[fballatore]

Wondering if you guys would mind helping me out. A friend of mine has a professional, high end, sought after alto sax that he's been using for a while. He recently bought a used student horn that cost less than 1/10th of his pro horn, and recorded the same tune with both. He asked me to listen to the recordings and tell him which was which. I came up with the wrong answer. In my defense, I was listening on my laptop speakers, the sun was in my eyes, and there was a rock in my shoe at the time. Oh yeah, and the dog ate my homework. Anyway, what do you guys think?

For bonus points (not that there's any prizes or anything), name the horns. Brand name will be fine, you don't have to name the model.

Recording 1

Recording 2

Thanks!

 

[CountSpatula]

Recordings?

 

[fballatore]

Wow, you're quick. :shock:

 

[hakukani]

The first sounded a bit edgier than the second.

 

[fballatore]

Is that better or worse?

 

[Grumpie]

Frank, both links are forcing my IE to shut down after the first note

they did sound similar though

 

[hakukani]

Frank, both links are forcing my IE to shut down after the first note

they did sound similar though

Use firefox or safari. IE sux.

 

[hakukani]

Is that better or worse?

Just different. For my taste, and the style played, I prefer a rounder timbre.

 

[ThunderWhale]

I too prefered the second one. It was more round. I could see how the second clip could be the student horn though. It seemed to have less "meat" in the sound at times.

I'm curious to see the horns used!

 

[Mope]

1. Selmer
2 Yamaha
I liked No.2

 

[sopranosaxman]

I can't tell they both sound terrible:twisted:

 

[LBAjazz]

Not really my cup of tea either but I prefer the second, but not by much. I prefer a warmer sound.

 

[dagnabbit]

I liked the second one better--the tone seemed more focused and well-shaped. But mostly I thought it just sounded like he just had a bum reed on the first one.

 

[RootyTootoot]

The tone was better on 2, in my opinion, but I also think the playing was better in terms of phrasing etc But, yep, the tone was fuller on 2, I think.

 

[fballatore]

Thanks for the replies so far guys! One other thing - just for the record, the same mouthpiece, reed and ligs were used on both recordings. The only variable was the horn.

Any more guesses on horn manufacturers?

P.S. Rooty - I have the answer for you. Buy 2 more horns!!!

 

[RootyTootoot]

P.S. Rooty - I have the answer for you. Buy 2 more horns!!!

I admire your logic but i fear its consequences.

 

[saxmanglen]

Hmmmm? I'm thinking Mope may be on to something..........

 

[Jim Clark]

I won't venture to guess which horn is which, but I like the sound of number two better. I hope for your friend's sake that's the expensive one!

Jim

 

[ianhart]

I can't tell at all. Could be the laptop speakers, but I doubt it. Seems to me that the second horn is a little bit less edgy, but that doesn't mean a single thing. For all I know, they could be the same horn being played. However, the second horn also seemed to transition between the octaves a little easier.

 

[rabbit]

Could this be the legendary Selmer/Bundy deathmatch?