How to hang 25lbs of brass around your neck...

And you guys thought I'd abandoned this blog...


The bari has been bothering me more these days with lower back and neck stiffness and pain, so I thought I'd check into some alternatives to my trusty Hyman strap.

BG Harness

BG Saxophone Harness.  My friend Tom really likes his harness, and he let me try it with bari and tenor.  It definitely offers great support of the weight, especially on bari, but my biggest hangup was the lack of freedom it gives you.  When you hook on your horn, you've just attached the thing to your chest, so there's no swinging it out of the way to change music, or possibly even setting it on your knee on the stand (if you're sitting).  And if you're switching horns, I didn't find that the adjustment worked all that smoothly, since altos are typically mounted a little higher than tenors, the same said for bari switching to tenor.  But, it IS available with either plastic or metal hook (metal is recommended for bari), and it has an available styles for larger frames, and notably one for women--something surprising, but kinda nice for the ladies to avoid embarrassing and uncomfortable strap positions.  They seem to go for around $35.

http://www.wwbw.com/BG-Saxophone-Harness-465115-i1416693.wwbw?src=sax+harness

BG Yoke Strap

BG Yoke Strap.  Wide straps pretend to spred the weight better, but what they don't say is that they distribute the weight better around your neck.  The BG Yoke solves this problem, as the strap lays flat on your collar bone and shoulders, and around your neck, not hanging on it.  I played it last night for about 3 hours straight on tenor, and I felt pretty good afterwards.  The adjustment stays put and is pretty easy to adjust.  I tried it on the bari this afternoon, and while it worked, I'd have liked just a little more length.  Again, though...very comfortable.  And, as with the harness, you should order the metal hook version for heavier instruments or baritone.  The yoke goes for $65..a bit pricey, but it seems to be a good solution.

http://www.wwbw.com/BG-Yoke-Saxophone-Strap-465113-i1418935.wwbw?isku=465115

Jazz Mouthpieces

Oh jeez! Here we go again...

DSP has a nifty new song that requires some sultry alto sounds. Yikes!

My favorite lead alto piece, the Lakey 7*3, is proving to be a very effective lead-alto piece, but a fairly poor solo jazz or "mellow" mouthpiece. Can you say "peels paint"?

Having looked at some of the possibilities, I'm leaning towards another round of tryouts involving rounder and darker sounds. The Meyer is a popular choice that I'd be silly to ignore, but I'm probably looking at an 8 or 9 facing (~0.85"-0.90"). Otto Link, some Jody Jazz models, Vandoren all have some interesting choices.

Some friends are planning a holiday trip to South Bend to visit WWBW for a day, and I think I'll be on the bus with my '54 King on hand...

Mirage Soprano

Via the annarborgaragesale@yahoo.com list, I've more or less acquired a Mirage Soprano sax. I started trying it out this afternoon. Before I get to the opinion spot, I'm playing this on an Otto Link 8* mpc and a Hemke #1 reed (no snickers...this setup is great for doublers). The Otto Link goes for $63 at http://www.wwbw.com and the Mirage horns seem to list at just under $800 new.

The specs... First, the Mirage Soprano is a heavy horn...heavier than the Yamaha, Yanigasawa and WWBW-brand sopranoes I've played. Not a biggie, but your right thumb will notice. The neck is a removable variety, which I found handy simply to get the mpc on there far enough without bending the horn all up fighting with it.

Why is it that all sopranoes seem to have longer-than-necessary necks, leaving us to shove the mouthpiece on almost all the way in???

It has pan-handle style keys for the high D/D#/F keys, as you'd expect on alto/tenor/bari/etc. This is the one big plus over the previously mentioned Yani--it uses the single post-style of those keys, and frankly, it just doesn't work, since you're used to a different kind of motion. The Mirage's mechanicals are in the solid Intermediate territory. Its not crude like some student models, but neither is it smooth and fast like a pro horn. Key layout is quite reasonable and comfortable. I think the octave key travel is longer than it needs to be, but its still in reasonable territory. This horn has a high-F# key, but my mpc/reed setup really doesn't facilitate popping that puppy out. Your milage may vary.

Playing it... This horn plays well. It speaks out, has great tone, and at the outset intonation seems in the ballpark. After checking notes against a Korg CA-20 tuner, this thing is uncanny. Its the first soprano I've played that is consistently "green-light" in-tune. Yes, the upper register plays a little sharper than the lower, but in my experience all saxes do this, leaving it to the performer to fight the instinct to tight-lip the mouthpiece.

Woodwind players have a long history of biting down when attacking upper-register notes. From the very first notes played up there, we quickly discover that "biting harder" on the mouthpiece makes those notes come out easier. True enough, but the intonation suffers badly, and later in life, we all have to un-learn this early lesson.

After playing and woodshedding for about an hour, I took a 2nd check of intonation on various notes to see how things were looking. WOW! Not only had the intonation not gotten out of whack, but in fact, it was better and tighter than ever.

Summing it up... The cats still flee in disgust, but what I'm taking out of this is that the Mirage soprano sax is a great bargain and a decent horn for the money--new or used. Don't be afraid of the brand name--Mirage is building great horns for a very reasonable price.

Reed Update: Run, don't walk!

Run, don't walk, to get yourself the Vandoren ZZ reeds. They're fabulous! EXTREMELY responsive and they wear like iron. My alto reed is now close to a year old and I'm more worried about it from a hygienic standpoint than it wearing out or sounding bad. It's needed a clipping every few months just to keep the end from fraying, but its an unbelievable lifetime. I'm moving to use these great reeds for all of my horns. Bari is going to take a while, since I don't play it as often, and I've got a huge stock of reeds that work fine. Same goes for soprano. Alto and Tenor are using ZZ regularly.

Its hard to quantify what "extremely responsive" really means, but it comes down to this: you get consistent tone and the reed is always "ready to go"...there's a very short wetting period..maybe 2-3 minutes tops. Once you play on it for about 5 minutes its fully warmed up and you get top performance until it gets waterlogged...which seems to be towards the end of the 4th 45 minute set playing lead Alto in a big band. Or the end of a 3rd 70 minute set in the blues band. These reeds are workhorses!

Remember: Run, don't walk!

Reeds: The Neverending Story

I'm always humbled by the fact that so much of what we do on the horn is totally dependant on a $3 piece of wood that is quite the random piece of nature. American or French cut, soft or hard, filed or unfiled, natural or man-made, these crazy things are one of the three variables to a good sound, the other 2 being the horn and mouthpiece.

On that note, I've played on a variety of these things. Rico, Rico Royal, Rico Jazz, Rico Jazz Select, LaVoz, Fibercane, BARI, Hemke, Vandoren, Vandoren V16, Vandoren JAVA, Vandoren ZZ, Glotin, Guardala, and even one or two Rico Plasticover. Yikes! That list was longer than I figured it'd be!

BARI was an interesting reed, absorbing water, sandable, yet totally synthetic. Cool clear look. Tone was harsh, though, in retrospect. A great reed, though...mine lasted 3 years, but disintegrated eventually.

Rico Jazz (and Rico Jazz Select) are my 2nd favorite reeds. You can't buy Rico Jazz reeds anymore, just the Selects. I play on a #1 or #1.5 and the softest Select might be a 1.75...or "2-soft" in SelectSpeak. Very consistent reed. Edgy when new, but always with great body throughout the life of the reed.

My new favorite, introduced to me by my friend and alto-cohort John Lukacs, is the Vandoren ZZ reed. Edge, brightness, body, and holy-cow-I-can't-believe-it responsiveness. Makes all other reeds seem positively dead. It takes about 5-10 minutes of playing to warm this reed up to "full power", but after that, it's good for the whole night. Back off and you get quiet and mellow; push a bit and the bright, edgy qualities become prominent. And the tone. Its everything you'd expect an alto to sound like.

I've got a box of tenor and bari ZZ reeds on my Christmas list this year, I liked them so well on Alto.

Now it's your turn to flame me into the corner!

Mouthpieces

Current setups:

Soprano: Otto Link 8* Rubber, #2.5 Rico Royal
Alto: Claude Lakey 7*3, #2 Vandoren ZZ (or #1 Glotin Jazz)
Tenor (Blues): Dukoff D9, #2 Vandoren ZZ
Tenor (Jazz): Dukoff M9, #2 Vandoren ZZ
Bari: RPC 0.135" tip Custom, #2.5 Rico Royal (until I finish them)
Clarinet: John Pierce Jazz, #2.5 VanDoren

Comments:

The RPC has the chamber size of a BASS sax, giving it loads of body, but its also combined with a moderate to high baffle, giving it alot of bark. I've played this outdoors without amplification and it still projects well. :) :) :) Its perfect for the rock/blues gigs.

Love the Dukoff, but wish the high range wouldn't thin out so much. I also own an M9, which is a lower-baffle version of the D9, but its alot of work and doesn't cut through like the D9. The D9 is the classic "Power Chamber" mouthpiece that Bobby Dukoffs are known for.

The Lakey on Alto is fantastic, but the tone you get is highly sensative to what reed you plop on. Its nice because when you back off, its mellow and nice, while if you bear down, it sparkles and bites. And, you CAN growl on alto on this thing.

The Link on Soprano is very free-blowing and on my el-Cheapo curved soprano, it plays reasonably in-tune. Has a very dark, mellow sound, too, which is not what you might expect out of a soprano.

Positively love the John Pierce on the clarinet! Its got that Dixieland sound that I'm looking for...its just perfect. The problem is that I can't figure out the blasted fingerings!!

I also own:

Soprano: Rico Royal Graftonite (don't recall size)
Alto: RIA #10
Alto: Rico Royal Graftonite A7
Tenor: Dukoff M9
Tenor: Claude Lakey 8*3 Rubber
Tenor: Rico Royal Graftonite A7
Bari: Rousseu (biggest facing possible)

Notes:

The Rico Royal mpcs are NOT to be underestimated. They are more than worth their $16 price (yes, $16!!!). They are very free blowing and although they're marketed as "jazz" mouthpieces, they work quite well for classical stuff.

I tend to prefer free-blowing pieces, so you won't see any Bergs or Meyers in there...I've tried them, and they're horribly stuffy.

The RIA is like a Berg with the stuffiness taken out. Good combination of mellow and bite.

Runyons are OK, but the intonation kills 'em off quick.

The Rousseau isn't bad on bari, but it doesn't have the bark that I need to compete with guitars.

Lakeys are excellent and sell for only $60. They're a little squirrelly when rapidly changing registers, but if you know its coming, its no big deal. UPDATE:Lakeys are still only $59.95, if you hit the web!

SOMEWHERE, I have a chart that's much more detailed than this, but I've had trouble finding it lately.
BINGO I found the chart and put it online: "The List"

Getting Started...

After rehearsal tonight, I realized that I needed reeds again. My last foray into ReedLand got me about 4 boxes of alto reeds, which I'm down to my last 4...2 of which are playable, 2 of which can make moderately pleasant noises if coaxed. Of those 4 reeds, 1 is a Rico Jazz and the other 3 are Glotin. I really liked the Rico Jazz (NOT Select), but they stopped making them.

I started this blog because I was gently knudged that in this day and age, others might possibly benefit from my trek.

So...how do you get a Rico Jazz #1.5 these days? Buy a Select and take the knife to it!?

This is merely a starter post, so have at it. I've not even begun to touch on my mouthpiece hajj of the 90's.