SOTW new member introductions 2006:

[Harri Rautiainen]

If you are new to Sax on the Web, please introduce yourself by replying to this thread.
Share some of your sax playing and background.
Do not hesitate; we are a fairly civilized bunch of horn players.

And welcome on board,
- Harri

[Mel2]

Hey,
I have been reading the post for a couple of months, this is my first reply. I am a late bloomer, I'm 59, been playing now about a year and a half now after a 40 year rest. I love to play and purchased a new B&S tenor last December.

[SaxMandu]

Hi Everyone,

Another new member here. I started on clarinet in 4th grade and have been playing sax since 8th grade (25 + years). During that time I've played some semi-professionally and taken some extended periods of time away from the horn during busy periods of school and work, but I always come back to it. I'm getting into one of my more active periods again where I want to play as much as I can (which isn't always as much as I would like).

I spend most of my time on alto, but I also play and own a tenor and soprano. I play a later Mark VI alto and a Mark VI tenor and I have an old King Margaux soprano made by SML. I also have a King Zephyr alto (that was my father's horn) and an earlier Mark VI alto. I've been thinking of maybe selling a couple of horns and buying something different, as I've never really fallen in love with any of them although they all play well. Anyway, that's for another day ...

So, I'm pleased to be here and hope to "meet" some of you soon.

[Alun Bliss]

Hello. Joined very recently. I play for pleasure and as a teacher in an Arts School, I get plenty of practice space and several keen musicians to encourage me. I see myself as a late bloomer as I started having lessons about a year ago. At school, I played the French Horn - so I am not a complete novice, though I do find reading the dots hard work.

I tend to play much more by ear and love playing along to standards etc.

Enjoying reading through these threads and very grateful for all of the tips, encouragement and good humour. Alto - Conn; Tenor - Selmer III

[tjontheroad]

I'm sorta new... Well three months of SOTW info now has got my head spinning.

Welcome all :) Stay a while and grab a cup of coffee :coffee: You'll learn much as I have.

Enjoy,
Tim

Oh... 'bout me??? I started with the sax at age 10. I stopped when my school band teacher wanted me to play the tuba. NOT ME. If I could find that guy, I'd smack 'um for setting me the wrong way. Anyway, I took piano and organ lessons as a kid till I thought I wanted to be a rock star and picked up the guitar. I've been playing guitar for 25+ years. It's still my best instrument. Over that time, I would every now and then pick up the sax. I never forgot it. Just over the last 5 years I've been taking it very seriously. When I'm not typing here, I practice every day and take instruction. So... I guess I'm not a "late bloomer" as much as I'm a "slow cooker".

Thanks for a great place to hang :cheers:

[saxmanglen]

Did someone say TUBA!

Here's (http://zed.cbc.ca/go?POS=4&action=watch&CONTENT_ID=9944&type=acquisitionCMS&mediaType=video) something to look at for those tuba lovers.

[tjontheroad]

Did someone say TUBA!

Here's (http://zed.cbc.ca/go?POS=4&action=watch&CONTENT_ID=9944&type=acquisitionCMS&mediaType=video) something to look at for you those tuba lovers.

Ok.... I'm LMAO :D Man I shouda' played the tuba. Silly me....

[Grumpie]

Living by the "read first, then ask" rule, I've done a lot of reading here before joining the forum. Don't think I've read itt all yet8-) , but the forum already has been a lot of help.

About me, actually I'm a trombone player and I got hooked to the sax about 2,5 years ago. Seems most shed time is now for the sax and I spend a lot of time there having fun. So, not a late bloomer in music, a bit of a late bloomer on sax ( late bloomer....but I feel so young:shock: ). I play in a woodwind orchestra as well as in an all amateur Big Band.

[Martin Magna Commitee Sax]

I guess this is what all the rookies have to do, so hello.

[wr_bsaxplayer]

Hey everyone, I started on clarinet in 5th grade, switched to T-sax in 7th, then bari sax in 8th. Now I'm leaning bassoon and practically relearning the clarinet again. Now I'm off to college.

[javier]

Hi i play tenor sax Im into rock n roll and blues
I love listen jazz
im at new york
love this side
im new here
but im glad to find you guys

[saxmak]

I'm brand new to your group but not exactly brand new. At 59, I've been playing for almost 50 years; clarinet first...diploma from Juilliard; tenor and alto a year later. Got a BA in sax and an MA in jazz pedagogy from Univ. of West FL later in life. Spent 20+ years in the Air Force band program, playing and leading.

I've been gigging and teaching ever since. Can't seem to get away from it. Could it be the money? Guess not, eh? I play jazz, do club dates, shows and whatever comes up around here.

Was ordering a tenor m'piece from Ralph Morgan yesterday and he mentioned this site.....said he contributed some info but I couldn't find it. Anyway, glad I found you folks..........

[PhillyBFunk]

Hey, my name is Phil.

I play a keilwerth sx-90R alto sax primarily.

Played in a jazz group called The Philly B Funk All-Stars for a few years and am currently in an experimental funk group called "Spoiled Knowledge and The Progress"

Hail from the Detroit area and am found this forum on accident looking for information about overhauling my horn.

[Mike Dudman]

Hi there. Logging on for the first time... from Sydney Australia!

I've just recovered my first (alto) sax from an old friend - I lent it to him 20-odd years ago. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it.

Engraved on its horn is:

Evette
Schaeffer
Paris France

There's a number on the base/back - 5107. I guess this is the serial number...?

Cheers! Mike

[tjontheroad]

Hi there. Logging on for the first time... from Sydney Australia!

I've just recovered my first (alto) sax from an old friend - I lent it to him 20-odd years ago. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it.

Engraved on its horn is:

Evette
Schaeffer
Paris France

There's a number on the base/back - 5107. I guess this is the serial number...?

Cheers! Mike


Hi Mike and welcome.

Check out the Evette & Schaeffer Buffet-Crampon section (http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=105) and www.saxpics.com for some great info. You made a very good recovery :)

Play that sucka and enjoy,
Tim

[odsum25]

Hi from New York,

I play mostly jazz now, but have done my fair share of classical playing. Currently I'm playing a Series III alto with a C* for classical and a Meyer 7 for jazz. (Though we all know how those things change rather quickly.) I also have a curved Yani 901 curved soprano with an old, unmarked mouthpiece which I wouldn't trade in for anything. I'll also be checking out vintage tenors fairly soon. I might also have a cd coming out this summer/fall, depending on how things go with a small combo I play in.

[blacktenorsax]

Hi I'm a high school tenor saxophonist and I've aspire to become a professional musician. What's new. I play a Conn tenor sax and I use Rico Royal reeds. I'm glad to join the forum:.)

[WillieB]

I was a serious clarinet player 20 or so years ago - was never serious about saxophone. After winning scholarship lessons on saxophone at the local J.C.C., I started playing alto. I never became the sax player that I had hoped... picking up saxophone came at the end of my musical life.

l was always a lover of jazz and many other forms of music. Never stopped listening or purchasing... simply stopped playing. Work, marriage, children - the busy life ended my playing.

Last year, I finally made the decision to stop putting my interests on hold. I purchased a few saxophones and here I am. I want to become a solid player and am putting my efforts into the tenor, mainly. The tenor, for me, is "THE" saxophone. Not to insult altos, baritones, basses, etc... the tenor sax is the Dalai Lama of the saxophone family, IMHO. I say that as Worldwidesax is finishing up a Buescher rebuild on my Big B alto.

The forum is great - so much important information, not to mention a fair amount of helpful posters. I stop by daily, whether to post or to just learn and read. Hats off to Harri - excellent place to stop by, now if Harri can force a cup of gourmet coffee through my internet line while I'm perusing, the world would be perfect ;) .

[crazybari09]

Hey guys, I'm a high school bari player from Florida. Just checkin out the site and hoping to learn something while being a member.

[danyo]

hey every1.
my name is dan.
I'm in grade 11 right now and play alto
started getting into it more seriously and now am hoping to go into music in some form. get a B.MusEd degree then see where it goes from there.
anyways.. been playing since grade 7 aaand thats about it.

[hydemusic]

Hello i am 'hydemusic', my friends call me Josh
i am 19, in college, (or uni, as we call it here)
studying classical performance, 2nd year.
i play a bit of jazz on the side
i play on a selmer serie II alto, and serie III soprano
i enjoy art

thankyou for your time : )

[rleitch]

Hi folks,

I'm a weekend blues jammer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although I can't say that concert Bflat is my best key to sing and play in, my idol and all time favorite performer is the late great Eddie Vinson. I play a SA80 alto + Link HR, and I joined SOTW to get some advice on repairs and on buying saxophones long distance.

Rory

ps. anybody know what kind of sax/mp Cleanhead played?

[Tom Hall]

Hi ya'll,

I've dropped in here off and on for awhile -never posted until today (? about necks). Just realized that I was so rude as to post before introducing myself -so here I am!

Tom Hall, 47 years old, live in Boston, played sax for 37 years, had an improvising sax quartet for about 18 years (Your Neighborhood Sax Quartet), and played a lotta this and that (Bruce Katz Band and Bob Neiske's Wolf Soup were probably the best of 'em).

Currently teaching sax lessons and a free improv ensemble at Brandeis Univ, playing with Club d'Elf (freeish groove, trance, dub, drum and bass kinda thang) and doing a live looping solo sax show.

Love the forum - nice folks and good info!

If you're interested, you can check out more about me and my ideas about improvising at: www.freeimprovisation.com

[SOTSDO]

I've been playing since I was a wee sprout, starting out on clarinets (mostly bass clarinet; been playing them since the late 1950's) and then learning sax and bassoon and flute (poorly, in that case) as it became necessary.

These days, I spend most of my time covering baritone, bass clarinet and clarinet in my musical group, Sounds of The South Dance Orchestra, which shortens nicely to SOTSDO. We're a "Vegas" style group, with big band instrumentation but not with a 1940's swing orchestra emphasis.

Our group handles everything from the classics through the lounge styles of the 1950's, the R&B movement and other classic rock, and even some of the newer things to come down the pike (Nora Jones, anyone?). A typical job invariably ends up featuring Chattanooga Choo-Choo or In The Mood (will we ever escape that tune?), but it will also include stuff like Love Shack, 634-5789 and the only fully orchestrated, non-marching band arrangement of Play That Funky Music, White Boy in all of Christendom.

With a library of over nine hundred arrangements (about half of which are vocals, and most dating from the 1950's and later), we provide quality dance music for benefits, weddings and other social occasions here in the Gulf Coast area. I've got a great bunch of players and vocalists, and we do what we do pretty well.

I'm about ready to retire from a thirty seven year career with the Federal government, and am looking forward to having some spare time in the not-too-distant future. I've seen the inside of more hotel kitchens than I'd care to remember, and I've humped horns up and down a lot of stairs over the years, but I still enjoy the "deal with it now" aspect of commercial live music a lot.

[pedestrians bari sax]

Hello all,
My name is Emiliano. I have been playing sax since 1987.

[Txwalt]

Hi, I have been playing Alto for 25 years. Four years ago I purchased a tenor. I found this site while comparing different brands. Some help from the pros in the best alto to buy could be of help. I like the Yanagisawa (but don't know a lot about them) and Yamaha brands. I like Yamaha because that is what I have played on the last 18 years.

Glad to be here.

[Hennes]

my name is Hennes. I´m working for the last 20 years sometimes as a prof, sometimes as a semi-prof musician in Germany and other Euorpean countries. I have played violin, piano und flute before I recognized that the tenor-saxophone is my great love.

Most of the time, I am called for jobs in horn-sections. People say, that they like my playing because of my loud and bright sound. Of course, my setup is not very usual: a selmer super action 80, series II, an old Dukoff metal mpc with a "S" chamber in combination with Rico Platicover Reeds.

European saxophone-forums are a little bit boring: it seems, that all the saxophonists are playing Otto Links on their selmer-tenors and want to sound like John Coltrane. On the other hand, the classic-orientated musicians play selmer-altos with selmer mpc and want to sound like Ivan Roth (a music professor from Suisse).

I hope, that saxontheweb.net is a more "modern" forum.

Best regards, and excuse my English!

Hennes

[Peter B]

Hello,

I last held a sax 35 or so years ago when I was in my mid 20s and played in a 6/8 piece amatuer dance band. It was great fun, and we did pretty well with bookings at the time.

As happens in life, we kind of drifted apart as a group over time, and I drifted away from the sax at the same time towards the brass section. I ended up playing trumpet for a while, and then about 15 years ago I got into the brass band world, and ended up playing the tenor horn in various brass bands, (once an E flat player always an E flat player!!), but a couple of months ago I thought I'd like to hold a sax again, and that impusle soon became irresistable.

So last week I bought a second hand Jupiter 769 from eBay, and I'm currently waiting for it to arrive. I have to say I'm a bit nervous about it - will the grey cells remember what to do or will I have to learn all over again from scratch?

Anyway, I'm delighted to have discovered what looks like a great web site for sax players - even lapsed ones like me - and I'm looking forward to getting lots of hints and tips here as I try to pick up the threads again........

Cheers
PB

[Mark]

I'm a professional drummer, but have always loved woodwinds, especially saxes, and especially low ones! Two of the groups I play in have horns, and they are some of the best guys in the city (I live in Ottawa, Canada). It's a pleasure to listen to these guys, but I keep thinking our charts need a bari part... :D (see my website for links: http://drumbent.com )

I got into high school knowing how to read and write music, and it was then that I heard Harry Carney for the first time. After tootling on a bassoon, then bass clarinet, I knew that the woodwind noise I wanted to make came from a bari sax. Played it for the final year in dance band when the bari player wanted to move to tenor, and because I was bored after two years of the same old drum charts.

When I graduated in '76 I didn't touch a horn (bari or otherwise) again until 1993, when I decided to get back into it, and rented a serviceable Czech-made horn. A month later I bought a Yamaha 61, and played that for three years in a local RnB / zydeco band, and also the usual RnB cover groups (in and around my drums gigs). But I grew tired of the big ripping noise that one had to make to be heard. I was using a Dukoff D9 and plasticover reeds, and it was just not a sound I wanted to make anymore. So I sold the horn to a local student, and did not look back.

But in the past year the bari started to call me again. I heard that call, and had to decide what kind of sound I wanted to make, and what kind of horn would do it for me, because this time I was just going to play for myself. And I just knew I wanted a Bb vintage horn, and while researching this forum has been a great help. Thanks to all involved with keeping it running!

Because I'm in Canada I ideally wanted to find a horn up here, so I browsed the web, and there, on the site for the Brass and Woodwind Shop in Victoria BC, was a beautiful silverplate 1923 True Tone for $1500. The photos showed it to be in very good condition, and three days later the horn made its 4000 km cross-country trip. That was three weeks ago, and I've been able to play it just about every day since. It is truly humbling as a pro musician (who is very competent in his main field) to spend time sounding thoroughly mediocre on an instrument, but I'll get there eventually! So I'm running my scales, doing the long tones (not as much as I should), and playing along with my Ellington and other CDs. This True Tone is a very nice instrument, with a great warm and fat sound (slightly clunky key-work notwithstanding). Heck, I'm amazed that an 83 year-old instrument with all these rods and fittings even works at its age. ;)

So yeah, back at it, and loving it so far. Think I'll keep this one...

Mark

[ALVEGASAX]

hey everyone;
I mainly play tenor sax but ocassionly play alto. Been playing for about 20somthing years. Have played Latin,ROCK,Blues,FUNK,and ofcourse being from
Texas also have played Tejano.Just like to say hello to all my new neighbor sax players.
ALVEGASAX

[thundersax]

I'm pretty new here as well. been playing mainly tenor for 25 years... gig as a doubler mainly on bass (guitar and or upright) and double with the sax although it was my first instrument and the only one I was taught Unfortunatley I play out a lot more with the bass but still manage to stick the horn in whenever I can. cheers.

[Son of Bob]

Did someone say TUBA!

Here's (http://zed.cbc.ca/go?POS=4&action=watch&CONTENT_ID=9944&type=acquisitionCMS&mediaType=video) something to look at for those tuba lovers.

Check out this tuba thing - it is very funny - and it even has some good tuba music. :?

Hi, I'm a new member as well. My name is Joe, I live in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) and I play tenor mainly (Buescher 400 - just post Selmer buyout). I also have a nice King Zephyr alto. My next horn purchased will be a bari (someday).

I play in a community concert band, and also in a recreational sax quartet. We play gigs once in a while, but we don't make money over what we spend on charts and reeds.

I am also teaching myself to repair and regulate saxes. I am on my first project - a soviet tenor sax that I got off ebay. It didn't play at all when I got it, so anything short of destroying it will be an improvement and a moral victory. I'm going slowly as I find bits of time here and there, and I am picking up tools as I need them.

This is a great forum. Thanks to all the people who are so willing to share knowledge. Thanks also to Harri and the other moderators.

Cheers,
Joe (aka Son of Bob)

[saxmanglen]

Welcome! Son of Bob.
That link is pretty funny. Us sax lovers need to watch the movie to the end to get the full effect.

You need about 10 mins. and a high speed connection to watch this short film. I got a kick out of it! Here's the link again:

http://zed.cbc.ca/go?POS=4&action=watch&CONTENT_ID=9944&type=acquisitionCMS&mediaType=video

[cbarnardlmhc]

Hi My name is Chuck and I play a beauginer stencil tenor with a jody jazz esp. I like scott hamilton zoot sims harry allen illinois jaquet.

[pauld3]

hi my name is paul and i have wanted to play the sax since i heard a guy that i was in the navys submarine school with play when i was 20. for my 40th birthday after i told my girlfriend the story she got me a sax (selmer bundy 2) from a pawn shop. i know that this sax is not one of the great saxophones made but to me it is. but around here no one gives sax lessons so i am trying to learn on my own. its been a year since i got my sax cant really play much, just trying to learn from books and from this great web site. if anybody has any good sources for lessons over the web let me know.

[sideC]

Hi......I'm JP. Been checking out sotw for many years, just now getting around to joining. I'm a professional saxophonist by trade, for well over 30 years now, and sotw is great for recharging my batteries and learning great information. I'm based out of the NYC area, but I'm originally from Philadelphia/S. Jersey.... Airports, hotel lobbies, dressing rooms, busses and vans, bad food and occasionally the bandstand, and my own bed. And my beautiful wife. Keep playing music and you'll be as crazy as I am!!!!!????

[Mope]

Am starting out late, only 5 months now at age 53. Played in bands; guitar and bass in High School. Fooled around with midi in early 90's. Now I'm really seriously obsessed with the tenor. I want to start an old style R&B band (No Guitars!) as soon as I can play well enough. This forum is great. I'm learning a lot from you guys. Thanks:!:

[Dale B]

I'm a longtime musician of informal and basic skills, mainly on the guitar. My twelve year old son has just acquired a vintage saxophone with which to learn, and we needed to find all of the information about it that we could. Your site has been very informative, with a lot to digest.

The sax is a Buescher with a patent date of December 8, 1914, and 166xxx serial number, which appears to give it a manufacturing date of 1925 or so. It's in relatively good shape, with only a small dent or two. One or two of the keys are sticking, and the finish is dull, but otherwise it appears to be in good shape. Being a novice, I can't tell whether the pads need to be replaced.

[fenix424]

Hello,
My name is Josh, I'm currently a Sophmore at Saint Xavier University n Chicago, IL currently studying Saxophone and Voice. I mainly play on my Yamaha Allegro TEnor, but recently bought a Yamaha Custom Z to learn some Alto. I currently play Bari (a school owned Selmer Series II SA80) in our concert band, marching band, and saxophone quartet and i play Tenor I in our Jazz band. Im intersted in soaking up as much info on saxophone and jazz as possible and wouldnt mind if anyone hit me up on AIM just to talk Sax or Jazz so feel free to msg me anytime!

[Sax/Bssn]

Hello.
I'm a college student studying the bassoon.
I started on flute in the 5th grade and loved music ever since.
I learned bass (double bass and electric) and guitar in the 9th grade and from there i learned trumpet, trombone, and euphonium, until i made a permanent switch from flute to bassoon in the 11th grade and never looked back. I've always had an urge to play saxophone, but never the resources. Now i'm considering learning it to help my future career and this site has already helped me alot.

[zeektheman]

Hi gang, wow what a great site. I'm gobbling up all sorts of info. I've been playing an alto since the 5th grade, that makes, uh, 30 years or something. Although I've been much more of an electric bass player for the past 15 years, I'm nuts about the sound I get with my old Martin Handcraft.

[Bari Playa]

hey guys


I'm a Bari sax player from hawaii who just started here. I'd just like to learn more.

[BertieB]

Sut mae, dudes!

47 y.o. Welshman, playing soprano sax for 6 months (Rampone & Cazzane straight, Berg Larsen ebonite mpc, Rico Royale 2.5 reeds.
Previously messed about with trumpet and french horn, but no real heroes to inspire me at the time. Motivated by Garbarek & Andy Sheppard, and interested in chamber sized groups (3-5 musicians) which sustains my interest.
Psychotherapist by trade, now with reasonable time to play/practice, and also learning bass guitar!

Da boch i nawr!

[shooted]

Hello to everyone here.

I'm just 16, I've been playing for just about 5 years now. I play the alto and soprano. I'm in a small quartet as well as a big band. I'm also part of 3 concert bands, which isn't all that bad.

[Tina Tan]

Dear forum, I am in Singapore. I have been learning alto sax for 2.5 yrs now. I am also a late bloomer but have always love the sound of saxophone!
Mine is a Yamaha, beginner model.
Great forum and discussion.

Cheers!

[jazzbluescat]

Welcome All.

Now, get out while you can! Save yourselves!




:twisted:

[baylistenor]

Hello from myself Baylis in Manchester UK.Thanks Harri for Sax on the Web.I am currently buying a new Tenor and a lot of the information on your site has been invaluable

[Gofy]

Hello there- I've been playing professionally for-hey, what time is it?-no, about thirty years. I'm hoping to find some info about various horns out here,
maybe discuss mouthpieces, etudes, and the like as long as it doesn't interfere with my practizing.

Thanks, Harri, for putting this site up and maintaining it.

[bfoster64]

This forum is really cool and there is a wealth of information here, although a certain amount of filtration is necessary ; )

I have been playing sax for 19 years and I currently play alto, tenor, and soprano in a rock band.

[blacktenorsax]

Why not bari?

[Siggie]

Greetings all!

Siggie

[jazzbluescat]

You just said that. :)

[The editing feature usually works, BTW.]

Welcome.

[Monty]

Hello Everyone,
I recently picked up the sax again after about 20 years. I played from 1966 through 1985. I played in both Jr High and High School Concert bands, High School Stage Band and a Community Orchestra for a couple of years after I graduated High School. I like the music of Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, most of the Bands from the Big Band Era and the older songs from the group Chicago. My father played with Tommy Dorsey and Henry Busse. He got me interested in playing the saxophone.
I once thought I played a pretty good sax. It's coming back to me though.
That's all for now.
Thanks,
Monty

[stiles b]

My brothers and sisters,
I am a "newbie" to this site as well. I do like the great amount of wisdom and it's always good to have a place to share thoughts and the like with players of the greatest instrument outside of the voice that exists. Although I have played with some singers that make a liar out of me. I am 40 yrs of life and have been playing paying gigs for the past 28. I have recorded 7 CD's with my own groups and maybe about a dozen or so with other groups. I have played the clubs, toured the country and Europe, and done the "cruise ship" thing, and now I'm all about staying home and playing locally while I raise my son. Oh yeah, I'm a single parent, and proud. Went to Berklee til I ran out of money, tried to teach for a while but lack the patience. I look forward to your fellowship and gleening your combined knowledge.

[danyo]

I've been here for a wee little while and so far its awsome!
gotten lots of great information, learned a hell of a lot.

anyways, im a 16 year old in grade 11. I mainly play alto, but i think img going to be starting on tenor in the city concert band.
I'm hoping to go to university (laurier) for a MusEd. Then hoping to get a masters degree in, education or performance, not sure yet but i got lots of time to decide.

[Tenor/Soprano Fletch]

Hey guys, My name is Fletch and i am a tenth grade music major at the fine arts academy high school in texas. I play tenor and soprano saxophones in jazz band and marching band, but unfortunatly am forced to play bass clarinet in concert band. I have been playing sax since the summer before freshman year and am starting privite instruction with Harvey Pittel, i dont know if you have heard of him but he is supposed to be the best.

[gator_borealis]

I gave up my flute about 35 years ago to pursue other interests (some practical and reasonable, most not). Now, at age 60, I figure if I don't learn to play the sax now (or soon), I may never; so about 2 months ago I bought a used Yamaha YAS-23 and a Rubank Method book and started practicing.

Thanx to a neighbor with an available outbuilding, I'm having wicked fun with it, and surprising myself that the stuff I tell my grandkids about learning is actually true.

Glad I stumbled across SOTW and its forum. I've found lots of useful info and much motivation here.

Thanx, guys.

[online.again]

My name is Rig and I have no clue what grade I would be the equivalent of! I learned to play the clarinet in Norway and have been playing for about 15 years - I switched to saxophone about 10 months ago and love it!

[altodan]

Hello everyone I've been lurking around these forums for a couple months now and I thought it was time that I start posting. Anyway a little info about myself...I've been playing the saxophone for about 5 years now and I'm loving every minute of it!:)

First started when our school band was just starting up. Me and a couple friends decided to join. I decided to choose the saxophone because I've always loved the sound of it and always wished that I could play those cool jazz tunes. I started off on the alto sax because it was the only one the band was offering at the time (I still don't know why there wasn't an option to play the other types of saxes such as the tenor on their little brochure thingy). Anyway being in the band was really fun and we even got to record a few cd's. Nothing special really but it was really a great experience for me. I'm currently in my high school band and am also taking lessons with a great saxophone/flute/clarinet teacher who was actually the very first person to ever teach me to play to the sax. Right now I play alto, tenor, and soprano sax but I've got a bari coming soon and I'm really excited and can't wait for it to get here!

Checking out these forums has really inspired and motivated me to continue playing the sax, especially after checking out the members recordings. Wow...I really hope that someday I'll be able to play just like you guys, but until then I'll just keep practicing as hard as I can so I could reach my goal. I hope to learn a lot from these forums and perhaps even help others as well.:shock: :laughing:

-Dan

[AndyD]

Hello. Been playing Alto for 3 Months.
I just need to learn breathing technique, embouchure, note fingerings, music theory, how to read music, playing in time and in tune, scales, modes and improvisation .......
Having realised the enormity of the task I’ve taken on, I’ve started to have lessons.
I’ve been reading the messages on the beginners forum, and find it encouraging that many people seem to have the same experiences as me eg. is it the horn or my poor technique, problems with the upper octave, problems with low notes, which mouthpiece/reed etc.
Also noticed how friendly, positive and informative the respondents are (in the main).

AndyD

[barisaxbeast]

Hi Folks, I'm new to this site. I play the lot, sop, alto, tenor, bari, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and picc. I have been known to play recorder, but only if the money's right!!! I'm known as a bari player, got a Mk6 in silver with Barone neck & a Lawton 8*b, fantastic set up. Had the horn from new, its 30 years old now, one of the last 6's out of factory. I go along with "French" for sax & clarinets and "Japanese for flutes. Mind you I've got Yani sop!!! Regards G

[ThunderWhale]

Hello everyone! I'm a highschool senior moving off to college next year, and planning to play in college(not major in music though), and probably night clubs, and some gigs. I've been playing the sax since about the age of 10, and am still loving every time I pick up a horn.

I mainly play alto. My alto is a 1943 Conn 6M, it's in Great condition, and the sound is even better than the condition! I've "lurked" around the boards for a while, and finally made an account. I'm looking forward to the friendly atmosphere, and just talking, and getting help from all the great saxophone enthusiasts on this site.

Cheers!

[ImTheBassPlayer]

Hi Y'all,

I'm a bass and guitar player by profession - I know as much about those instruments (historically, by brand, quality, price, etc...), and probably a lot more than most (I own and play over 40 vintage pieces)... BUT - I don't know a darn thing about alto Sax's - which is what my 11 year old son has vectored off to.

He has been playing Sax for about 2 years with a rented Conn 200M, I want to buy him a quality instrument since he is showing the talent and interest now for the Sax. I have an opportunity to acquire a Yamaha YAS-34-II (an Allegro model) for about $700, in proportatly good shape.

Question is - what is better for an emerging young player - a Yamaha YAS-23 (student model, all over the net for $300-$400), or this YAS-34 (an intermediate instrument for ~$700). What counts for me is to make sure he has a good time playing, and whatever instrument allows him to blow the most correct notes to keep interested. I hate to skimp on an instrument, but I want to make sure that the instrument is easy for him to play to keep up his interest.

Any and all responses will be appreciated.

Thanks!
Rob

[blacktenorsax]

Try an intermediate model. It'll do better in the long run. Yahama has very easy playing horns and a great beginning mouthpiece.

[asaxman]

Hello all, I have been checking out SOTW, for some time-thought I'd sigh up! I play sop,alto,&tenor sax-picc,flute,&alto flute as a full-time pro since 1970.I live in Southern CA, (by way of Detroit), love all the forums, & learn a lot! I'm also looking to teach more, and do less gigs. (getting too old)

[Harri Rautiainen]

Welcome All.

Now, get out while you can! Save yourselves!

:twisted:What can I add to that?
Welcome on the board,
-Harri

[eelfoster]

Hi I'm chris, 19 from london, england, sax player for a few years, play all of them to around grade 8+ (english grades...) ....I'm at uni here at the moment - doing physics for some reason!
also play clarinets and a bit of various other things. music all the way!

[Lair]

Hello,
I just joined this week. Been playing off and on for 36 years. (Those off years really set me back.) I'm strictly an amatuer of intermediate skill. Currently playing for all three morning services at church in a small worship band. I play a 1908 vintage Holton tenor. I also have a 1925 Buescher C-mel horn awaiting overhaul. Seeing all the enthusiasm for the Antigua soprano horns has me thinking seriously about finally adding a sop to my collection.

[jlinsey]

Hi sax on the web people!
I joined because I am a parent of a fourth grader, who has been playing alto sax for all of 8 months. We have been renting an instrument but will be looking for advice as we consider buying one in the next few months. Thanks in advance.

[RCNELSON]

I joined SOTW in March 2006 and have enjoyed my brief time here. Started alto in 4th grade more years ago than I want to admit to, was playing bari and tenor by 7th grade, started clarinet in 9th, flute in 10th. Got a BS in Music Ed 26 years ago, decided that computer programming was a better way of making a living.

I love playing all styles (big band, classical, musicals) and have learned a lot from this forum.

[AlistairD]

Hi I'm chris, 19 from london, england, sax player for a few years, play all of them to around grade 8+ (english grades...) ....I'm at uni here at the moment - doing physics for some reason!
also play clarinets and a bit of various other things. music all the way!

Great... another English Physicist, don't forget to contribute to my comments on Schroedinger's Cat......

Welcome...

[Dr G]

I'm a bass and guitar player by profession - I know as much about those instruments (historically, by brand, quality, price, etc...), and probably a lot more than most (I own and play over 40 vintage pieces)... BUT - I don't know a darn thing about alto Sax's - which is what my 11 year old son has vectored off to.

Question is - what is better for an emerging young player...

Let's put it in these terms then... Decca.

I figure that the red-black-burst Decca that I had when I was that age probably set me back at least 5 years. I made up for it after I discovered Gurian, then Gallagher, then Grimes. :D

You cannot play slide on a poorly setup saxophone. ;)

[elite81]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to the site. I reside in Toronto, Canada and spend my time watching the Maple Leafs losing. I play the Tenor Saxophone and have been for about 4 yrs.

I just like to stay in touch with the music world and thought this site would be a great way to do so.

Cheers,

Elite

[jaltosax]

Just registered yesterday and have already found some great info here re:mouthpeices, horns, practicing techiques, etc.
I've played the alto since 6th grade.
Didnt play through high school - was more interested in sports, but when I realized I was too short for the NBA and too slow for the NFL - I reverted back to my musical desires.

I've played in a couple of bands (jazz-gospel) but I'm ready to really take it to the next level.

Currently playing an early Mark VII - but in the hunt for a Mark VI - (yes I admit I have VI envy).

Anyway, already got my money's worth in free advice here in SOTW.

Later,
J

[noise_wave]

Hi, I'm new (obviously since I'm posting here).

I've been looking for a good sax forum for a while, and finally found one which makes me incredibly happy.

I just finished 3rd year university, majoring in music and minoring in history.

I've been playing the T Sax since I was in the second grade and the Clarinet since the 4th grade. I took a 2 year sabatical from my clarinet while I really worked crazy hard on the T Sax and have just recently picked up the Clarinet again, though my first and main love has always and will always be the T Sax. I own a 1967 Selmer Mark VI. I am a major jazz and bebop lover.

~Kris

[TorontoTenor]

Hi, so happy to be here. My name is Jim Lawlis. I am a working player in the Toronto, Canada area. I am a graduate of Humber College and York University. I divide my time between gigging, teaching and running a project studio (cds, tv music etc.). I am part of various groups, including a band that plays exclusively Steely Dan repetoire.

[dramuse]

Hello all

I am a Student studying in West Yorkshire, England, and I have just started studying for a PhD in saxophone extended techniques. I figured this forum may be a handy resource, if you guys don't mind helping me out...

I started playing when I was 11 and have played in jazz/classical/funk/carnival bands ever since. I am currently soprano player with the Mars saxophone quartet based in the North of England, and an electro-acoustic quartet named Eclectis, with whom I have recently performed at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, GEM electro-acoustic festival and the Victoria Baths in Manchester.

I play solo soprano, alto and tenor with my university big band who are performing with Dave O'Higgins in June 2006. I've also recently performed a Phill Niblock piece in the presence of the composer, a frightening prospect - mostly due to the necessity of pitch matching varying degrees of microtones BY EAR!

I recently had my MK VII alto stolen, so I'm going to replace it with a rather lovely Super Balanced Action. My soprano is a Yamaha 475, and I play on a Buffet Super Dynaction tenor (although I don't own it!).

[SpeakNoEvil]

Hey there,

I am currently in my last week of my third year of college as a music education major. I'm in Big Band, combo when i can fit it in, and wind ensemble. I never really got into the legit stuff until I played the Glazounov Concerto. Over the summer I'm going to really focus on improv., since my biggest frustration is following chord changes.

I'm Pretty much addicted to SOTW since it is possibleto get more information in a day on certain topics than i would get in a month otherwise.

[Isupportcommunityband]

Hi. New registrant. Been reading about a week.

I've played sax since I was 12, which makes 27 years now off and on. Mostly alto. I have an odd collection of saxes, and I'm here to learn more about them. I'll be posting in the brand forums.

Armstrong Alto
DJH Modified Conn
1955 Conn
Yanagisawa straight sop--borrowed

[Arthur]

Hi everybody!
I'm a french sax begginer and also a new member of SOTW! I am 21; I have chosen tenor sax and want to play for pleasure. I think such a forum is a great thing!
arthur

[Shorty]

Hi there everyone.

I'm a harmless college professor. I started out on clarinet as a youngster, branched out to bass cl. and bari sax in high school, and then stopped playing for 20 years. Since I restarted in 2003, I've played in a university band (bass cl., contrabass cl., tenor sax), a clarinet choir (contrabass cl.), and am the tenor sax player and horn arranger in a Chicago-style blues band. I have a Jupiter tenor and will probably buy a bari within the next year. I'm hoping to learn more about mouthpieces, improving my intonation across the break, and good ways to add horns into a live audio mix (both PA and monitoring).

Shorty

[lyric4christ]

To whom it may concern:

I played sax for about 3 years in middle school and just got a used sax a couple of months ago, to fulfill that innate passion! I haven't played a lick in like 15years...I'm looking to have some fun.

I'm looking for a case for my used conn 10m tenor I bought, if you read this and have a case that would work...hook a brutha up! - i'll post it in the want ads as well.

...man, do I have a lot to learn. I hated scales then and I don't like them anymore now....but I love what you can do with them.

justlivejazz,
lyric

[Marilyn]

I'm new to the sax - I retired and took up clarinet after not playing since 4th grade. Joined the New Horizons Concert Band, got the urge to try alto sax and fell in love. I'm playing a lot of blues on my own - still have trouble hitting the real high notes like at the end of Mercy Mercy Mercy and some in Night Train. I'll get it after a while. Hope to get some great pointers from this forum.

[Martinman]

I am currently a Junior in high school. I have been playing since the fifth grade, where I started on alto. I switched to baritone sax halfway through seventh grade, but was forced to give it up when I went to high school. I was forced to play tenor halfway through my freshman year in order to make Jazz band, but found I liked it. I currently play both horns for various activities. I use a Selmer Series II Super Action 80 alto, and my beloved 1963 The Martin tenor. I am currently getting funds together for a soprano. My dream is to get a great bari, but this must wait untill I get a hight paying job (not cutting grass/babysitting).

My favorite player:a three-way tie between Boots Randolph, Grover Washington Jr., and John Coltrane.

[Matero]

Hi everybody -- nice to meet you!

I'm a young professional, luckily able to support myself by just teaching lessons and gigging. (but just barely!) Jazz is my primary interest, but I'm no slouch at classical either. I'm currently transcribing Mobley -- anyone else into Hank?

Take care,

R

[Master.America]

Hello.

First of all, don't mind my username. It's a name that's stuck on me over several years of posting in internet forums. You can call me Ryan.

I'm a tenor/alto-wielding student hailing from California in the states. I'm in college, but due to lack of money and my horrible tendency to fail English countless numbers of times, I roam from community college to community college searching for a half-decent music department. I've exhausted all possibilities in the north state, so I'm on my way to the bay area in a couple months. Which will be nice, of course. As it is, I'm the third best sax player I have ever seen. The other two were a drunk guy at a bar and David Sanborn. So... yeah, I'm hoping to bump into some good influences and fresh talent any time now.

Sorry for the life story. In any case, I currently use a Bundy tenor. You know, I feel a bit out of place here...

[bebop65]

If you are new to Sax on the Web, please introduce yourself by replying to this thread.
Share some of your sax playing and background.
Do not hesitate; we are a fairly civilized bunch of horn players.

And welcome on board,
- Harri
HEY! IM VERY GRATEFUL TO GET THE CHANCE TO CHAT WITH OTHER SAX
PLAYERS.I HAVE PLAYED THE SAX FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS MAINLY ON
ALTO MARK6 80 THOU SERIES GRRRReat! HORN! MOSTLY HARD CORE
JAZZ ITS NOT PROFITABLE BUT A PRIVILIGE AND A LOT OF FUN.IM FROM
CLEVELAND OHIO BUT LIVEN AND GIGGIN LOS ANGLES CA. WELL! FELLA
SAX PLAYERS IM TIRED OF TYPING THIS IS NEW TO ME AND A ONE FINGER

[bebop65]

[QUOTE=bebop65]HEY! IM VERY GRATEFUL TO GET THE CHANCE TO CHAT WITH OTHER SAX
PLAYERS.I HAVE PLAYED THE SAX FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS MAINLY ON
ALTO MARK6 80 THOU SERIES GRRRReat! HORN! MOSTLY HARD CORE
JAZZ ITS NOT PROFITABLE BUT A PRIVILIGE AND A LOT OF FUN.IM FROM
CLEVELAND OHIO BUT LIVEN AND GIGGIN IN LOS ANGLES CA. WELL! FELLA
SAX PLAYERS IM TIRED OF TYPING THIS IS NEW TO ME.

PEACE!
BEBOP65

[Graeme]

Hi,
I started learning and playing the alto when my sporting life was coming to a end 18 yrs ago. I am now 62 yrs old.
7yrs ago bought a Selmer Tenor and I now switch between the two playing for our local Community Big Band and another Community Concert band.
Last year an American player joined our Big Band and introduced a few Dixie arrangements and now we perform a little Dixie into our performances, lots of fun.
I am now President of our local BB and am always interested in good new Orchestrations for our group.
My main reason for coming on line is that next week( 13th to 20th May 2006) I am going to attend a Big Band Music workshop in the dorms at Fort Worth in Seattle. It is full on with improvisation sessions as well as Big Band sessions etc. It finishs the workshop with a play out Concert and Dance some where in the district. It sounds exciting thats why I am going.
I am coming from New Zealand to attend this workshop , can anyone tell me whats in store for me?
Has anyone attended one of these Workshops before.
Would welcome any input I am coming alone so I do not know what Im letting myself into.

[KirstinJ2006]

Hi there,

I'm Kirstin, in Sydney Australia. I've been playing Sax for almost 20 years and I have been teaching sax for about 13 years. I mostly play Tenor but have played a fair bit of Alto over the years. I currently own a cheap and nasty Tenor, that I forget the brand of, but I have a solid silver Yanigasawa mouthpiece that makes up for many of the cr*ppy sax issues :)

I also play and teach Flute, Piano and Clarinet...

I found this Forum by accident while I was looking for some info on slap tonguing for one of my students and I thought it would be fun to join.

Looking forward to getting to know some other sax players from around the world...

[Sax@39]

I live in Newfoundland Canada and just starting with a tenor sax. It should be here any day, I can't wait! :D

I will sure need lots of help! I love the blues and will need some real easy sheet music. I have a few beginner books, one has a cd with it.

Just need to make sure I spend more time practicing than I do here!:treble:

[kerensky]

Hmmm, quick intro time. Is it just me or are there a ton of Aussie players on this forum? Well, no matter. I'm pretty typical of lots of returning players, I'd guess. Played alto grade school through university days. I was never an outstanding player - usually sat 2nd or 3rd chair. Always tended to get by on raw talent rather than bothering to actually practice. After a few years in college architecture started devouring all of my time and my sax went into the closet. That was 20 years ago. So a couple of months ago I'm at church and our music director finds out I used to play. :roll: Needless to say, he's been harassing me to come play with them. I guess I'd been wanting an excuse to play anyway, so last week I took my sax in for a 'tune-up'. Should be getting it back tomorrow - then we'll see how it goes!

[SaxoPiper89]

I am a junior in highschool, I have played piano since age 5, saxophone since 6th grade, dulcimer since 3 years ago and guitar for 4 months, and just began Bagpipes- I also write a little of my own music, and play by ear as well. I enjoy sight reading, and I am getting better at improv, but have only recently gotten into it. I am a "captain" in my band, and I love being a part of that. I can't wait for marching season to start, its going to be a Latin show. I suppose thats enough.

[Flute and sax girl]

Hi. I'm 16 years old. I'm a girl.
I'm New.
I played Tenor Sax for about a year.I also play Flute and Clarinet.

[Harri Rautiainen]

Hi. I'm 16 years old. I'm a girl.
I'm New.
I played Tenor Sax for about a year.I also play Flute and Clarinet.Welcome on board, Flute and sax girl.
I took liberty to tone down your signature a tad.

[Tarrasque]

Hello everybody

I am Timo from Finland, playing tenorsax, clarinet, guitar, vocals...
I'm currently studying music in pop/jazz conservatory in Finland, Tornio. I listen to jazz alot, also like some subcultural metal kind of music styles (deathmetal,vikingmetal..). I have been playing saxophone for 4 years, 1 year pretty serious, like training every day somewhere around 1-2h. That has caused some good things and bad things, good things that I think I got better in improvising (I also started listening to the other sax players one year ago, like more seriously..), the bad things are my ergonomic problems. I suffer from thumb pain alot when I play more than 2 hours / day, I also get pain to my downer lip, and small blister there, which is not too nice either.

My favourite artistis/bands:

Artists: Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Jan Garbarek (from Norway), Coleman Hawkins, Wayne Shorter, Tom Waits, Miles Davis

Bands: Morphine, Carcass, Danzig, Violent Femmes, Velvet Underground, Jethro Tull...

[andrewb]

Hey everyone-

I'm Andrew, high school bari sax player(mainly classical)in Northern California

I have a fairly new YBS-52 that i bought new a couple years ago, a Selmer S80 C*, and use Vandoren 4's

[Sax_Mom]

Hi,

Saxophone is my instrument of choice. What else is there to say?

[BassManJim]

The very first thing that I would like to do say a heartfelt thank you, to the SOTW community. I have been reading the forum for a few months now and it has been VERY helpful. I also greatly apreciate the relatively civilized environment that you have managed to maintain on the forum. I only frequent one other music forum, TalkBass, and they have a similar environment there.

So as you may have guessed by now, I am a Bass player, Both electric (4 and 6 string) and acoustic (yes, upright) been playing electric for about 25 years, and upright for about 4 years. I guess I'm a late bloomer on Sax at 45.

You see, I made the "mistake" of blowing a few notes on a friends alto (first time ever) back in January..........

..... so now I own a YAS-23/Meyer5m/Rovner 'Light" lig set up that I am using Rico Royal 1.5's on, and a YTS-23/VanDoren Java T55/VanDoren Traditional lig set up with Rico Royal 2's. (yes I am a certifed gas-a-holic:shock: )

So far I can play major scales around the cycle and blow a credible 'Autumn Leaves" on either horn. Due to time constraints I don't have a teacher yet but my teacher (who I will be studying with) plays in one of the casual groups I play Bass in, and until we can work out a lesson schedule, he has been giving me some freebie tips:)

Sorry for the long post, but what I have discovered is, I really love playing the Sax, and it has opened up a whole new world for me, so forgive my enthusiasm:D


............Jim

[The-A-Sax]

Hello everyone,

I am an almost 49 year old woman living in the Netherlands, playing saxophone for almost 7 years now. I have commited myself to the classical saxophone ( the french tradition) and loving every second of it. I am studying as hard as my family- a husband and two boys, 13 and 17-, my work, and neighbours allow me to. That is about 20 hours a week and I would even like to study some 20 hours more but I think that will cost me my job, my husband and some other friends.:)
I am playing in a woodwind orchestra, a klezmer band, and take lessons every week one hour.
My saxes are: Alto: Selmer II, mouthpiece Selmer C*
Sop.: Selmer II, mouthpiece Selmer D

[Harri Rautiainen]

Hello everyone,
............ I am studying as hard as my family- a husband and two boys, 13 and 17-, my work, and neighbours allow me to. That is about 20 hours a week and I would even like to study some 20 hours more but I think that will cost me my job, my husband and some other friends.:)
.................................Dear The-A-Sax:
you are setting quite an example for all of us.

Welcome on board,

[jazzbluescat]

Dear The-A-Sax:
you are setting quite an example for all of us.

Welcome on board,
Ditto to that, wow!

[Lefty]

Hello to you all,
This is an awesome place to be! Light on the agendas, heavy on the love and respect. I learn something everytime I log on.
I started on an Elkhart by Buescher alto in 1960, and it has been downhill ever since. Took a BA in clarinet, as saxophone was not a proper instrument at that school, grad school in woodwind pedagogy, and started a repair career in 1974 while I tried to sort out the gigging stuff. Lots of fun happened as a gig whore, do-you-double-on (?), its a tux and the downbeat's at 9:00pm. Went domestic (got married) in 1982 and tried to be a good companion and a great repairman. The soon-to-be-ex tossed me out recently and I'm overcoming the nasty self-denial experience with The Intervallistic Concept and a Superba I tenor.
My goals are to visit Curt in his shop and have Tim say nice things about my playing. And get on well with all of you.

Lefty

[ejennings]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading SOTW for a while but am just now posting a bit. I got a BA in saxophone in 1981 from Jacksonville State University (Alabama). JSU had a wonderful saxophone professor, Dr. Ronald Attinger. He has the distinction of receiving the first performance doctorate on saxophone in the US. He was a student of Larry Teal at the University of Michigan. Any other students of Dr. Attinger out there?

After graduation, I went into the software industry where I've been ever since. I've played throughout the years in various community groups, big bands, and sax quartets. Currently I'm playing bari with the Austin Symphonic Band. We had the pleasure of having Lynn Klock, sax professor at University of Massachuetts at Amherst, as guest soloist playing Sapphire with us on 3 occasions now. One of the performances is posted at http://www.asband.org/sounds/ (scroll down to find it). It's a neat piece for alto sax and band.

I'm having fun reading the threads on SOTW. This is a great community for the advancement of the saxophone.

[lewisb66]

Hi there,my name is lewis i live in the uk,i have been playing the tenor sax for around 8 months now,i visit a teacher every 2 weeks,im coming on very nicely(as my teacher would say).My passion has allways been for music and i have been a proffesional singer for around 10 years now as was my father before me.
lewis.

[Jazz]

Holla fellow saxamaphonies!
Soap- as you can all guess... im your average sax lovin maniac that has stumbled across this rockin community!
So... lets see here...
Musician for 12 years (piano mainly) and now saxoholic for 5 years. Played flute for 2 years... of corse i was forced because we didnt have enough flutes for our wind ensomble... amazing what you can do in 2 weeks!
So far Ive made an 'ok' name for myself... Not Eric Marienthal Level yet... but hes coming in 10 days to play with my band! :D so exciting
hrm... what else?
yeah.. band=life
band director= god
sax shelf= shrine
etc etc etc
SOOOO if theres anything else devistatingly needed on this thread... dont be afraid to ask :D

[Mikeyt]

Hello all!

Thought i'd post here first to be polite, before i ask you a million and one questions about ska music! I used to play classical and jazz music whilst i was still at school, unfortunately i completly stopped playing when i left school and the school bands, recently been really into ska and punk music, wishing i could get into playing it myself. After thinking this for almost a year i remembered i could actually play alto sax! which could come in handy! YAY! So i have attempted to get back into it, started just practising my old jazz music to get back into the swing of things, but now i really want to make an attempt at some ska music!

Anyway thats me!

Mike

[robosax]

I've been here since September 05 and I just found this introduction thread...doh! :dazed:

Hi, I'm Erik Klein. I've been playing sax since ten. Went to Manhattan School of Music, studied with Paul Cohen, Lee Konitz... learned all about jazz from Sonny Dallas, been playing in all sorts of music projects for about 20 years.

I drifted from sax for a few years and got into windcontrollers. I love and play EWI, WX, & Synthophone.

SOTW has re-ignited my inner sax-geek !! :D

I'm very thankful for that and really appreciate the sense of communty here. I hope to contribute some useful info and I'm looking forward to your posts and music.

Sincerely,

Erik Klein

[tjontheroad]

Erik, you studied with Paul. Very kewl! You & I gotta hook up for an electro jam.

[robosax]

Erik, you studied with Paul. Very kewl! You & I gotta hook up for an electro jam.
Yes, I have very fond memories of not only his sax wisdom, but playing all sorts of horns from his massive sax collection. Sopraninos, Contra-bass, saxellos, you name it, I played it. And, that was really kewl :)

Yeah, let's hook up sometime. I'm on Long Island, about an hour east of NYC. I'll have to use my rocket ship to get to Outer Space tho'.. hehe

BTW, what happened to your website? You had some nice designs I was checking out and then it disappeared. :scratch:

cya soon,

[CraigS63]

Hello all,
I've just stumbled onto this forum, I don't play sax at all, but found one at a garage sale last weekend, will probably be asking a few stupid questions!
I do play bass and ukulele in a Hawaiian band, maybe we can fit the sax in there somehow after 30 years of practice...

Craig in Illinois

[EternalBeginner062]

Hello everyone. As my nickname suggests, I am an eternal beginner in that I've picked up, stopped, and picked up the sax a number of times in the last 13 years. I've been playing since I was 13, but never really developed past my low pitch Martin model. Have a low pitch alto sax Martin and a Selmer Super Action tenor, both bought on the cheap and in need of serious repair, which is difficult to find in Manila. Hoping to relearn what I've unlearned about the sax, as well as picking up on how to do saxophone repairs to save me the trouble of finding sax technicians and repairmen in my area. Thanks guys, looking forward to seeing y'all on the forum.

[tjontheroad]

Yes, I have very fond memories of not only his sax wisdom, but playing all sorts of horns from his massive sax collection. Sopraninos, Contra-bass, saxellos, you name it, I played it. And, that was really kewl :)

Yeah, let's hook up sometime. I'm on Long Island, about an hour east of NYC. I'll have to use my rocket ship to get to Outer Space tho'.. hehe

BTW, what happened to your website? You had some nice designs I was checking out and then it disappeared. :scratch:

cya soon,

I'm back from Outer Space now :) My website was down for upgrades. It's still has a few bugs to be worked out. I've put it back on at your request. Click the link in my sig.

Yeah I'll get up to LI sometime for a jam.

[TenorSaxMom]

I'm the mom of a 14 yr. old tenor sax player. He's been playing tenor for 2 years and played alto for 2 years before that. Got a question--just acquired a used Kohlert 55 tenor with serial number 24684. Any information on it? Or any recommended websites to find out all I can. Appreciate any help you can give.

[BobWow]

Hi,

I started playing woodwinds in grade school fall of 1969. My parents paid for my music lessons & instruments (clarinet, sax & flute) until I left for the US Navy in 1976. Sometime during that time I also taught myself folk style guitar and played that at church.

While in the service I played for various volunteer bands and events that met the met my duty requirements while in electronics school. However after I was discharged, I got busy making a living and set music-making aside until about 3 years ago when my wife bought me a Honer entry-level six string.

Somewhere around the same time, my little brother who is the worship leader at his church (and by the way ended up with my Conn Tenor) GAVE me his "extra" alto Conn sax. (The one pictured as my avatar)

Since then I've been playing some acoustic, but mostly electric guitar at church, and I've also had my nose in the old method books working to get back up to speed to do some ensemble work with my bro.

In the meantime I've picked up a wooden Kraftsman 60's-era clarinet on eBay which will hopefully do okay for now. Even though I'm having fun with this little alto, my primary horn has always been clarinet. I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

Well, I guess I'm done rambeling on for a little bit, but I would like to say I have really enjoyed following everyone's comments on the board. There really is a cool range of players that have jumped in to aire their thoughts and opinions in a way that has encouraged me to keep after it.

Thanks everyone--
Steve

[Botch]

Howdy. I played trombone from Gradeschool thru college jazz band, then played fiddle/keyboards with country and rock bands since 1983, and bought my first sax (a Jupiter Artist tenor) three years ago. I've been using it on stage the past few months, as it sounds a little better than a sax patch out of my synthesizers, but just a bit (I've got a lot of work to do). Looking forward to gleaning lots of info here, thanks! (My band's website: www.puddlestone.net )

[alexpreston]

Hello,
I'm a student woodwind instrument repairer in the UK. I own and play quite a few saxes including a Martin Handcraft tenor that should be playable again when I finish restoring it soon! I also play clarinet, bassoon, flute and oboe.

[KennyT (not G)]

Hey All;
Been around the block a few times. Play tenor, alto, bari; mostly blues, standards, rock ('50's, 60's) but anything that's got a melody. Main influence Sam Butera, Red Prysock, King Curtis. New York area born. Played part-time for 50 yrs while working day jobs to raise families and pay bills. Retired 3 yrs ago and been doin' just music as often as possible. Member of 5-piece dance band P.J. Leary and the Las Vegs Sounds (Louis Prima, Joe Turner, shuffle, ballads, latin, you-name-it). Also picking up 'Bone, trumpet and E. Bass. Now Central Fl area resident.

[SaxophoneAltoQc]

Hey everyone! I'm new here and I play the alto for since now 1 year. First I used to play the tenor for an entire school year but at the end, because I play in an orchestral and stage bands, I change my opinion and took out the alto. I really love to play of it and I'm lookin' now to get more into it. Just this year, it's been 1 entire year I play the alto and evry' morning I go to the music class and play for about 40 min of sax, during diner time, I play for about 45 min and I have a music course 8 days on 9. So, I hope I can find lots of interesting things here and improve myself! Thanks, see you later!

[RevolutionofFunk]

Hello Everyone! I've been reading around in this forum for a couple of days looking for advice on buying a saxophone for myself. I bought a Soprano sax for my son who's 12 and plays clarinet in school so I thought it would be a natural progression...I stand corrected. He was not at all interested.

I'm 43 years old and am convinced that, as my midlife crisis, I will fulfill my life long dream of playing saxophone. I love Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and the "breathy" Ben Webster, so I've decided to learn the Tenor. I'm a singer so I believe I have the pipes for the Tenor. I have no idea about how to choose and purchase my first tenor saxophone and thought, after getting some good advice here, I could trade my Soprano for a Tenor or make a purchase and learn to play both.

[nikki]

I have to confess, I am not actually a sax player, but a music teacher from South Africa. I have a lot of very good advanced sax pupils though, and am joining for some much needed advice on repertoire at diploma level for these pupils!

[AlistairD]

Hi there,my name is lewis i live in the uk,i have been playing the tenor sax for around 8 months now,i visit a teacher every 2 weeks,im coming on very nicely(as my teacher would say).My passion has allways been for music and i have been a proffesional singer for around 10 years now as was my father before me.
lewis.

Lewis,

Welcome.... Good to see another UKer..... Where abouts are you?

[Dentarthurdent]

I have to confess, I am not actually a sax player, but a music teacher from South Africa. I have a lot of very good advanced sax pupils though, and am joining for some much needed advice on repertoire at diploma level for these pupils!

Hi Nikki - welcome aboard! I'm studying (part-time) for a performing diploma myself. Feel free to PM me if you want any advice (particularly if in relation to the ABRSM syllabus), Alternatively I'm sure you'll find lots of useful info on the site.

[saxagogo]

Hello Everyone,

Very glad to join this forum, :) :) :) I'm playing Saxophone for 15 years, I'm a fan of D SANBORN and K GARRET,

I'm french,

I'm playing an Alto MARK VII, Silverite D7 Duckoff, (La Voz M) but also Rubber MEYER 8 Large Chamber (with Java 2,5 or RICO Royal 2,5 or la Voz M) (more when I'm playing bebop style)

[cjstearns]

Old returning saxophonist who is going back to school for classical saxophone performance and Jazz studies/performance. Its good to be back.

[RookTenor]

I'm glad to be joining the SOTW family and I'm here to learn. I've never played the saxophone but the sound of a Tenor is arguably, one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard and I plan to take lessons. Not only do I plan to benefit from this site and its resources, but eventually I hope to contribute to it.

[Phoneman]

Hello all. I have been playing the Alto and Tenor for 9 months now. I am 45 years of age and it is something I have always wanted to do but seemed too busy. I am joining with a rock band next month to play some stuff. I practise about an hour a day more on weekends and for years have loved blues and rock sax.
Cool forum BTW.
Kevin

[JimmyForrestWannaB]

Hello all. I'm 51 played clarinet 4th through 8th grade. Played a litltle on the tenor Evette & Schaffer Buffet 1967. Started playing again about 3 years ago. Just bought a Kielwerth Shadow SX 90 and I love it!! Also have a Yaganasawa Sopranino. Played with a band for a few months Looking to start another. Occasionaly sit in with a local Mummers Band. This board lookes like a great resource.

Tony

[tjontheroad]

What's up all guys! Lotta new faces. Cool

Hey Tony, what Mummer outfit you struttin' with? I also have a Yani 'nino.

[saxy_kate]

Hey every1!
Im 14 years old and after about 2 years of non stop nagging my parents they bought me an alto sax! I have only had 3 lessons but i love it!
I think im going good so far...but our greyhounds dont agree!

This site has helped me soo much. i love it!

[potiphar]

Hi, I'm Jon, 54 and English. Dad was a semi-pro sax player from the 30s, but I've been a guitarist for 37 years in folk/rock/blues/gospel. However dad left me his 1937 Martin Handcraft Committee 1 tenor and 1930 Selmer New Largebore alto when he died in 2000, so I've been playing around on them until starting serious lessons this year. I'm mainly playing soprano (Artist Yani stencil) now.

[silvin]

Hi guy,
I've already post more than 50 times on this forum but didn't introduced myself, so:

I'm Sylvain, I live in Paris (France), play a Couesnon soprano sax for 12 years, Buffet Crampon RC clarinet for 3 years and Buescher Crat one Tenor for 1 month.
I've have already found a lot of good info here!

[willbjammin]

Hi Guys and Gals!

Longtime listener, first time caller. Am I on?

I'm an old fart breathing life into my mid-life crisis by pretending to be the sax player I once was before I became an adult.

Don't beat me up, I bruise easily.

[JessicaBerry]

I've just bought my first sax! I've been a flute player up till now, but I fancied a new outlet.

This website's already been v helpful - thanks a lot!

Jess

[saxnbax]

Hi. I'm a part-time/semi-pro (read "day job") sax player, primarily tenor. I play lead tenor in a local big band and do casuals at the local resorts. I've been playing about 45 years and dig all kinds of players, traditional, modern, r&r, you name it. Looking forward to conversing with all my sax-playing brethren in the near future. Gary

[AaronSC]

Hello all,

Another sax player here in the state of Florida! I haven't played much since I graduated high school, but began to miss it several years later. I mainly play from the classical saxophone repertoire, but also enjoy jazz. I find playing to be very useful in reducing stress.

I began playing sax in highschool after beginning my musical career in percussion. I played in symphonic band, jazz band, and was the alto player in a regular sax quartet. I also play the guitar.

I have been reading threads on this site for a couple months now and have really gotten a kick out of the selmer vs. buescher arguments, as well as Rascher vs. Mule. Both are good!

Go Gators.

[herc222]

Hi all! This is Herc, a saxy Canadian up in Toronto. I am a beginner and I am learning a whole lot from SOTW. There are tons of information on here. My first question; I have a Keilwerth SX90 and a Conn 10M. I am thinking of trading my 10M for a KIng Super 20 Alto; is that a good idea. Do I have to look for a horn with keywork similar to the SX90? I am a very late starter and do not have any time to waste.

[BIG E]

Hi
just joined...been lurking on site for awhile though....lol
any way 46 yrs old...married,kids,3 have been raised an on there own...lol
whew...an 1 to go..been playing sax now for over 35 yrs???doesn't seem right..have a few axe's.
2 super 20's king alto
1 L.A. sax alto
1 martin tenor
1 super 20 tenor
1 martin alto
1 sml alto
1 conn chu berry naked lady alto
1 con chu berry top hat alto
1 beri martin
also has other hoddies pigeon racing, angelfish,
play mostly big band,an old time music...
later
Rett:)

[JazzyRaeGirl]

Hey, Saxy People! I am a veteran Navy musician. I have played alto, bari, clarinet, flute, and piccolo in the past. I am letting my daughter use my YAS23 and recently ordered a YAS52 for her. What is your opinion of this saxophone? I am looking forward to being able to play again since I miss it so very much. Music is my passion. (I even played in a drum and bugle corps for a while...)

[DukeCity]

Hey!

I'm a professional saxophonist and teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I've been playing for about 36 years, and now teach the Jazz Studies program at the University of New Mexico. I also play in an original music sax quartet called Thrascher. You can find out more about me and the quartet by checking out the websites listed in my signature.

[Donald2000]

I am Donald from New Zealand. I play a lot of instruments including an Amati tenor sax and a Buffet clarinet.

Look forward to lots of discussion here.

Regards

[Shoe]

Hey u guys! My name is Shoe (not really), I'm in high school, and I love playing the sax!!! I play jazz, classical, blues, funk, and contemporary Christian at church. I've been playing for allmost seven years (I think) and I now play Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and have started flute. It will be fun to get to know you all!

[phipper]

Hi all
Im Phil and Im a saxophonist!

My wife has just bought me an Arbiter prosound alto after a twenty year break. I played a little when I was a teen so basically Im a newbie with twenty years experience! I was surprised to find that my tone was OK and I still knew what keys did what, but this time round Im making sure that Im rigorous in the basics!

Hope to hear from you soon!

[paddy]

ay up, been playing(badly) for about a year, dont yet know keys or notes, but like the sounds, especially the loud ones!

[TodPlays]

I played alto, and some bari, in elementary and junior high back around 1970. My pops, a very thrifty fellow, came home one day with an alto from a pawn shop. My band teacher took one look at it and said, "Conn is not a good horn." I was slightly crushed, but kept playing anyway until high school and guitars took over.

Flash forward thirty-six years. Following a dream and earning an MFA in playwrighting, I wrote a thesis play with a main character who has a connection to a saxophone (don't ask) and got out my old horn for inspiration. My band teacher may have been right about the Conns of the late 60's, but he was dead wrong about what I now know, thanks to the Internet and this forum, is my 1930 Conn New Wonder Transitional.

Still plays pretty well (the horn, not me). I'm going to stick with it, find a teacher, and see if I can get some facility back.

Thanks folks,

-Tod

[hotquilts]

I do not play saxophone or any instrument for that matter. However, I am the parent of a young alto sax player. We have stumbled across this site many times in searching for answers to various sax-related questions. It seems so full of information I thought I would join for the heck of it.

My son is 14 yrs old and has been playing the alto sax since he was 10.

I've learned a lot about music just by sitting in my children's lessons. (My other child plays several instruments.) I love that my oldest is passionate about his saxophone. It sure keeps him out of trouble...until he's old enough to frequent jazz nightclubs, I suppose!:D

I am encouraging him to participate on these forums if he has questions. I hope he won't be considered too young to contribute or inquire.

Again, I think this site is great!

[britt]

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum yesterday, and am excited to share in geeky saxophone discussion! Anyway, I just finished my freshman year of college, and I am a saxophone performance major. I want to do a little with composition, too, but we'll see how that goes...
I'm glad I stumbled across this forum!

[vries1]

Hello there,

After following several threads on the SOTW forum, I decided it would be better to be an active member rather than a passive guest. I have been playing tenor and baritone saxophone for a few years now. I am working hard on improving my tone, so I'll be looking out for tone/sound improvement discussions and tips on "practical sax life" (reeds, maintenance, cases, etc.).

[feefifofum]

Hi all,
I'm Fiona, I'm 19, and in my first year at Oxford University. I've got diploma clarinet, grade 8 oboe and grade 6 piano, so music's not new to me, but the (tenor) sax is! It's my newest hobby, and I'm absolutely in love with it! :D I've been playing pretty much non-stop for the past few days, and having a ball. The tone is so gorgeous, I can't get over it!

[SaxdUp]

Hello...

I'm Geoff and I'm about to start my senior year at college in music ed. I mainly play alto, however I have been known to play quite a bit of bari and a bit of soprano. When I graduate, I'll more than likely be going on to grad school for performance. I love all aspects of music, especially composition.

[transversed]

Actually, I'm a flute player (and piccolo). But I play saxophone and clarinet, as well. I used to play trumpet in jazz band in high school, but that doesn't really fit in the schematics of a flute performance degree. I compose chamber music, and perform with a local youth orchestra.

As for sax, I'm a bad girl and play on a plastic reed, as I have terrible luck with real reeds and sax, but manage to do alright with real reeds on clarient. My horn is a 1982 selmer bundy I got off of ebay for $150 (and is in very good shape, plays quite well), and I'm in the market for a decent mouthpiece because the one that came with it when I got it 2 years ago is absolutely wretched. Suggestions and warnings are very welcome.

[motomom]

Here I am introducing myself.:)

motomom

[Harri Rautiainen]

Here I am introducing myself.:)
motomomWhy waste so many words for the introduction? :D

[tjontheroad]

Why waste so many words for the introduction? :D

K.I.S.S. :wave:

[David.schoultz]

Hi, name's Dave.

Found this site so I signed up... Ive been playing roughly over 13ish years off and on the last 5 that Ive been in the military.. currently out of country, but ought to be back next year.

I have an alto, missplaced one at the moment. (no seriously, it's somewhere in the continental united states.

Hope to pick up some info and maybe give some advice on the site.

Thanks for having it. Gives me more to read around here.

Dave

[Blue Highway]

G'Day y'all,
I'm the sax man for Perth's newest and greatest rock band "Checkpoint Charlie" My favour saxes are my Weltklangs, my 1965 Soloist alto with a 5* Otto mouthpiece just burns Junior walker and really fires a Grover W Jnr number. ( I don't mind G W Jnr's Mercy Mercy Me) But all said throwing on an early fifties nicle plated Tenor with a similar vintage Dukoff power chamber is like putting on your old favourite boots and reving a big block chev. Great for them George Thorogood, Wilson Pickett, Jim Horn, T Bone Walker, Jimmy Vaughan and any-thing else with grunt Type numbers. I'm looking forwards to swapping any knowledge or experience with you all.
Regards,
Growlin' Gary

[bluesaxgirl]

Hi. I go my bluesaxgirl on the internet and sharpie sax in school. (everyone thinks I colored my sax with a sharpie just because it's blue.) People say its green, but I call it blue. I've played piano since I was 2, then quit, cello and bass since I was 10, then quit. I have been playing the sax since I was 11, and the sax is forever! (I am thinking about taking bass guitar though.) I want to be a band director and the saxophonist on American Idol when I grow up. (Yes, big dreams!):D :D :D

[ouanixi]

hello !! my name's ouanis
I've been playing alto for almost 5 months... so i'm a newbie :D
i found this site and i really like it....
hope finding some help and advices
;)

[DenverDon]

I have just purchased a used alto b flat for my eleven year old daughter. I haven't played an instrument since middle school concert band and I am plannig to learn the sax right along with my child who will hopefully outdistance me quickly. Thanks for the forum. Peacefully. DD

[opt12]

Hey,
My internet name is opt. But you can call me Andrew. I've been playing flute for 4 years, and took up sax last year, and now it's going quite well.

[Homer_N]

Hi my name is Homer. I've been fascinated by music ever since I don't know when. I started on the piano, and then the guitar, playing by the ear and learning techniques with and from my brother. Looking back those classical lessons I used to take from teachers could've helped me learn the foundation of music, but I guess it's not yet late to try once again. Lately I've been fascinated with jazz, with the saxophone instrument in particular, practicing and practicing to produce the good sound out of me.

[Dan Forshaw]

Hi I'm Dan, 25 and been pro since 16. Started on tenor sax aged ten, having played Clarinet and Piano before hand.... Played in all sorts of stuff from Soul bands, Classical orchestras and Funk bands. Created my own band in 2003 and recorded three albums so far, working on my fourth to be released in July. Grew up in the North of England but now live and study in London. Have been fortunate to have played or had lessons etc from the following; Ray Wilkes, (Cedar Walton / Stan Tracey) Mike Haughton, Branford Marsalis (Sting / Grateful dead & do i REALLY need to say anymore about this guy), Ravi Coltrane, Greg Tardy and many others...............currently working studying the relationship between Spirituality and Music inspired by Coltranes ALS!

[Dan Molloy]

Hello everyone,

my name's Dan..... and i'm..... A SAXOHOLIC. *deep sigh, few tears*

Maybe we can all help each other to help ourselves. Group hug!:D

[dstack79]

Hiya all,

My name is also Dan. I'm from the Cleveland area (will be moving to Austin in a month). My gig is sitting in a cube all day for a large bank. I played in small groups and big bands throughout high school/college (graduated 2004), but am trying to find a way to get back out there. I still play my horn at least a few times a week, just to keep in shape.

My turn ons are: Warm, bright and clean sounding tenor. Economics blogs, Early to mid fifties Stan Kenton...

My turn offs are: Laser-tone tenor (ughhh...it's piercing my brain), ppl who play fast for the sake of playing fast, and overly-pretentious artist-types..

Happy to be here. Im finding this forum to be addicting...not like I'd actually want to do WORK or something...

[saxman06]

Well, I'm Nick, I'm 18, and I live in Adrian, MI. I am going to be a freshman at Adrian College in the fall, and I am a Music Performance major. I currently play a Yamaha YAS-62 Series II as my main performance horn, but I am looking for a nicer horn. I recently "discovered" the Rampone & Cassini brand, and I stumbled upon this site in my search for more information about this particular horn. I am hoping to hear great things about the horns, because I am about to invest in a vintage horn built by them in the 50's-60's. I will post in another thread to request info from you guys, you all seem to be very well trained, and I would love to hear some of you guys perform sometime. . .

[herc222]

Hello! this is Obie, I do not know how to post. I have a Conn 10M 331xxx, clean, original lacquer, which I'd like to trade for a King Super 20 Alto.

[Manek]

Hello everyone...

I'm Manek - I'm nearly 16, and I live in Norfolk, UK... I have played drums for almost eleven years, now, and I also play piano...

A couple of years ago, I took up the clarinet as well... At the International Single Reed Festival earlier this year, my dad (who has played alto and tenor for some while) bought a new alto... I tried the old one, and loved it!

So I have now ended up with a Yanagisawa A901 which I really enjoy playing, although I haven't played it (or anything else, for that matter!) as much as I'd have liked in recent months due to GCSE final exams... But my last exam is this afternoon, and after that I shall be able to play a lot more!

Anyway... There you go!

[visionari1]

Kia ora and Gidday everone from wonderful rural New Zealand.
Been playing my conn alto for 15 years + don't remember when I started exactly (clarinet before that) Have continued to practise while traveling and working around the world, therefore I love busking.
Went to a Jamey Aebersold workshop in 2004, fantastic, although I wasn't well preped for it, I learned heaps & proper focused practise is the key for more growth & fun.

I also host a local community access radio station programme where I play only saxophone music, from the current maestros to the old master.
I hope to get a Soprano for my next traveling journey.

Saxophonely
visionari1

[visionari1]

Me to -- don't worry it's curable by death!
gidday from NZ

[visionari1]

Hi Dan

"currently working studying the relationship between Spirituality and Music inspired by Coltranes"

Great subject, isn't all music spiritual, depends whose's listening

Cheers from NZ

[G_S_B]

Hey

Ive kust spent a few hrs reading the various threads here... this is a great site. Im 24, from Australia and play a Yamaha 62.

Ive spent the yrs since finishing high school studying various things and music and the sax kind of took a back seat, although this year Ive really got back into it and now doing some gigs around town with a quartet.

Anyway, would really love some feedback from anyone with broadband...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=559431

Its a version of All Blues we recently recorded live in the studio. Im reasonably happy with it although the mix needs some work (not to mention the occasional intonation hiccups;) )

I look forward to participating in the community.

[Dr.frogsax]

hey everyone im been playin sax since 2005 hehe in my
6th grade year and really enjoy it im glad I took intrest.:mrgreen:

[Volo85]

Hey, my name is Matt.

I'm 20, live down in Houston, Texas, and go to college down here.
I've been playing the alto sax for about 8 years now, and the soprano for about 6 months. Recently I've played tenor for a semester in my college's jazz band, and I'm gonna start playing the bari this semester. I love playing the sax, and I'm having a blast in school. I stumbled across this site by accident, hehe. Hopefully I will pick up a few things here that I can use to become a better player.

[Jon West]

Hello, I just started playing the sax 2 months or so ago. I have a long history playing classical and jazz. My main classical instrument was an oboe. Most of my jazz playing was on piano with some oboe work. I always wanted to play sax so here I am. I bought an old Vito tenor and a few months ago and began to search this site for info about its origins. Just recdently I was given an student alto that belonged to the son of friends of ours. I split my practice time bewtween the two, trying to gain some of the proficiency i had on oboe.

I would like to find out more about the Vito. The serial number is 000480. The only marking on the bell is the name Vito. Other than that, I don't know what to look for to evaluate the key setup bracing structure that would provide clues as to the manufacture. i would appreciate if anyone can help.

Best Regards, Jon.

[theSound]

Hello everyone... I'm Brooke. I've been playing a Selmer Signet tenor for about 3 months. I've also played the clarinet off and on since 6th grade. I'm a senior in high school, but my school doesn't have a band, so I play in local concert bands when I can. Started taking private lessons again for clarinet about two years ago, and decided to try the sax. Now I can't put either instrument down. I have so much to learn, so I really appreciate this forum; it is a great help and encouragement. :)

[Lizrush16]

Hi, my name is Liz, I'm 23 and live in the UK. I've played tenor sax for 7 years now (previously played clarinet). The reason I joined is because my boyfriend bought me a new sax for my birthday and I'm trying to find out more about it!
It is a Yanagisawa Prima T 40. Any info would be greatly appreciated!! (Google didnt come up with much!)

Liz
x x

[gewil7404]

Hello:
Well after playing the bari all through school, I quit playing in 1972. I just received a King bari for Christmas from my wife and I am having a blast trying to get back in the swing of things. I have joined a summer band in Yankton SD. and play in the park Tues. nights. It is a lot of fun. I just joined the forum today.

gewil7404

[Buster Brown]

I'm a long time clarinet/saxophone player who took a 40 year break from playing after completing college. I picked up my horns again 3 years ago and enjoy it like nothing else including golf which I play 3 or 4 times per week. I currently play clarinet in an excellent community band, alto sax in a community college jazz/big band (just started playing lead alto about a month ago), clarinet in a small international (ohmpa) band and alto in a combo. Getting so busy I have little time for golf.

BB

[Sax in the Snow]

Long time reader; first time writer. First things first: SOTW is by far the finest of any web site out there. Congrats to all.

I played alto for 4 years in Jr. High but then got into girls instead. Not too bright, huh? 31 years later I have decided to come back, they say music is a good way to keep the brain active and sharp. Been playing for 3 months now on a rental Selmer AS600 which actually is a pretty good horn based on others I've tried. Looking now at a A901; I'll wait and see if my untrained ears can detect $600 worth of difference. It's not like I'll be playing the jazz halls.

[hoodooman]

Hello everyone ,
Sorry for my bad English but i'm not used to write in english here in Belgium.
I'm a 42 year old sax player , play mostly in blues & swing bands here.
My set up ; tenor , Keilwerth sx 90 r ( Black nickel) with Berg Larsen Duckbill
; Alto , Keilwerth sx 90 r ( Black nickel ) with Vandoren A 95
; C melody , Conn , straicht neck
; Soprano , still lookin for a saxello !

You can take a look at our website; www.thehoodoogang.com

[EuGeneSee]

Hi! I'm EuGene, a soon to be 60 country boy who started on clarinet in 4th grade and played it on through HS. Also played some bass clarinet in HS and fooled around some with oboe & bassoon. Then didn't play anything for over 40 years. I have recently scrounged up some student level examples of the above instruments to try to get back into playing again. I never played a sax, but someone recently gave me a ragged Bundy II tenor with a missing neck. I'm intrigued by it and am going to fix it up, find a useable neck, and try to learn to play it. 'nuff fer now.

[SilverBullet]

Hi everyone.

I started playing alto when I was 11 and played through high school where I switched to bari but then quit during college. I'm attempting to pick it up again as I head into grad school though for my own enjoyment only since it would scare anyone away with the way I play.

I have a King H.N. White Co. not sure which model but circa 1918 to 1925.

[aenaithia]

I play in the band at Burke County High. I started on the alto in 6th grade, switched to tenor in 8th, and now I'm in 11th, still on the tenor. I've been playing crappy, cheap pawn shop saxes up until a few days ago when my parents scored a Selmer MK VII. It came with a C* S80 mouthpiece and a leather Rovner ligature. I play marching band, symphonic band (my school's better of two bands), and jazz band. I want to continue playing my sax in college, but I don't want to major in music or go pro, I just like to play for fun.

[paulars]

I played the alto and tenor saxophones throughout junior high and high school (over 25 years ago). My interest was recently sparked again when I was given a vintage Conn straight soprano saxophone. It's in great shape except for the cork and pads. I'm trying to figure out what the value of the instrument is so that I can justify the $300-$400 price to redo the pads. Can anyone help tell me what to look for? It's gold and the serial number starts M178XXX. Is this what they call a Chu Berry?

[Jary Custom]

Hello Harri, (dig those shades) and all Sax On the Web contributors. My name is David Jary. I was doing a check to see how far my new web site has made it up in the search engines and got a Google hit for Jary Custom Saxophone Mouthpiece, (the name of my customizing business) at Sax On The Web. So I registered to get in on the interesting threads and to reply to an inquiry about Jary Custom. I am 52 years old and played brass instruments in Junior and Senior High School. Switched to Sax, (baritone) in College and never looked back. I now concentrate on tenor, but have an alto and a bari. I was always interested in the how's and why's of mouthpieces and bugged the heck out of my sax teachers for info. . Most of them said, "son't worry about it, just play". I had a hard time accepting this. I'd been turned on to the mouthpiece pursuit by Nick Brignola, (a friend and former Junior High Student of my Dad's) and realized that the "don't worry about it" answer was a cover up for "I don't know". I customized my first mouthpiece about 21 years ago and have learned a lot since then. I specialize in customized HR's with a variety of baffles, side wall work, rails, chambers and of course facings. I also specialize in customized Link STM's. Check out my web site at www.jarycustom.com. I am going to update it again next week, but it is pretty current. Best wishes to all. Dave Jary.

[brokensax]

I am 29 year old statistician in Washinton DC. I started playing in HS and have been in love every since. I am actually returning to the horn after a 6 year self-imposed hiatus. The time away has allowed me to stop playing songs and actually play the saxophone.

I play an early 90's Selmer USA AS100 Alto (I might replace this horn within a year but I can't put my finger on what I want, probably a series II black lacquer) with a Beechler S7 with rovner dark for contemporary (i play christian sax) and a C** for classical. I have a YSS-475 soprano (which i will definitely replace with an 875 when the funds are there) I use a vandoren optimum SL4 for classical and a Super Session J facing for contemporary. Various Vandoren reeds. Thanks for letting me join the party. Oh yeah I play a Yamaha 381 flute :D

[donnie]

After not playing for 46 years, a musical show got me back playing the saxophone. My old Kohlert needed a lot of work so I picked up a Yamaha yas 62 mark II and love it. I practice about 2 hours a day when I'm not golfing or working. I really enjoy playing and am looking for an instructor in the South Los Angeles or Torrance area.
I could use some help with finding a good teacher. I spoke with Dominic Momulo but he's all booked up.
I'm happy to be aboard.
Don

[leftiowa]

I'm a reblooming flute player... playing again after a very long hiatus, and grateful for all the advice I've picked up here!

[BBJQSAX]

My name is Rahsaan Barber, and I'm relatively new to this forum and digging it ever so much. I was born and raised in Nashville, TN where I am now teaching Classical and Commercial Saxophone at Belmont University. I studied at Indiana University (undergrad, artist diploma) and Manhattan School of Music (m.m.) . I have an identical twin bro who's still in NYC living the life of a professional trombonist/music educator. Good stuff.

As far as playing goes, I'm