Misc recording Slow Motion Blues

[rhysonsax]

Trying out a new mouthpiece that I am hoping has a darker sound. This is a lovely slow blues that Lester Young played and also appears on the Dennis Taylor book "Blues Saxophone".

https://app.box.com/s/2l4j40lsqanvf0dwg1oksof7olylajh8

Trying to get in the mood for our Blues of the Month feature.

Rhys

 

[ProfJames]

You have a great sound..............

 

[trimmy]

Nice playing and you sound good on that mouthpiece, like it

 

[thomsax]

Very good. I like it.

 

[rhysonsax]

I tried a second recording with a different mouthpiece, slightly further from the microphone. I think it sounds a bit better, but still plenty to work on.

https://app.box.com/s/r99w40djijyrcrlhxe1fgq6wefpl7fra

Rhys

 

[jbtsax]

I really liked both versions. You play with a lot of feeling.

[Teacher's cap on] I used to teach my students that slow music is much harder to play than fast music. Building the technique to play fast just takes a lot of practice and repetition. What is even more challenging in very slow music is the timing, intonation and tone quality. These are under a microscope when playing slowly. At slower tempos there is much more time between the beats and the subdivisions of those beats to come in early. The notes are longer so the tone and pitch really stand out.

If I were playing a slow blues like the one in the recordings, I would practice with a 12/8 backing track or drum machine (metronome) until I could lock in every note to the 12 divisions in each bar. Then with the normal backing track I would keep that 12/8 going inside my head.

 

[MikeMorrell]

I like both versions too. I don't hear a great difference between the mpc's (my ears may not be so sensitive!) but the lower notes sound more relaxed and 'darker' to me than the higher ones.