lower register and add the real dirty clearing of the throat growl for extra emphasis. You really need to practice it quite a lot or least be very aware of what you're doing. It is an effect - and should be used as such, many players overdo it and in so doing lose the effect - been there done that -

There's a really good Steve Douglas Rock'n'Roll saxophone video where he demonstrates - I think it's four different growl techniques - one of which involves "waggling the Uvula" - he doesn't recommend it - I didn't even know I had one. I wonder if Elks have got Uvulas.

 

[Jules]

I suspect a lot of Lee Thompson's sound is in the fact he sounds like he was playing really, really loud.

 

[TomMapfumo]

That was almost a sentence 😛

 

[jonf]

There's also that - possibly apocryphal - tale about him playing half a tone sharp. The story goes that as he's self taught he dodn't know how far to push the mouthpiece on, so he jammed it on as far as he possibly could.

 

[Gungehead]

I had also heard that he was self taught and tried to tune to concert pitch so had to jam the mouthpiece on as far as he could, usually resulting on being a little flat!
Great band though, one of my favourites.

 

[wavygravy]

has anyone heard of a madness songbook in the style of the playalong books with a backing cd????

neil

 

[Pete Thomas]

Here's a little info from Madness's producer:

 

[yoyojojo]

Fab story :-D

 

[emmalto]

Sadly there doesn't appear to be a Madness songbook around (at least, not one for the sax).

I have the sheet music for One Step Beyond, and am halfway through that - it's really good fun blasting that one out :-D

 

[steve_m]

Re growling:
It's natural to try and hum a note similar to the one being played which is the wrong approach. Fourths, fifths, octaves and unisons will all tend to be notes that produce little beating - which is the effect that produces the 'growl'. Try going for a third or sixth and it'll almost certainly produce the right effect.

Higher notes will take less air to produce so that will help to keep growling.

Earl Bostic used to growl most of the time, and had hits such as Flamingo. Great player!

 

[John Laughter]

help to keep growling.

growling

Hi all i don't suppose anyone could tell me were i could get a copy of a c.d. it the tune is called"Blues Control" by Paul Van Ross. Also i would love to know if there is a easy way of growling ?? I have tried my way but ripped my throat out :laugh: Hope you are all well Tom.

cafesaxophone.com

 

[Grumps]

I was rehearsing with a ska group a couple weeks ago after we decided to get back together after about a dozen years or so off. One of the guys asked me if I knew any Madness.

I just smiled. This could be fun.

 

[mark_addy]

I was rehearsing with a ska group a couple weeks ago after we decided to get back together after about a dozen years or so off. One of the guys asked me if I knew any Madness.

I just smiled. This could be fun.

I went to see a 'Specials' tribute band on Sat night. The gig was full of pogo-ing 60-something ex-skins. Doing a course on a defibrillator might be a wise move before you gig.