What started as a simple desire to represent the different tonal aspects and flexibility of available modern Saxes turned into something of a voyage of discovery.
Many points had to be considered including the player chosen, the styles represented, the type of recording, the length of recording, the mixing etc etc.
The aim was to present the sound as clearly as possible and represent the tone present to the listener in the room at the time of recording.
We also wanted to stimulate players into listening to different timbre and tone, so when the time comes to chose an instrument they have a better knowledge base and idea of how they wish to proceed...
The Technical Points:
The challenge was to record the instruments purely and with consistency. This may sound simple but the human ear and microphones pick up different aspects, and we wanted this to sound as it did in the original room. After various experiments with
Saxophone Microphones
and mixing equipment we settled on the fantastic SD System LCM89 as used by pros worldwide. This gave us the 'truest' sound and was amazingly flexible for use on Alto, Tenor and Soprano. We used a very simple mixing desk with everything pretty much zeroed, the only change to the pure recording is a small reverb level added to each clip (the same amount on all clips). Having experimented with varying levels of dry or reverb sound we decided a small amount was necessary to help the listener hear the whole tone, especially as many listeners could be listening through small laptop speakers, headphones etc, rather than on hi-tech Audio equipment.
Specs:
The Alto Sax Instrument clips
were recorded over 2 sessions using the same mouthpiece, reed, mixing, mic combinations to ensure consistency.
- Meyer 6MM Ebonite with Rico Royal 2.5 reed + Rovner Dark Ligature
The Tenor clips were also done in 2 sessions by the same rules.
- Otto Link Metal # 8* with Rico Jazz Select 2M Filed Reed + Original Ligature
The Sop Sax Instrument clips were recorded in 1 session.
- Meyer 6MM Ebonite with Rico Jazz Select 2M Filed + Rovner Dark Ligature
All the mouthpiece clips were recorded with the same reed (instrument relevant).
The Tenor Mouthpiece Clips were recorded on a P.Mauriat 66RUL with a LaVoz MS reed, the Alto Mouthpiece Clips were recorded on a Yamaha YAS62 with a LaVoz MS reed and the Soprano on a Yanagisawa S991 with a Jazz Select 2M reed.
The Player:
The idea was conceived with Anatoliy Vyacheslavov (http://www.myspace.com/tollysax) who was not only a Dawkes customer already but also a great professional Saxophonist working out of the South of England area. Obviously being a modern Jazz/Funk style player this is represented in the clips and this energy was important to catch as it highlights the positive vibe a great playing sax can give. We'd like to thank Anatoliy once again for his time and efforts in helping us start this recording process.
The Conclusion
If possible please listen to the clips on high quality speakers or headphones, this way the differences are even more apparent and full scope of sound is accessible.
It was always going to be impossible to satisfy every listener and preferred genre. Of course Instruments can sound great in the hands of professionals but that does
not take away from the desired goal of showcasing an instruments talents. There were suggestions of playing the same piece on each instrument/mouthpiece. This would in practice have become extremely tiresome for the listener and would have shown very little differences due to the way the audio is being downloaded on the internet. We have aimed at highlighting the instruments strong points when playing in given styles. We are in the process of preparing a series of classical style recordings to give an alternative view on the different tones available.
At the end of the day it really brings two things to light:
- 1.Most Professional Saxes are more than capable of performing to the highest level desired.
Whilst all are versatile some instruments are intended, and are more suited, for certain styles and players.
- 2. You have to come in and try these instruments to fully experience new Saxes and mouthpieces.
The audio clips are a useful guide, to help broaden the knowledge and stimulate listening, but there is no replacement for trying a large stock with experts on hand to help in person!
