Hullo All

A couple of points!

The Horn

If you are buying a saxophone and you are fairly new to it take advice, a
secondhand sax can not be safely bought over the net; a bad horn can breed
bad habits into an individuals technique that could take a lifetime to
recover from. Go to reputable shop with either your prospective tutor or a
seasoned player, it is absolutely impossible to choose a horn from a
photograph or a review; an experienced human is required.

Do not allow a name to influence your choice' there are as many sub-standard
professional horns in the market place as there are sub-standard student
models. The horn is your personal instrument, your choice, your money buys
it, you and your time plays it, be objective.

My thoughts are; the top choice of he moment is Yanagisawa, I recently
bought a T992 Bronze Laquerd. I am completely blown away by the sound, by
the technical facility and the aesthetic beauty of the horn. This from Mel
Martin:- http://www.melmartin.com/html_pages/yana.html


From a previous posting of mine:-

"If you are going to buy your self an sax then I would think the first thing
to do would forget about any preconceived ideas and leave your self open.

Second thing to do is make your self a big bag of butties (sandwiches), a
flask full of coffee or tea, find your self a shop full of saxophones and
spend the whole day in there trying out every thing from the cellar to the
attic; until you find the horn that sings to you.

The same guy that gave me this advice would spend hours choosing reeds; pull
out and inspect every reed in the shop, a total pain to the store assistants
but as he said "I don't want to walk away from the store with something I
am not sure of or is sub-standard".

Reeds

My personal preference is Alexander Superial http://www.superial.com/ ; yes
they are expensive but there is less waste which for me counter balances
their cost i.e. in my experience every reed in the box is playable, which is
not the case with other brands. If your choice is Rico,Vandoran, LaVoz , etc
then buy the full box; seal intact, this is the only way to ensure that you
have not been left with the chaff.

Mouthpiece

What feels right for one individual may not feel right for someone else and
vice versa Do not go for a mouthpiece because some other horn player says
the sound I get is down to the fact that I am playing with a xxxxxxxx make",
the sound a horn player makes is highly individual and is down to the
relationship between player, reed, mouthpiece and horn.

I use a Otto Link Super Tone Master 8*, I had it customized in Hong Kong.
The rails are needle thin, the baffle has be given more height plus I had
the gold plate stripped off and replaced with chromium . It worked for me,
other players trying my mouthpiece have struggled. the point being is "What
feels right for one individual may not feel right for someone else"

Ligature

Believe it or not the difference a ligature can make is incredible, I use a
Olegature featuring a two screw mechanism, this allows the player to stiffen
or soften the response of the reed, varying the sound from bright to mellow.

In conclusion the saxophone makes he sweetest sound I have ever heard, so
whatever your standard; having the ability to blow the horn is a privilege
enjoy the gift.

DAT

http://david.turnbull9.users.btopenworld.com/

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