Introduction I was recently contacted by Paul and Jim Corry who design and manufacture their own line of mouthpieces and asked me to review one of their new pieces of equipment I had never seen before called the Tone Tablet. Now I have seen various neck screws as well as the Klangbogen (BSWE Klangbogen Review), [read more…]
Introduction With musicians continued frustration around the consistency of cane reeds from brand to brand, there have been more reed tools hitting the market designed to help address this common issue. In the past, I had tried sand paper, reed rush, and a reed knife to try and correct various reeds that either played too [read more…]
Regardless of your horn, mouthpiece, or reed, the truth is, to the outside listener, you sound pretty much like...you. It's not that gear doesn't affect your sound at all, but your biggest and richest sound will only come by developing the skills within both your body and mind to sound great on any setup.
So if you're willing to move beyond having your day ruined by a lousy reed, then sax legend David Liebman's course, Ultimate Guide to Saxophone Sound Production is where you're going to want to go next.
Broken down into bite-sized lessons, this streaming video program covers just about every single aspect of saxophone sound production. It represents his entire life's work teaching the techniques and concepts that were handed down to masters such as Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, and Harvey Pittel (among many others), and then refined over the course of decades teaching countless lessons and masterclasses worldwide. Click below to see for yourself why so many professional saxophonists consider David's thorough, methodical, and practical approach the "real deal" for players at any level.
SAXOPHONETONE.COM
The Ultimate Guide to Saxophone Sound Production
Introduction I have seen new accessories hitting the market to address or improve upon specific areas on the saxophone that are seen to be lacking resonance or feel not as comfortable when playing. Some of these after-market accessories are neck screws, thumb rests, necks, and thumb hooks just to name a few. The thumb hook in particular [read more…]
(Originally titled, “The Sound, The Trane, and All The Rest”) I’d played a Selmer Paris Mark VI tenor since 1975, when my teacher and I hand selected it from among a half-dozen other examples at the legendary Charles Ponte Music on New York City’s 48th Street. I’d performed and recorded with it on the Jersey [read more…]
Vandoren V21 Saxophone Reeds Introduction I have played on almost every type of Vandoren reed on the market today except for the V12’s. Currently, the Vandoren Java Red box 2.5 has become my favorite cut as mentioned in my Vandoren Product Overview(Vandoren Product Review). Since Vandoren has released the V21 reeds for alto and tenor saxophone, I [read more…]
Forestone’s Hinoki Reeds and Mouthpiece Patches Introduction Forestone continues to research, develop, and improve upon their existing product line. Recently, Forestone introduced a new synthetic reed called “Hinoki”. The Forestone “Hinoki”reed is a jazz cut hybrid that unlike the black bamboo model, comes in an ivory color that more resembles traditional cane. Forestone was nice [read more…]
Introduction I have been playing on an old Slant link for quite some time and have tried various manufacturers versions of an old slant link or early Babbitt mouthpiece to find one that played the same or better than mine. With Theo Wanne’s various mouthpiece models to meet every player’s needs, I was excited to [read more…]
Sax Dakota Straight Tenor and Alto Saxophone Introduction Over the past few years at NAMM, I have seen many saxophonists test play the Sax Dakota Straight tenor and alto saxophone. Due to their popularity at the show, I never had a chance to sit down and test play both saxophones. Recently Peter LaPlaca, owner of [read more…]
KB Sax Handcrafted Saxophone Necks Introduction I visited Kim Bock’s shop a few years ago to try out various vintage Selmer and TM custom saxophones as well as gain a better understanding of his repair work since more and more players were going to Kim to have their saxophones overhauled and setup. Recently, Kim has [read more…]
Bravo Reeds Introduction With the various limitations that traditional cane reeds present to saxophonists such as warping, consistency, and longevity. There are more and more manufacturers coming to the market with synthetic alternatives to address these issues. I have tried various synthetic reeds from Legere, Bari, Fiberreed, Forestone, Fibracell, and although I still prefer traditional [read more…]
Tips and Techniques from the pros PLUS free access to the Sax Lessons with the Stars archive - 10 years worth of interviews and exercises featuring the likes of David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Ben Wendel, Bob Reynolds, and many more!
