Does Johnny Growl Constantly Go Get Such a Tone?

[danielscocco]

The impression I get from watching Johnny play (in this video for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HKJRq2KGsQ ) is that he is always adding a very small growl effect, which makes his tone more dirty, and more pleasant in my opinion.

I have noticed such dirty tone on other tenor players as well. For instance, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Xuj1OoGI0

Is this somewhat true, or not at all?

[Anonymous]

Two good videos, but Johnny does seem to have that special something in his sound which reveals more character.

[Dazza]

No doubt JFs sound is easy to listen to and impossible to replicate. Thanks for the link above as i found several cool videos like Watermelon Man. Amazing how these guys throw ideas around in the rehearsal sections. Would be cool to be in a band like that.

[Francis Forte]

WOW, I thought the trumpet player’s solo was kick ass and then the sax man Hit it out of the park!
Great jam Video

[Bill Mecca]

very musical family. 😉

[jake]

I’m with Daniel on this one.. Great videos above for sure but
“is that he is always adding a very small growl effect, which makes his tone more dirty”

Is this somewhat true, or not at all?

Would love an answer to this as well. The other theory I would have is that with the proper setup and using force from the diaphram, the amount of airspeed on the reed really gets it moving which generates the gritty buzziness as well. I’m no where close 🙁

I’d love to hear some feedback too.

[john]

Thanks guys, this topic comes around again!
I don’t growl constantly that’s for sure. the guy in the 2nd link video isn’t growling constantly either. listen and you can hear when a slight growl is introduced.
Gato has the most constant growl I’ve ever heard. listen and you can hear his growl about 90% of the time he plays:

It’s hard to pin point but to achieve the sound that I’ve always worked toward (the growl is a big part of it) but growling aside, it’s a combination of the other main things: mouthpiece and air support and technique.
what I used to do was imitate the way my favorite players sounded. focus on a particular riff they do and try my best to sound exactly like him.
of course everyone has their own sound so you’re not going to pull it off 100% but in doing this you are getting closer to getting the tone YOU want.

[john]

The constant growl is too much for my liking but I lean more towards Greg’s way of using it more sparingly. you can see what I mean and hear the difference on the same tune as Gato’s above:

[Michael]

Fabulous Sax Videos Johnny 🙂 This is one song you HAVE to do here to buy on your site….do I remember reading a post somewhere that you had started on this song and it got put on the back burner? Please, please finish it…everyone loves this song, everywhere you go 🙂

[john]

ya, I wrote it down on my “to do” list …did start on it last year and then forgot about it…
I will be doing more songs this year than last year I hope so I won’t forget about it this time! I love it too.

[Author]

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