This Sax Ring site is owned by jdsctt@mta.ca. Want to join The Sax Ring? |
|---|
| [Previous 5] [Prev] [Next] [Skip] [Random] [Next 5] [List Sites] |
|
This Sax Ring site is owned by jdsctt@mta.ca. Want to join The Sax Ring? |
|---|
| [Previous 5] [Prev] [Next] [Skip] [Random] [Next 5] [List Sites] |
Thanks to the IMG SRC=/cgi-bin/counter/pokeysax> sax lovers that have come to my
web page. I hope that it has proven useful to you. Please make sure you
reference the page if you use my information. Also, if you have any comments,
questions, or suggestions, please e-mail me. Thanks everyone!!!! WOW! Over
4000 hits, I'm impressed! Thanks again.
Mail Pokeysax
I'm going to divide this page into a few sections. Click on a section to move directly to it.
On a separate page, I'm also making a small gallery of
saxophone pictures. Click here to see it.
Saxophone
Pics
The Saxophone is a relatively new creation. It was invented by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker in the early 1840's. It was introduced by Sax's close friend Hector Berlioz on June 12, 1842, in a Parisian magazine. The actual date it was patented was in 1846. The saxophone is mainly a band instrument. It is rarely used in orchestral works. Most orchestral works it appears in are composed by French composers. Berlioz, and Maurice Ravel often used various saxophones in their works. German composer Richard Wagner also made use of the saxophone family.
The main use of the saxophone is in concert and military bands. It quickly found heavy use in military bands throughout Europe and North America. Today all bands have saxophone sections with Alto, Tenor and Baritone saxophone parts. In the 1910's and 1920's the saxophones potential in Jazz was also noted. The Big Band sounds of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington would not be complete without their swinging saxophone section. The two Altos, two Tenors, and Bari sitting in the front row are remarkable in Big Bands throughout their history.
All the saxophones are also splendid soloists. The four most common in the family are the Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone (Bari) saxes. Again (I find anyway), al ot of the music written for saxophone solo is by French and Belgian composers. There is also a fair amount by American composers, but a lot of this is in the Jazz idiom. Noteworthy classical saxophone composers are Jacques Ibert, Eugène Bozza, and Georges Tourneur. Alot of classical saxophone litterature is transcribed and transposed from other works. The saxophone seems to be ideal for Baroque works. Among the pieces I've played are a Sonata's by Handel and Henri Eccles, Arias by Ibert and Bozza, a Concerto movement by Tourneur, and a Sonatina by Ravel. A well known composer for solo saxophone, and quartets (whom I have just discovered) is Pierre-Max DuBois. I am currently working on his Sonate-Fantasie, and Quatuor pour Saxophones.
As you've certainly noticed by now, there is more than one type of saxophone. In fact there are many more than the four I've mentioned. The complete "modern" saxophone family has seven members. There are several other rare saxophones as well. The main members of the family are (from smallest to largest) the Eb Sopranino, Bb Soprano, Eb Alto, Bb Tenor, Eb Baritone, Bb Bass, and Eb Contrabass. The two extremes can hardly be seen as "regular" members, they are very rare, but can still be made. There was a time that Conn was the only company making Contras however, L.A. Sax has started making them, and apparently Selmer did make some at one point. At one time saxophones were being made in the keys of F and C, rather than Eb and Bb. The "rare" saxophones are the ones found in these keys. It is still relatively easy to find C Tenors and Sopranos though.
So, that's the beginning of my brief history of saxophones.
I will try to update this somewhat frequently and add information whenever
I can.
As for saxophone playing, there is a lot to be said, and a lot that varies from individual to individual. There are two main schools of classical saxophone playing, French and American. The French style is a much thinner sound. The American sytle has a much open sound and edgy surrounding.
The following is what I said when I gave the saxophone
lecture for my Woodwind methods course, plus a bit.
Embouchure
The embouchure for saxophone is an
"oo" embouchure like oboe and bassoon, but oriented to the upper lip. The
upper teeth are put on the mouthpiece, and the lower lip covers the lower
teeth. Play with a flat chin, open oral cavity, and round embouchure. Corners
of the mouth are forward. One manner of describing the embouchure is to
purse your lips as if to kiss someone. You then put the mouthpiece in as
above.
Breathing
Breath deeply, and push with the diaphragm.
Breathe out evenly. When taking air in, use a quick but filling inhalation.
Keep your shoulders down. Breathing should expand your chest/belly horizontally,
and provide a "cushion" to sit on.
Body Position
Sit straight up, at the edge of the
seat. The neck strap should support the weight of the instrument, while
the hand pushes the bottom, bringing the mouthpiece to you. You can hold
the alto and soprano saxes either to the side or in front. Tenor and larger
must be held to the side. The advantage of holding an alto in the centre
is that both hands have equal dexterity.
Tonguing
You should tongue using the part of
the tongue just behind the tip. Tongue the bottom of the tip of the reed.
The tonguing syllable can be ‘tu', ‘du', or ‘la'. ‘Tu' is the hardest tongue,
and ‘la' the softest. Double tonguing is by tonguing in the front of your
mouth, then the back in quick succession. The syllables to produce this
effect are ‘tu-ku, tu-ku' or ‘da-ga, da-ga'. When producing a tone, it
should usually be started with the tongue.
Vibrato
The saxophone uses a lot of vibrato,
and it is from the jaw. A vibrato is made by lowering and raising the lower
jaw, slowly when learning then faster so you don't notice the changing
pitch, but the fuller sound.
Range
The written saxophone range for all
saxes is Bb below the treble staff to F above it. Most baritones can play
t he A below, and many professional saxes have a high F# key.
I am also including the names of some books wihich I have found helpful, either for technique readings, or playing.
SELMER
There are lots of companies out there making saxophones
right now. Here, I will include links to the major ones, and shortly, some
comments I have about them. Selmer is generally considered the best name
out there. They have the Selmer Paris, and Selmer USA branches. Paris is
generally considered better. A lower quality of the Selmer family is found
in Bundy. We had a couple in my high school. They were better than most,
but I put the nod for student models on Yamaha. When one is looking at
professional horns, the Mark VI is often pointed out. Beware of this myth.
The Mark VI is a great horn, but people get sucked in looking for the ones
with a "golden" sound, and won't admit that theirs is not one of these.
Selmer Homepage
YAMAHA
Yamaha is also a popular saxophone maker. They are a Japan
based company. I owned a Yamaha student model as my first horn, and it
treated me quite well. I know a few people with Yamaha's now who are very
happy with them. They are considerably cheaper than the Selmer (in my experience).
Yamaha Homepage
CONN
When you march around a high school band room, you are
likely to see the walls lined with Conn instruments. They are rlatively
cheap instruments for schools to get. Their higher models are supposed
to be quite good though. I have never played a professional or intermediate
Conn, only the school bought student models. They are decent, but I'd lean
towards the Yamaha myself (for students). Conn has joined forces with some
other instrument makers (sax and other) and formed United Musical Instruments.
I don't know much about the other makers in the group, but here's the page.
UMI Homepage
ANTIGUA WINDS
I recently received an e-mail telling me about the Antigua Winds Alto sax. Apparently this is supposed to be a professional style with surprising quality. (note: October 16, 1998: I have now received another e-mail about Antigua Winds, with very good comments) This is on my list to look up now. If you see anything about these saxophones, please forward the information to me. I have seen it spelled AntiGua, and AntiQua...
KREISLER
A horn that has started to make its mark around my school is the Kreisler. It appears to be a good horn. Again, I do not know where their web page is, if they have one, but they make an inexpensive, good quality horn.
KEILWERTH (BOOSEY & HAWKES)
Kielwerth is Boosey & Hawkes top model sax. I've never
played one myself, but they have a good reputation, and are supposed to
be wonderful horns.
Boosey & Hawkes
Homepage
YANIGASAWA
As for my personal saxophone, I play a Yanigasawa. I've
owned it for a year to the week. It has given me no problems, plays in
tune, and I found it comparable to, if not better than, the Selmer Super-Action
Series I and II (Thus the purchase). Yani is also famous for their Sopranos,
and are highly rated for their Soprano saxes, especially the curved one.
Yanigasawa is part of the Leblanc Corporation of instrument makers. I have
now received several e-mails from very content Yani owners, some of whom
have not touched their Mark VI since.
Yanigasawa
Homepage
Leblanc
Homepage
All the saxophone makers also make
mouthpieces, as do all of the reed makers, as do specialty mouthpiece makers.
This makes a rather fun challenge of choosing the right mouthpiece.
First thing is to figure out what size a mouthpiece you want. Each
name has a different numbering or lettering system to tell the size of
the opening between the tip and the reed. I will touch on this briefly,
but there is a very neat chart to be found at http://www.saxophone.org/facings.html
. Most people can start on alto with something at the
same size as a Selmer C*. This has an opening of 65/1000 of an inch.
This is the equivalent to Otto Link 5, Vandoren A25 and is slightly smaller
than a Meyer 5. For a wider, but harder to control sound, go bigger,
for narrower easier to control sound, go smaller. A lot depends
on the player's mouth too. These are just guides.
There is also the question of plastic
vs. rubber vs. metal mouthpieces. There are very few mouthpieces
that are actually plastic, most are hard rubber. Plastic mouthpieces
are usually white, and have a weak, thin feel and sound. Hard rubber
are the most common. They give a good round sound, opposed to metal
mouthpieces which have an edgy brilliant sound. It is much easier
to "tone down" a rubber mouthpiece. I would not suggest using a metal
mouthpiece on soprano, since they already have a bright sound which sticks
out. The rest of the instruments, I leave at the player's discretion.
My personal mouthpieces are as follows;
an Otto Link 6 hard rubber for classical alto, an Otto Link 8* for Jazz
(using a very soft reed), and a Selmer E for Baritone. I need to
find a good tenor piece, although, I will probably look for an Otto Link
rubber, but I don't play much tenor now, so no hurry. Among popular
rubber mouthpieces are Selmer, Vandoren, Rousseau and Meyer. For
metal mouthpieces, aim for Otto Link, Dukoff or Berg Larsen.
When getting a serious mouthpiece,
stay away from a mouthpiece with "rails". Rico Royal mouthpieces
have these, and it generally signifies a cheap mouthpiece. Rails
are when the facing is "raised" from the rest of the mouthpiece.
You can get a decent sound with these mouthpieces, but serious players
should look for a better mouthpiece that can give more, and take more.
I'll get to reeds tomorrow (:
I have only recently started becoming a "jazzer", and so my knowledge is not too deep, although, I would like to think that I am learning. I played in my high school jazz band, but realize that I really didn't learn that much there. However, after a year playing in the university Big Band, my knowledge and interest (as well as ability, I hope) has increased. Anyway here are some jazz sax players that I know a little about, or are big names in the first place.
Desmond is probably my favourite sax player of all time.
He was the alto player in the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and many people (critics,
and fans) considered him to be the reason that the quartet was so popular.
Desmond was born in San Francisco, and was one of the leaders of cool jazz
in the area. He played with the Brubeck Quartet for 16 years, from 1951
- 1967. After that, Desmond made a lot of solo albums, with many different
artists like Bari player Gerry Mulligan, Drummer Connie Kay, and in 1975
introduced the world to Canadian guitarist, Ed Bickert. As a player, Desmond
was known for aweing the crowds with his slow, melodic improv skills. He
was the opposite to other altoists of his time such as Charlie Parker and
Cannonball Adderly. Desmond was also an adept composer. His best known
composition "Take Five" is the only jazz piece to make Billboard's top
40.
Where Desmond is one of the lesser known greats, Parker
may be the best known sax player of all time. Parker and Desmond are complete
opposites. Parker's life was largely run by drugs. He died young, from
drug use, and more mythically just from being burnt out. It has been said
that if he hadn't died he may have even started repeating himself. Parker
was a phenomenal improvisor, in a much faster way than Desmond. He took
long solos, and the melody was almost lost.
What! Classical saxophone! Yes folks, it exists (: The sax having taken the place of strings in the outdoor band (since known as the concert band) has a varied selection of repetoire in the "classical" (i.e. Western Art) style. Much of it is transcriptions of Baroque violin and flute sonatas, and much of the rest is by 20th century French Composers (Bozza, Dubois, Eccles, Ibert). Some American composers have jumped this ship too, as the sax is becoming one of, if not THE, most popular instrument these days.
Balliet, Whitney. American Musicians II. Oxford University Press, New York. 1996.
Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York. 1997. (note: what a great book!)
Horwood, Wally. Adolphe Sax. Bramley Books, Bramley, Hampshire, England. 1979.
Lindemeyer, Paul. Celebrating the Saxophone. William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, New York. 1996.
Williams, Martin. The Jazz tradition. Oxford University Press, New York. 1983.
Williams, Richard. Jazz - A Photographic Documentary. Studio Editions Limited. London, England. 1994.
Back to my home page Pokeysax's
Home
Back to my music page Pokeysax
Music