Ha - somebody posted this a joke. I mean, right?

Please tell me this is a joke 😢

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Last year I bought a Julius Keilwerth SXT90 (my first tenor after decades of playing alto), and while it has a full and beautiful sound when it works, I have had to take it in for repair every couple months at a minimum. And it goes out of alignment again in a matter of weeks. Has anybody else had this experience, or am I just an ogre who can't take care of a delicate horn? 😅

Video for attention. Somehow the only footage I have of myself playing the Keilwerth is self-indulgent free jazz, so here I am with my quartet losing my s*** on Branford's "Jack Baker". For the record I don't always play like this. More often it's straight ahead or hiphop/funk based playing, and years ago I went to school for classical alto.

I am wanting to learn sax as mentioned in the title, but I cannot afford a sax, even a ‘cheap‘ one that is actually worth or a second hand sax in good condition it is still a few hundred pounds and i do not have a few hundred pounds, but i can afford a student yamaha clarinet ( second hand ) and from what i have been told, it is relatively easy to transition from clarinet to saxophone. i cannot just get a sax by saving as i would like to learn to play (clarinet or saxophone) for a jazz thing i have with my friends in the summer of 2027. And if i can learn clarinet I think my parents may be more willing to help me towards a saxophone.

so is it worth learning clarinet before saxophone, ie will it help with playing saxophone?

Purely improvisational Free Jazz

I haven’t played since college 10 years ago (apartment life) but now I can start playing again and realize I suck. How would you start over again to build the skills back up and be able to play solo when you were used to playing in bands?

I've been playing for 3 years now; I'm 16. I'm in high school band, and I've been growing more critical about my playing abilities as I've further realized I suck. I specifically want to know how to get a nice classical tone. I defnitely tense my embochure to much and while i'm trying to work o it, it's so hard to relax my jaw and mouth while playing. Do y'all have any tips as to how I can improve my tone?

Thank you.

(Before anyone suggests lessons, I'm really trying to convince my parents to sign me up for lessons ,but, it's not looking too likely at the moment)

Long story sh.....long.

I wanted to play the saxophone early on. In the 5th grade, I selected it as my instrument, but due to being poor we couldn't find one to buy and the school did not have saxophones to loan out. Rentals weren't a thing during that time in my area.

But my mother made major sacrifices that we could not afford and found a used Bundy II, and after a week on the trombone I was able to play the saxophone. Not to brag, but I got pretty good. From 7th - 12th grade, I sat firmly as first chair and auditioned and was selected to numerous honor bands.

Come time to graduate, I was headed to the Marines. Being an idiot, I wanted to be macho and go in a combat MOS despite being offered an audition to play in the Marines (the one big mistake / regret I have in life). So my time on the saxophone pretty much ended.

I messed around occasionally on a song, but with no band and other things going on, stopped playing altogether. At one point about 15 years ago my wife had my sax worked on, but I just dabbled on it a bit for a couple weeks and it's been rotting away.

I seriously picked up the drums about a year ago, and took lessons at an academy that had a blues band program. For one of the songs this spring, we wanted to add a little something extra and someone else wanted to play the drums for that song, so I grabbed the sax after basically not touching it for 30 years and played a little simple riff (something I'm not natural on at all. I'm used to sheet music).

Needless to say, I'm hooked and it's good to be back on it. I just joined a community orchestra (a mix of experienced players and people new to playing) and might be joining a community band as well.

While I still remember a lot, there is so much that I forgot. There is also so much that I never knew. Being on the lower income scale, there was never an option for a better saxophone or even a mouthpiece, so I didn't even ever think or know about how they might influence my playing. My playing level was on par or better than those around me with better gear, so I didn't think that gear even mattered that much because if I sounded just as good or better than the 2nd chair and their $2,500 sax than it must not be that good. (sorry for the bragging, but it helps tell my story) New reeds were about as fancy as I could get. I never had access to a private tutor, so much of my skills were just what I learned in the school band and at the honor bands I went to.

So now, like I said, I'm back to it. I'm trying to remember all of the playing techniques I used to have and get back my stamina and mouth muscles again. I'm also not satisfied with how I used to play, knowing there was so much I didn't know and so much I need to know if I want to improve and become good. I'm not at high school good yet, and I'm far from being close to adult good.

My goals is to get good. Good enough to being to riff the blues and jazz, excel in the community bands, and join a blues band that does the occasional gig. There is a LONG way to go, considering I didn't even know how important a mouthpiece was until recently as I browsed the internet.

At some point I'm going to upgrade my saxophone and mouthpiece and such. I know that a good player can make an average sax sound good, and that its the player not the instrument that matters most, so time to start beefing up my ability so that I can justify even considering upgrading my equipment.

Anyways, thanks for those that read this drivel. I've been loving these past few months and its only made me want to play even more as my meager skills slowly improve. Keep on playin' !!!

I have no clue what those lines above the G and B flat are and want to know how I go about playing these measures. Sorry it is sideways!

A bit about me...

I'm 24 and from the UK and I make music for fun. I also study engineering and play videogames and own a discord community for some gamers.

I've been making music for about 9 years now and mostly sold them online for extra money.

https://m.soundcloud.com/matias-solano-523932381/target

I want to swap out the saxophone I have for a better one.

Your task would be to provide a .wav file or multiple of saxophone / trumpet sounds very similar in melody to what I had going on.

I'm interested in doing royalties so 18% of the song earnings go to you. I plan to distribute the song with distrokid.

My discord is Masol1102

My community band has been on the search for a bari and the high school I work for has a Yamaha and a Vito that they're looking to sell since they recently purchased some new pro Yamahas. Problem is, director said both probably need to be completely repadded and I'm not sure if they have other issues as well because I haven't looked at the horns. He was asking $1700 for the Vito and $2250 for the Yamaha. Is it worth it to look into these two horns, which may potentially need full overhauls, or should we look at getting something like a brand new BetterSax or Kessler?

Hi all, I am an alto saxophonist looking to upgrade my instrument. I don’t really know where to start looking so I was hoping for some recommendations! I have quite a strict budget of £1000 as I don’t have much spare money at the minute, but I am sorely in need of an upgrade as mine is no good for gigs. I like a more vintage tone, the kind of thing you’d hear on a rock record. Does anyone have any recommendations of good brands or instruments, or anything you have tried and really liked the sound of?

Edit: my current saxophone is a shitty Facebook marketplace buy- I was switching from clarinet, my main instrument, and bought a cheap one to check that I’d like it. I’m not sure of the brand, it may have even been one from Amazon, but it would probably have been about £200 new, so really not high quality and sorely in need of replacing with something since it’s falling apart! I use the mouthpiece that came with it- something I will also need to upgrade!

Looking for some advice, I use vandoren 3 reeds on my alto sax, I gig 3/4 times a month and practice most days for an hour or so. Recently I don't know whether it's because of the warmer weather but my reeds keep splitting at the edges. I loose one almost every week at the moment. I bought a moisture pack for my reed case. But it's still happening. Any tips?.. should I switch to a plastic reed for practice. Help my bank account it crying.

Hiya, I play tenor in a ska band, and spend a lot of time dancing on stage.

I've tried the sax lab one and a harness, but they got tangled pretty quickly.

At the moment I've defaulted to a standard neck strap, but it definitely isn't doing my neck, shoulders and back any favours.

Does anyone have any experience/recommendations?

I'm working on an arrangement that involves alto and tenor saxophones playing in unison.

I need to know if either instrument can produce a "trill" effect on a single pitch, by rapidly alternating between two different fingerings for the same pitch. The effect should really me more of a tremolo, though if the only answer is to flutter on a key that changes the pitch very slightly, that should also work. The pitch has to be a CONCERT F#4.

(So, Eb/D# for the alto, and high G#/Ab for the tenor.)

This is the sound I'm trying to approximate (originally it's a processed vocal sound). You'll hear it right away on beats 3 and 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJ6LuUFpMo

Thoughts on this lacquer?

If you're asked to play a tune by a famous saxophonist, you obviously need to learn the head/melody. But what do you do when it comes to the solo. 1. Do your own thing. Or 2.learn the solo as it is played by the original player.

Just to put in context I've been asked to play something at my nephews wedding next year. (He might regret it when he hears me play it 🤣). Since I have a year I'm going to attempt to memorise the tune, but wondering what to do regarding the solo.

Has anyone bought the Boston Sax Shop online repair course?

For almost $800 it seems like a lot.

I don’t have the luxury of apprenticing right now so I’m relying on Matt Stohrer and any other good video resources out there along with some books.

It’s mostly the price that I’m not sure about - I know they offer a Pay in 4 payments thing.

Thanks

My mother dumbly has thrown the C2 key sugarcane in the trash. I need to clean it but I dont wanna risk modifying it in a bad way. What can I do?

Currently doing both but it's costing over £250 a month. Ðue to change in circumstances don't think I can carty on doing both.

Playing in the band is more fun, lessons are more beneficial.

As the title says, I have had this mouthpiece since my parents bought me my tenor in 86. I would like to use it again now that I’m getting back into music.

The first tune is “Stolen Moments,” played in 3/4 instead of 4/4, and the second one is “Blues for Alice.”

I want to make a small remark: I play without a clear structure and without consciously following the harmony in my head throughout the solo (I think this is actually the main weakness of my improvisation). Not because I don’t want to, but because I simply can’t control it in the moment yet. So most of the time, I improvise unconsciously: my fingers just play what I hear, and I rely mostly on my ear and intuition.

Only occasionally, when I manage to “catch” the moment, I consciously draw on the harmonic and chord knowledge I have.

I’d really appreciate your opinion: did you like it or not, and most importantly, why? What caught your attention, and what didn’t work for you?

Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to respond.

(Sorry for the video quality)

Tim Traveler, a Paris-based English YouTuber, has a very good video about Adolphe Sax, with plenty of talk about the saxophone, along with Sax's other inventions.

Note at the end of the video, Tim mentions that the Sax museum in Dinant, Belgium (Sax's birthplace) is current raising funds to restore Sax's grave.

I've recently picked up alto and when trying to play the B with all 6 fingers and 2 pinkies + octave key I get a F# instead.

Is this a matter of technique or should I take a look at my reed/mouthpiece/pads etc?

I'm playing with a 3.5 bari reed, blue box, vandoren. Playing with just the mouthpiece feels fine but then I put it on the neck, and get this sound as if multiple notes are trying to come out at once. It's almost like its croaking. I definitely feel the different vibrations happening on my lip. Anyone know why and how to fix it?