1. As far as my mind is concerned, riddled with mystery though it may be, I feel I took two approaches with this blog. First, I exhibited a disciplined mind by focusing mainly on the saxophone's use in music and then giving the detail needed to inform the readers of the essentials of the instrument. In addition, I took many sources, such as The Devil's Horn and the saxophone buyer's website and synthesized the information to further the objective of the disciplined aspect.
2. a) As a blogger, I moved around to many blogs to make my mark and comment on other people's fine work. Through this I engaged in intellectual discussions by stating my opinion and continuing to analyze others' blog content.
b) I also exhibited respect for other viewpoints in my comments on other people's blog by recognizing the validity of the person's opinion while still analyzing the information without trying to provoke strong feelings.
c) Finally, I read with awareness of self and others by including you, my best friend and blog buddy, in my posts. I'm sure you felt warm and fuzzy whenever I adressed you.
3. What surprised me most about blogging wasn't the information I posted, but more so how I enjoyed sifting through it and deciding how best to deliver something I enjoy to the cyber world of AP Language students.
With that I leave you with two of the most intelligent quotes ever to be spoken about jazz, both by the same man, Mo Trout, jazz bassist and professor at Purdue University.
"I need to go outside and drink some kittens."
and
"Swing is maaaaaaagicaaaalllll!"
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Delving into the Obscure
For most of you blog buddies out there, the specifics of saxophones are probably already obscure; however, what gave me the inspiration for this post was my poll. If you'll notice, one person was a fan of the C melody saxophone which I didn't really cover in the different types of saxophone post, but because of its novelty and even its impact on society, I thought it deserved its own post.
This is taken from an insightful buyer's guide to saxophones which can be found here.
The C melody saxophone was originally intended to be a part of the orchestral set of saxophones which alternated between C and F instead of Eb and Bb. The C melody, however, took a different and unexpected role in popular culture. After the first world war, a great influx of saxophones that were used in military bands in the US became available. To boost sagging sales, American instrument manufacturers developed the C melody saxophone concept. Essentially, the saxophone was marketed as the easy way to play vocal music on a woodwind. And, since the saxophone is one of the easiest instruments to learn quickly, the popularity of the "new" instrument was truly phenomenal. During the 20's, it seemed as though every family had a C melody saxophone under the bed or in the closet. Unfortunately, the C melody saxophone died out as did other novelty saxes at the end of the 20's. Nowadays, C melodies are rarely played and not very valuable. Since there were so many produced, the collector value is not even that high. Many pawn shops have this infamous sax lurking behind the counter waiting for someone who doesn't know what it is.
About now you are asking yourself why C melodies are not played anymore. First, with the incorrect mouthpiece and reed (both exceedingly difficult to find) they can play quite out of tune. Often they are in terrible disrepair. They have an inherently muffled, "stuffy" sound, even when you can actually find an original C mouthpiece. The exceptions to this rule are the straight-necked Conn models (very awkward to play because of the way the neck forces the horn away from the body) and the rare Selmer Paris models. The primary dilemna associated with them is finding a mouthpiece that works. Alto mouthpieces are a little too small and tenor mouthpieces are too big. Saxophonist Bill Street has produced some new C mouthpieces, but he is definitely the exception and not the rule.
Furthermore, the cost of repadding this saxophone usually is greater than the value of the horn. With no written parts to play and "iffy" intonation, my recommendation is to stay away from these instruments unless you find one dirt cheap and just want to play it for fun. I recommend that you never pay over $200 for a C melody unless it is a rare example of something unique or plays particularly well. I once saw a Buescher C tenor that was engraved form stem to stern, inlaid in gold plating and had gold-plated keys. Obviously this horn is worth more than $200. There are also some nice gold-plated Conn C melodies out there that are good collectors' horns.
This is taken from an insightful buyer's guide to saxophones which can be found here.
The C melody saxophone was originally intended to be a part of the orchestral set of saxophones which alternated between C and F instead of Eb and Bb. The C melody, however, took a different and unexpected role in popular culture. After the first world war, a great influx of saxophones that were used in military bands in the US became available. To boost sagging sales, American instrument manufacturers developed the C melody saxophone concept. Essentially, the saxophone was marketed as the easy way to play vocal music on a woodwind. And, since the saxophone is one of the easiest instruments to learn quickly, the popularity of the "new" instrument was truly phenomenal. During the 20's, it seemed as though every family had a C melody saxophone under the bed or in the closet. Unfortunately, the C melody saxophone died out as did other novelty saxes at the end of the 20's. Nowadays, C melodies are rarely played and not very valuable. Since there were so many produced, the collector value is not even that high. Many pawn shops have this infamous sax lurking behind the counter waiting for someone who doesn't know what it is.
About now you are asking yourself why C melodies are not played anymore. First, with the incorrect mouthpiece and reed (both exceedingly difficult to find) they can play quite out of tune. Often they are in terrible disrepair. They have an inherently muffled, "stuffy" sound, even when you can actually find an original C mouthpiece. The exceptions to this rule are the straight-necked Conn models (very awkward to play because of the way the neck forces the horn away from the body) and the rare Selmer Paris models. The primary dilemna associated with them is finding a mouthpiece that works. Alto mouthpieces are a little too small and tenor mouthpieces are too big. Saxophonist Bill Street has produced some new C mouthpieces, but he is definitely the exception and not the rule.
Furthermore, the cost of repadding this saxophone usually is greater than the value of the horn. With no written parts to play and "iffy" intonation, my recommendation is to stay away from these instruments unless you find one dirt cheap and just want to play it for fun. I recommend that you never pay over $200 for a C melody unless it is a rare example of something unique or plays particularly well. I once saw a Buescher C tenor that was engraved form stem to stern, inlaid in gold plating and had gold-plated keys. Obviously this horn is worth more than $200. There are also some nice gold-plated Conn C melodies out there that are good collectors' horns.
Monday, May 3, 2010
History of the Horn: The Inventor
The Inventor
"He was known as Le petit Sax, le revenant (the ghost child) to the citizens of his village, Dinant, in Belgium. After one of his many nearly fatal accidents, his mother lamented, 'The child is doomed to suffer; he won't live.' Almost before he could walk, little Adolphe Sax, christened Antoine Joseph in 1814, was fascinated with the alchemical magic performed every day in his father's workshop, where the most elemental materials were recombined into the finest brass, which was in turn fashioned into an exquisite musical instrument.... When he was two Adolphe fell down a flight of stairs, smashed his head on a rock, and lay comatose for a week. A year later, toddling around his father's atelier, he mistook sulfate of zinc for milk, gulped it down, and nearly expired. Subsequent poisonings involved white lead, copper oxide, and arsenic. He swallowed a needle, burned himself severely on a stove, and was badly scorched again by exploding gunpowder, which blew him across the workshop floor. He was again rendered comatose by a heavy slate tile that dislodged from a roof and landed on his head. When he was ten, a villager happened to spot the drowning lad when, after falling into a river, he was eddying, facedown and unconscious, in a whirlpool above a miller's gate. The villager just managed to pluck him from the water. Before he entered adolescence, his head was scarred by the repeated blows, and one side of his body was badly disfigured by burns.
But his misadventures proved instructive, hardening him for the nasty battles that would plague him as he tried to launch an ingenious musical invention, a serpentine horn whose provenance he secured by naming it after himself. From the moment his lips first touched his saxophone prototype, Adolphe Sax would face a juggernaut of slander, theft, litigation, forced bankruptcies, and attempts on his life that tried to suppress his new sound, a sound never before heard in nature, a sound that promised to change the timbre and soul of music wherever it was played."
Excerpt from The Devil's Horn
"He was known as Le petit Sax, le revenant (the ghost child) to the citizens of his village, Dinant, in Belgium. After one of his many nearly fatal accidents, his mother lamented, 'The child is doomed to suffer; he won't live.' Almost before he could walk, little Adolphe Sax, christened Antoine Joseph in 1814, was fascinated with the alchemical magic performed every day in his father's workshop, where the most elemental materials were recombined into the finest brass, which was in turn fashioned into an exquisite musical instrument.... When he was two Adolphe fell down a flight of stairs, smashed his head on a rock, and lay comatose for a week. A year later, toddling around his father's atelier, he mistook sulfate of zinc for milk, gulped it down, and nearly expired. Subsequent poisonings involved white lead, copper oxide, and arsenic. He swallowed a needle, burned himself severely on a stove, and was badly scorched again by exploding gunpowder, which blew him across the workshop floor. He was again rendered comatose by a heavy slate tile that dislodged from a roof and landed on his head. When he was ten, a villager happened to spot the drowning lad when, after falling into a river, he was eddying, facedown and unconscious, in a whirlpool above a miller's gate. The villager just managed to pluck him from the water. Before he entered adolescence, his head was scarred by the repeated blows, and one side of his body was badly disfigured by burns.
But his misadventures proved instructive, hardening him for the nasty battles that would plague him as he tried to launch an ingenious musical invention, a serpentine horn whose provenance he secured by naming it after himself. From the moment his lips first touched his saxophone prototype, Adolphe Sax would face a juggernaut of slander, theft, litigation, forced bankruptcies, and attempts on his life that tried to suppress his new sound, a sound never before heard in nature, a sound that promised to change the timbre and soul of music wherever it was played."
Excerpt from The Devil's Horn
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Expanding Horizons
Naturally, saxophones aren't the only component of popular music. No, dear blog buddy, saxophones only make up a part of the rich history of American music. For more information see the well put together blog about jazz as a whole here by Emma Laut, one of the coolest cats around.
Oh and please enjoy the Paper Mario game.
Oh and please enjoy the Paper Mario game.
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