Michael

@sxpoet–not at the moment, I play Brass instruments now: Trumpet, Flugelhorn, and have a new cornet coming that I bought from Austin Custom Brass. With my TMD Disorder, Brass Instruments was the perfect solution as the embouchure required for Brass instruments involves buzzing of the lips and there’s nothing to insert in my mouth that may…[Read more]

Hi Colin,

Johnny posted an article on his blog/section of the website a few years ago on tips for buying a Saxophone, here’s the link below. It’s a few years old, but have some good insights/tips to bear in mind:

Tips For Buying a Saxophone in 2022 – Play It Safe With These Top Brands

@Sxpoet @RockinRobin–Michael Bishop here; ironic timing with the comments asking about me. No, I don’t play Saxophone anymore–my Oral Cavity never made a full recovery-Permanent TMD Disorder 🙁 I was showing signs of recovery and did start picking it back up after some time to heal, I even paid Johnny for a 1-year subscription for Sax Academy…[Read more]

Great stuff Mike! Love your tone–very full, fat and smooth sounding. You have some of that ‘buzz’ in your sound too, very cool. Hats off to you 🙂

Right on Mike! That’s a beauty of a Sax, very happy for you 🙂

All right! Good stuff–thanks for sharing it 🙂 Haven’t heard of his band White Trash before, will check that out for sure. Did his first band break up and he formed his White Trash/2nd band?

Good points being made by everyone here. I was asked where I get my custom tracks made, so I shared it with everyone. There are lots of great places where we can get great tracks. The folks I use aren’t my sole source of tracks–I use many from Karaoke. I just purchased Elvis’ song of ‘Mess of Blues’ from Karaoke and use the custom features to…[Read more]

@ brother cavefish It just depends on the backing track itself and the work that’s required to make it/produce it.

@ Mel It’s impossible for us to not practice those things too many times. It’s something we have to work on every single day. When I push air from my diaphragm area into the Saxophone, I can sometimes feel the muscles in my back region working too. I have to remind myself to keep my shoulders down and keep the neck muscles relaxed, don’t lean my…[Read more]

Hey guys–As Johnny said, I have some folks I use for making custom tracks for me. They do great work and their prices are very reasonable. They use real musicians in a real studio. They require a 50% deposit up front and you pay the remaining balance after you’ve reviewed the completed track and you approve it, ask them to change something, etc..…[Read more]

The Fibracells are making my practices so much easier and better–less time spent on caring for cane reeds, more consistent playing, etc.. I’m taking to my Sax lesson tomorrow, see what he says about them. I mentioned Fiberreeds to him, said he’s heard of them but never played them, so it will be cool to also bring those for him to try too. He…[Read more]