Normally I like to include your names and links to your sites when I use your questions in my articles, but in this particular case, anonymity was requested. You see, what we’re talking about could be a bit embarrassing to discuss, but since we deal with saliva and cane working together, it’s not at all [read more…]
Being that this website has been around for as long as it has (since 2010), link-based articles like these often become out outdated as some of the websites linked to disappear. Because of that, if you see that any of the links here go to defunct websites, please do let me know in the comments. [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
You can play all of the Bird licks and Sonny Rollins solos you want – at the end of the day, without proper jazz articulation, it’s not going to sound like jazz, plain and simple. Of course, jazz articulation is a pretty massive topic in itself. In this video, I’m going to be focusing on [read more…]
I recently did a survey asking sax players what was the area of their playing that they’d most like to improve. The answer – well, you can probably guess that based on the title of this article. While technique is a very subjective term which can be used to describe the sum total of our [read more…]
As many of you know, I’m currently working on an e-book with accompanying audio lessons. One of my interviewees for the project is Bill Plake, whose insights into the physiological aspects of making music are seemingly endless. Among the many topics upon which I was enlightened by the good Mr. Plake was the puffing of [read more…]
UPDATE: This article is from 2011, so apologies in advance for any ridiculously outdated information. That said, most of the information here is quite general and should apply to playing gigs with DJs. Also, please feel free to leave a comment or reach out via the contact page if there are any broken (ancient) video links. [read more…]
To change things up just a little bit, I went ahead and put this week’s article to video. In my little micro-movie, I cover the topic of developing your own saxophone tone in a deliberate manner so that you can sound like you by first deciding what “you” sounds like. The video is a continuation [read more…]
UPDATE: This article is from 2011, so apologies in advance for any ridiculously outdated information. That said, most of the information here is quite general and should apply to getting gigs with DJs. Also, please feel free to leave a comment or reach out via the contact page if there are any broken (ancient) video links. [read more…]
Sometimes I think back on the way it used to be… I traveled regularly with multiple horns and never had a problem getting on a plane. Usually a tenor and a soprano, sometimes even a backpack with a clarinet and flute too. When I moved to the east coast for college, I even remember getting two [read more…]
As a sax player coming up, it was strongly engrained in my subconscious that no woodwind doubling equals no music career. I remember going to my strict but highly effective sax teacher Vince Trombetta (who also taught this other sax player named Michael Baker – or Brecker or something like that) and the accompanying displeasure of [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!
