Nasty Sax (Tequila)

[jake]

Playing around with a new setup and new reeds I got today. I may be onto something here?? Not perfect but good old gritty dirty sax. Love it. Using johnny’s backing track of course!! This is the Yamaha YTS 61 tenor I now play! I am using a Theo Wanne Shiva Blue ART MP with Vandoren ZZ 2.5 reeds here.

[jake]

Forgot to say this recording is straight from my iphone. No mic used at all. Just played backing track thru speakers. Lots of natural reverb in this room!

[Michael]

Way to go after it Jake 🙂 It’s hard to resist not wanting to play that song. I think it’s one of those songs that even if we asked someone who didn’t play Saxophone to name a Saxophone song, Tequila would probably be one of the first ones that comes into the mind. When it comes to the Sax, it’s gotta be in that category of “mega tune”–that’s just a category with a name I personally think about LOL Just a couple of quick pointers–Focus on playing the notes fully v.s. cutting them short as well as articulating them. For example, when you make your run up from D to Bb, tongue those notes distinctively and build some momentum in your volume as you work up to Bb. When you hit the Bb, let it rip! 🙂 Another good place is when you’re playing the licks in the solo where we go from G-A-G-F, kind of like a ‘turn-a-round’ technique, focus on tonguing them really well so that they stand out. One of the things that helped me when I learned this solo with some of those tricky parts is to really listen to the original recording and get that rhythm stuck in my head; it’s kind of tricky. Keep rockin’ Jake!

[Kevin]

Jake, thank’s for uploading. In your lower/mid range notes, that tone your after is emerging for sure. The higher notes seemed to be a struggle for you, but till your embrochure gets used to the new MP and reed selection those hurdles are part of the process.
You’ll have to share more about working with/learning your new MP, and how the the Yamaha tenor feels to you. Are you pleased with the intonation from bottom to top checking it with your tuner?

[Michael]

Great points Kevin; it takes a while to get used to a new MP like you brought out. The more he uses it the better it will get for him. He’s got a great growl coming out of his Theo Wanne…..I’m curious to see how members who have ordered their Guardala from Johnny will come along with it. It will take some time to get used to it for sure. Thank you so, so much Kevin for stepping in and being willing to open up the tip opening on the MP my Instructor has me on for Tenor…as you can see, their very well made. Looking forward to putting it to the test–from your e-mail of how you are approaching your work on MPs, seems like you’re already going WAY beyond folks I have talked to–I definately think you’re on to something with your work of MP modification, keep at it! I can get ahold of some other modest MPs for you to work on if you’re interested, when you’re finished with the ones you have now, just let me know.
We also have to remember that Jake isn’t using the mic that he normally uses for recording either, it’s a raw recording coming straight from his phone. The mics in those phones/mobiles can sound drastically different v.s hearing it live or editing with proper equipment; it’s all kind of a subjective thing. We might remember this fantastic upload Jake did not too long ago of “Unchained Melody” on his Hawk Tenor that was edited and comes across on video great–very nice, smooth, open tone 🙂 He’s not playing any differently, but it comes across much differently on video than what we see with Tequila because of what he did with recording itself.

[Anonymous]

Jake – the presentation sounds fantastic you’ve go the right atmosphere for that rough nasty sound.

If your listen to JF’s phrasing, it starts
| 1 2 3 da | dant dant da dant da dant | da |
| da | dant dant da dant da da |
those 2 lines keep repeating.

so if keep those phrases in mind you’ll sound just like JF, gut feeling the sheet timing may be different
to the way he plays it?

the ‘dant’s are shorter phrases than the ‘da’s
for effect you stamp the ‘dant’s louder than the ‘da’s

When you lift the sax up in the air on those high notes,
check you aren’t moving the mouthpiece tip down into your tongue,
i have a feeling that will speed up the air flow into the reed and
cause the pitch to rise quite a lot on all those high notes.
Also careful with waving the sax left and right, that can give
a vibrato effect as well.

But yep – i would definitely listen to that again

[Anonymous]

Michael when you get better control of the intonation of your high notes like
Jf and Kevin have pointed out, your recordings will most definitely sound better.
The altissimo notes sound spot on, it just your upper register is way off, and its
mostly the same on other recordings – its just your last mic really brought it out.
But don’t worry – your doing fine otherwise.

[jake]

Thanks for the input guys. Great point Michael in the D to Bb run. I re-listened and already made an improvement. It’s really hard for me to get good honest critique at home as the unmusically trained ear can’t pick up the subtle things you guys point out!
I am pleased so far from this Yamaha tenor. It seems pretty good intonation wise right to the top. If there is a problem it is usually my fault and I need to adjust! I am liking this mouthpiece so far. I need to break in these reeds tho. This was my 1st day on them. I think I am going to like these Vandoren ZZ reeds. This combo seems to be giving me a nice buzziness that I have been looking for.

[Mark Kiziuk]

Sounded pretty good! Since I’m very new, I’m curious on how you made the sax growl?
Mark

[jake]

Start with this video Mark. If your just starting out the growl my take you a little bit. Need to play your basic notes first.

[Author]

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