Introduction As I discussed in my 2015 NAMM Product Review Part 1, over the past few years, the Silverstein ligatures have become one of the most popular ligatures used by professional players such as Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi, Tony Malaby, Vincent Herring and the list goes on. Sean Yang and May Rhyu over at Silverstein [read more…]
Getting a full, resonant, singing, “fat” sound is the aim of many a saxophonist. For some it means a continuous quest for the right setup. And without a doubt, equipment plays a significant part. Certain horn, neck, mouthpiece and reed combinations help optimize resonance. But no matter what your equipment is, you can always fatten [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 After having a chance to compare the Claude Lakey Compass ligature to my current setup (Marc Jean ligature) at the 2015 NAMM Show, I asked John Morrison, president of Claude Lakey, if I could spend some more time test-playing this ligature to see how it compares to other ligatures I have played in the [read more…]
Background There has been a lot of buzz around jazz saxophonist Krzysztof Urbanski. Krzysztof has participated in many jazz festivals, concerts, and competitions where he has consistently been awarded 1st place for his musical ability. Most recently Krzysztof became a Julius Keilwerth artist after placing 1st in the 2013 Saxophone Idol International Competition in Chicago, [read more…]
In my time teaching private saxophone lessons, I’ve needed a way to show my students how much control they have over the saxophone, as well as ways to manipulate their airstream to get the sound they want. I have developed this approach to give my students the ability to fix their own problems be it [read more…]
If you’re someone that has been tinkering and experimenting with the altissimo range of your saxophone, then good for you. It’s something we can all use as an important tool for increasing our expressive abilities when playing the sax. If your attempts have been a bit frustrating then I have good news for you… you [read more…]
Introduction D’Addario, the company that produces some of the world’s most popular reeds, including D’Addario Reserve, La Voz, D’Addario Jazz Select, Rico Royal, and Hemke (among others) has finally released a professional-level saxophone mouthpiece for alto called the D’Addario Select Jazz Mouthpiece. Kristen Mckeon, Artist Relations specialist over at D’Addario was nice enough to send me [read more…]
Introduction I have seen more and more players using the ReedGeek to work on reeds that are not performing to their standards. Before the ReedGeek, I used to use various grits of sandpaper to work on my reeds which sometimes worked but other times I ended up destroying the reed or sanding the reed down [read more…]
Most people have heard of overtones and have gotten the idea that they can be a helpful practice tool. That is definitely true, but why? How does transforming your saxophone into a bugle help you? While the answer is fairly simple, it takes some basic knowledge about acoustics to fully grasp what’s happening. Understanding what’s [read more…]
UPDATE: Since the publication of this article, it appears as though the product is no longer available, as the company website seems to be gone and I can’t find any other websites for this manufacturer. If anyone reading this knows of a new website for this company, please feel free to share it in the [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!
