[Cannonball & CmelGuy]

Anybody make or think of making a current low A horn?

 

[joelsp]

I doubt it. The low A alto, of which a mark VI is the most common I've seen, never really caught on. I guess that doesn't mean a manufacturer would be opposed to making a one-off custom for the right price.

 

[Cannonball & CmelGuy]

Wasn't a member of the forum goiong to make a line of horns from sop to bass in low A to high G?

 

[JPSaxMan]

I wish them luck...the market for a low A alto is extremely rare. The only reason the low A was ever put on the alto was because when Marcel Mule was a developer for Selmer Paris, Marcel had specially requested it put on the Mark VI, which he helped engineer a lot of btw (for all you jazz die-hards ). I'm not sure whether Marcel had run across the low A in classical literature and had either forced him to play a normal A, or if he had some sort of contraption built into his SBA horns, but either way, that's why it's there.

It might sell for a bit, as considered a "cool" horn, but the fad will fade and the producer might be left with little to show for it.

 

[Cannonball & CmelGuy]

I REMEMBER!!!! It was Phil Barone if I'm not mistaken.

 

[jmathesonjr]

Doesn't Ornette Coleman play a Low A Alto?

 

[Steve P]

JPSAX-
Mule had a Low A built because at the time, saxophone literature was still in is infancy to some degree. Mule relied heavilyon transcriptions, and he loved to play a certain Viola Concerto (the composer escaped me at the moment). The lowest note on Viola is concert C, so Mule needed a lot A to perform the work effectively.

Steve P

 

[JPSaxMan]

Hey Steve,

I knew Marcel had a lot to do with the low A development on the VI, and I had a vague idea why, but thanks for the details! I'll have to remember that if I'm ever on Jeopardy or something .