Way back in July of 2012 when I started this blog I spent my third post discussing what I thought was the most important part of any player’s setup. It wasn’t the mouthpiece or the reed or the horn in case you never read it. You can read it here in its entirety or I can… Continue reading The Second Most Important Part of Your Setup
Category: Beginner’s Corner
When It’s Okay To Suck
Well I just flew in from Korea and boy are my arms tired (ba dum bum). I was there for the last week doing stuff for my day job and now I’m home and all jet-lagged but I wanted to get something posted before I get too far behind. As with my last post, my… Continue reading When It’s Okay To Suck
Overtones and Your Tone
I spend a lot of time on a forum called Sax on the Web but I generally don’t post a ton. Part of the reason is because there’s a lot of other guys that often jump in with great, helpful stuff. Of course, it’s also the internet so there’s also a lot of hate and… Continue reading Overtones and Your Tone
Here’s What to Say
If you’ve been playing for a while it’s kind of inevitable that someone will either see you somewhere or hear you on a recording and will take the time to tell you they thought you sounded good. They might say, “Hey, you sounded great!”, or “I really enjoyed your playing” or some other variation of… Continue reading Here’s What to Say
A Couple of Quick Things
Great Gig I played a great gig Saturday night in Falls Church, VA with Jr. Cline and the Recliners. I had played with them on tenor before Christmas but this time I was playing bari as Daryl (Jr.) was trying a few things with the horn section. It was a much easier gig on tenor… Continue reading A Couple of Quick Things
The Dreaded Sticky G# Key
I had a rehearsal on Saturday and I was having a devil of a time with a sticky G# key. I’ve had similar issues over the years but never to the extent I had on Saturday. It definitely didn’t help that it was the Steely Dan tribute band I play in and all of the… Continue reading The Dreaded Sticky G# Key
Recording Basics: Computer (Outputs)
Once you have your inputs squared away and you’ve recorded something it’s time to worry about hearing it back. This can be as simple as using the speakers built into your laptop or the speakers hooked up to your desktop or it could be a more major investment into studio monitors. Ultimately, the choice will… Continue reading Recording Basics: Computer (Outputs)
Recording Basics: More Inputs
I realized that I glossed over microphones completely in my last post and since they’re such an important part of the process I thought I would give them a little more time. I mentioned one particular microphone, the USB one, but I didn’t even mention what type it was. So here’s a quick take on… Continue reading Recording Basics: More Inputs
Book Review – A Complete Approach to Sound for the Modern Saxophonist by Ben Britton
Ben Britton is a wonderful saxophonist who I met online a year or so ago. I listened to some of his sound samples and reached out to him because I loved what I heard. He’s a jazz musician, an educator, a blogger, and now an author. With this book, Ben is bringing many years of personal experience… Continue reading Book Review – A Complete Approach to Sound for the Modern Saxophonist by Ben Britton
Review – Haynes Saxophone Manual
This is a book I had heard about for quite a while but had never taken the time to purchase even though I was very interested in getting it. A couple months ago while researching for my recent horn purchase I stumbled across Stephen Howard’s website because he had some excellent reviews about some of… Continue reading Review – Haynes Saxophone Manual