Videos of Pro Player's Insights on the Player behind the Horn

[Michael]

I was checking out some cool insights made by some members and we were talking about how it’s mostly the player behind the Sax that makes all the difference, thought you might like to see some of these videos below on pro player’s take on this very subject. One of them, Jason Davis, lives 4 hours from me in Dallas, Texas and will be releasing his first CD ever sometime in December…the guy is a MONSTER Tenor player, simply an amazing player and a great guy 🙂 He posted a few of his performances on his channel, the video recorder was rough but it’s enough to get the point. We’re friends on facebook and he has a big performance coming up in November, I’m going to try and make the trip to see him if possible.
As you will see in the video from the Professor of the University of Ohio during this recording of an actual lesson with one of his student, he explains that there are some things about the Sax itself that can have SOME impact on our overall sound like Saxophones that have a wider bell, wider neck, etc.. He also talks about folks who switch MPs for the wrong reasons and will get instant gratification for doing it but what is eventually going to happen. My Instructor told me the exact same thing. But with all 4 of these players with year’s of experience in playing–all of them actually have degrees in music–their answer to this post is the same. You can read what they typed in the description of their videos for a few additional thoughts from them. We may/may not agree with what they have to say, but in any case it’s cool to get their take on this very subject. Good playing to everyone 🙂

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael, I am so grateful to sxpoet for him sending his S80 C** MP to me. I could play on my 4C for decades, but would never have the tonal qualities, control and feel of the S80 MP. When I took my YTS-62 to church to show the guys, the chap who plays a Jupiter Tenor just stared at the sax with his mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe the difference in sound and resonance between the two horns. My other friend who plays a Blessing Alto keeps asking me to sell my YAS-26 to him when I upgrade. There are very good reasons to buy a quality instrument, the tonal quality of materials improves with the pro versions as they can afford to incorporate those harder more expensive materials to improve the performance, and give it a longer playing life. The ergonomics and technical design of the instruments are improved over the range as well. One thing that really irks me about my YAS-26 is that my fingers slip off the keys when they are wet from perspiration or spittle. This doesn’t happen on my YTS-62 which does not have those cheaper plastic version keypads.

I spend many hours a month playing the YAS-26 and every time I take it out, I regret I didn’t go for a Pro level instrument. When you listen to the sax comparisons, listen to the low range notes whether they have body or not. Those cheaper saxes sound tinny to me without depth and warmth. I would love to see a comparison test where the microphone is hooked up to a frequency spectrum analyzer. Those people who can’t hear the difference will be able to see the differences in the sound for themselves.

Remember that when it comes to quality – you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

I’ve just remembered. When I last played with the guys I took the S80. My friend who plays alto said, “I’ll have to get one of those S80’s for the wife too!”

I read an article recently where professionals were advising Band Managers on the various options when purchasing drum kits for schools. They said that the cheaper version drum kits were of good enough quality, but with the cymbals they should buy the best professional quality. I thought that comment was very interesting.

[Dazza]

Good points Jeff and Michael. I have slept on it and pulled out of my sale of my Yani tenor. The more I heard from the forum and the sax guy in the local shop the more I was convinced I already had a quality horn and a quality MP too! I was convinced to spend some decent money giving my sax a complete overhaul as it may not have ever been done in its 30 plus years or if it has it is probably due again. I finally realised I was trading sideways and not really achieving anything. I will let you know the results of the work once my horn is returned.

[Michael]

@ Jeff: Good stuff there Jeff, very nice of Sxpoet to send you that MP too 🙂 I didn’t clarify this at the beginning, but what I put here in this kind of a post is helping those who are just getting started on the Saxophone; there’s lots of folks here on Johnny’s site that we know are just learning to play. We all we’re there and we’re still have A LOT to learn 🙂 For someone whose just starting out, do they know the difference between a Selmer Mark 6 v.s. a Blessing Alto? Of course not, I know I didn’t. Speaking for myself, when I first started, to me, a Saxophone was a Saxophone. But as you get going and progress, there will be a period where you SHOULD experiment–that’s the only way we learn what works for us individually. But we arrive at this point in our playing when it can work against us because we’re constantly experimenting, constantly changing things up, constantly worried that our problems our due to this MP or that reed, etc. and our playing suffers for it. It gets to this point where too much experimentation is GOING to work against us; to stop being overly concerned about our equipment and worry more about our playing technique. I own 2 Trevor James Saxophones and 1 Selmer Soprano–my alto is a pro model and Tenor is an Intermediate model; it’s cheaper in the long run for sure. But the point being is that I certainly didn’t start out that way and that’s what I’m getting at. I went through the experimenting phase, experimenting with all kinds of reeds, MPs, etc. We have to experiment; that’s the only way we come to find out what works for us. But now, after the experimenting, I know what works for me so the experimentation is over. What I’m talking about in this post is the same thing along the lines of what Andy Snitzer is saying here below in this video; hope this clarifies it 🙂 I try the best I can to clarify things through a computer, sometimes it’s kind of hard for me to do; always has been and not sure why LOL
@ Dazza: Very cool to say the least 🙂 Let us know how it goes for you…I think you’ll love Trevor James Saxophones 🙂

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