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Workshop Feature: Making a Bass Clarinet

28th February 2019

We’re very lucky to have a unique team of experts in our Woodwind Workshop. Their skills cover everything Woodwind & Brass related, and we want to share some of their stories with you…

In this blog, we talk to Ana who joined us in 2016 after receiving her BA Hons in Musical Instrument Craft (Woodwind Making & Repair) from Newark Campus (Lincoln College) – the leading Repair training centre in the UK. This is the story of her Bass Clarinet, yes, the one she actually made from scratch!

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Flute Features – B Footjoints

Many flutes have the option of adding a number of different features, one of the most common being the B footjoint. As well as exploring what this does and how it affects the instrument, we’ll be demonstrating the differences in a video with a pro Flute player.

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Jug – Gene Ammons

19th February 2019

“When I heard (Gene) Ammons play that saxophone, I knew that I was going to become a saxophone player.  There was no doubt in my mind about it.”
Johnny Griffin

“His big sound and driving beat established him as one of the giants of modern jazz saxophone.”
Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler

In August 1947 Albert Ammons, whose business card read, “Albert C. Ammons – King of Boogie Woogie”, went into a Chicago studio to record for the Mercury label.  As he had done off-and-on during his career, Ammons would be recording with a group named as ‘Albert Ammons and His Rhythm Kings’, and guitarist, Ike Perkins, and bassist, Israel Crosby, who were part of the ‘Rhythm Kings’ when the group first recorded in 1936, would be part of the 1947 ensemble. But the twenty-two year-old tenor saxophonist was new to the group.  The tenor player was Albert’s son, Gene.

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Trombone Mouthpiece Buying Guide

14th February 2019

The Trombone mouthpiece is the bridge between the musician and their instrument, so it’s important to choose the right one for you! But with so much variation in brand and style, the selection available can be quite overwhelming. What can you do to make sure you pick the right mouthpiece?

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