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November 13, 2014 at 2:58 pm #9849
I’ve been listening to various music with sax solos in them. I can’t get enough of the 80’s buzzy sax sound. A couple examples would be “The Heat is On” by Glenn Frey and “Who Can It Be Now” by Men at Work. When I play I’m not hearing this classic buzz sound that screams sax!! How is this sound achieved? I can hear it throughout many of these 80’s hits.
Is it more of the player or is it though the setup? I read your piece on the recording and it was very informative! I will be looking into upgrading my recordings for sure. Is there something the sound man does while recording that accents this sound? I have a number of different mouthpieces between metal and hard rubber styles and can’t quite find this sound I am looking for? As always, thanks for your valuable input!!
November 13, 2014 at 4:01 pm #13012Jake, I believe it’s more the player but the player can make good choices in regards to the personal set up. If you grabbed the sax from the guys you just mentioned and blew into it you don’t really think you’d sound like them do you? You’re on the right track with what you’re doing and your thought process. This whole thing is a process. Many people, myself included recommend the Selmer S80 mp to a beginning student, but I wouldn’t be able to sound like I want or can with that piece. At the same time, a beginner is going to do better with that Selmer mp than my $2000 Guardala.
If you’ve found a type of sound you like and want to emulate it then try and copy it. A complete solo would be awesome but even one lick from it that screams what “that” sound is to you, play it. It can be just a note or 2, the way he’s playing it, why does it sound different when you play the exact same one? Experiment and try to sound the same. You might surprise yourself and eventually start getting close. If you have some choices in reeds and mp’s see if changing over helps…or not. I use to buy the same mp as a guy who’s sound I liked, lot’s of players do that of course but like I said, it doesn’t mean you’ll sound like that, not by simply using the same set up…. but it can help. It’s a process…we all go thru it…keep going!
November 13, 2014 at 7:26 pm #13017It definitely is a process. Of course I wouldn’t expect to sound like you if I picked up your sax, if I did you’d be rich with what I’d pay you for your sax LOL! Just making sure I’m going about it right. I am working on your daily routine and other various things to improve my tone. I think I am getting to a point where I can play a little bit and am looking for that distinct sound sax player start to go for. I have atleast 6 mouthpieces now and 5 different types of reeds so I am getting a variety for sure. I just can’t quite get that buzzy sound as of yet.
Does humming or anything of that nature help along the process? I don’t wanna sound like a constant growl. I will keep plugging away. Thanks again Johnny!!
As far as an earlier post I read about a possible retreat for a sax camp, that would be awesome! If it is something you are thinking about I would be interested, just would need sufficient notice as other members have mentioned! Love the Christmas tunes, def gets the Christmas spirit flowing!!November 13, 2014 at 7:41 pm #13018I know my sound comes across a pretty growly but you can’t get that by humming or growling all the time. have you ever heard Gato Barbieri? sounds like he does that….even more than me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Mrp6wuSwkOh the sax camp, yes I know it’s a good idea but could be a organizational nightmare…we’ll see. I always get up on the idea untill I forget about that is. It would be great to get together with a bunch of students from around the globe and work out on some saxophone music and stuff.
November 13, 2014 at 7:55 pm #13019Nope, have never heard of him but thanks for sharing. That was awesome!! Guitar player pretty sick too!
November 14, 2014 at 6:55 am #13024Hey Jake, are you still using your custom MP that you had made for you? I know what you mean about loving that 1980s Sax sound, really distinct of the time. The cool thing about the Sax is that our sound/tone is our own! I don’t think no 2 tones/sounds are going to sound exactly 100% the same, e everyone is so unique & distinct. Thanks for sharing this video Johnny…Gato’s growly sound and yours, WOW. That’s a Coin Toss, call it heads or tails? When it comes to the tone, I would say Johnny you’re pretty much looking at yourself when you see Gato play here 🙂
November 14, 2014 at 7:24 am #13026I would definately be up to going to a Sax Camp! That would be terrific fun. Are there specific places up there Johnny that are suitable where a camp could be held? Have you talked to any of the local music shops like Massullo Music to see if they would be interested in helping make it happen?
JAKE: Would you be interested in getting together with me in time to come and playing together here where I live? You would need like 8-12 months of a notice ahead of time? I can help you with a plane ticket, no worries about that. Here in the South, Blues and R&B is HUGE and I had no idea how big it was until I started to learn how to play the Saxophone from Johnny. Hey……we did the duet of Johnny’s song together; why can’t we do something like that live? 🙂 Would just need Johnny’s help in refining those backing vocals a little bit LOL I haven’t had time to look at them yet to see exactly where a couple of those sour notes were or what happened.
November 14, 2014 at 8:03 am #13027guys I have thought about that song And I love her that yoiu guys did and I want to take a look and helkp fix it up a bit but I just haven’t had much time but won’t forget!
November 14, 2014 at 10:11 am #13029No worries Johnny…being out here in NM and helping my brother-in-law/sister, there’s no way I’ve had time to work on it anyway; not till I get back home around Dec.20th. On a side note, I knew my awesome wife was up to something, get this:
We start talking about things to-do when I get back home and I bring up the subject of paying for my Alto Sax from Massullo Music. In reply to me, she uses the word “Saxophones”. I ask her “what does that word “Saxophones” suppose to mean, that’s the plural form of the word “Saxophone” She has no reply……….BUSTED! I KNEW she had something going, I do love her dearly! 🙂She knows I was going to order the Trevor James RAW SR model like you did in your review this past spring…we almost have all the $, oh man I’m excited!!! She got to looking at the price sheet that Massullo Music sent to us and she noticed that the Trevor James Gold Lacquered model is almost $700 less than the RAW. She recommends I go with the Gold Lacquered model of Alto instead and that would free up some $ that would go towards the Trevor James SR Tenor Sax you see in the review below. She said the price of the SR Tenor, the sax on the link below that she sent me, is only $1,700–she already checked with Massullo about it. And then, she kindly reminds me of something you said “just because the Alto you’re looking at cost less, Michael, doesn’t mean it’s not any better that the one you wanted—hasn’t Johnny told you that most of your tone/sound comes from your MP/reed set up anyway? Would you rather have 1 new Saxophone or 2 of them? ” So now the table is turned and I’m the one who can’t say anything in return LOL How I do love my wife! 🙂
http://youtu.be/ZwsX5hJQxcw
http://youtu.be/3RL6EAdz8ssFor the Alto she recommends I get, here’s a link she e-mailed to me….it features a demo of all of the RAW model of Saxophones that Trevor James produces, including the model you did you did on your review Johnny. The review of the model that she recommends I get starts at 6:17 on the video. It cost almost $700 less than the RAW I wanted and she recommends to go that route to free up $ and use that towards the purchase of the SR Tenor in the video links above. How in the world could I say no to her suggestion? She’s just like “I can never surprise you with anything, can I?” LOL
November 14, 2014 at 10:20 am #13031no doubt about it they are nice sounding horns. So looks like you’ll have an alto and tenor for Christmas?
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