JasonC
Member
I got a Maui Xaphoon today, I bought it for a bit of fun and something I could use for practising on when I can't use my Sax. I have the Classic (plastic) version in Red, I thought about the wooden ones then decided against that because of the maintenance.
First impressions are that its not easy to play! mainly because of the finger positions which at the moment are making my fingers ache a lot, especially my left thumb. It uses a Tenor reed and I'm not having any problems with this department as I'm used to playing my Sax, although you need to use a bit less pressure.
I think with a little practice and time my fingers will get used to the fingerings but its not easy to get in tune like the sax, for instance, getting sharps and flats is just a case of half covering one of the holes but its not as easy as it sounds! infact at the moment it is quite hard to cover a hole at all to get the normal notes. One thing that will help me practice though is embouchure and breathing, this thing takes a lot of breath! You can do all the normal Sax effects like growling and vibrato so it will be great for practising little things like this at my desk when I get a few mins, and then obviously I can carry this over to my Alto.
A have only had the thing a couple of hours with a few minutes practice so I'll give it time, and once I've got to grips with it I think it could be a nice little portable instrument.
First impressions are that its not easy to play! mainly because of the finger positions which at the moment are making my fingers ache a lot, especially my left thumb. It uses a Tenor reed and I'm not having any problems with this department as I'm used to playing my Sax, although you need to use a bit less pressure.
I think with a little practice and time my fingers will get used to the fingerings but its not easy to get in tune like the sax, for instance, getting sharps and flats is just a case of half covering one of the holes but its not as easy as it sounds! infact at the moment it is quite hard to cover a hole at all to get the normal notes. One thing that will help me practice though is embouchure and breathing, this thing takes a lot of breath! You can do all the normal Sax effects like growling and vibrato so it will be great for practising little things like this at my desk when I get a few mins, and then obviously I can carry this over to my Alto.
A have only had the thing a couple of hours with a few minutes practice so I'll give it time, and once I've got to grips with it I think it could be a nice little portable instrument.
