which? I play a Selmer Super Action Alto Sax serial number 30226 with Vandoren V16 Reeds strength 4 and a Vandoren 35 mouthpiece. My soprano is a Yanigisawa s880 with a Vandoren s35 mouthpiece and Vandoren V16 4 reeds. My clarinet is a LeBlanc with a Vandoren mouthpiece. I use new Vandoren ligatures on all the instruments. I sometimes use a Cigar Cutter Alto as a back-up.
when? I began playing Clarinet at the age of ten and then moved on to alto sax two years later. My first records that got me into Sax were BB King, James Cotton and Sun Ra thanks to the good ol kiwi garage sale. While living in New Plymouth most of the local music was Dixieland or Brass Band fare so I began playing a lot of soprano to replace the Clarinet parts. The track which made me first fall for the sax was this one with Johnny Hodges playing “Passion Flower” :
why? I liked the fact that the Sax was in the same range as my voice. I liked that I could play so quietly with string players and still unamplified with loud blues bands. I also liked the scent of of my alto sax from the moment we met.
who? I’m often asked which Saxophone players I liked. Most of the instrumentalists I admired were not Sax players but if I had to give an answer I would say Johnny Hodges, Art Pepper, Warne Marsh, Stan Getz, and all the other players who didn’t simply play with their fingers. Once you have realised that so many of the lines coming from us sax players are as a result of what lies well beneath the fingers it becomes unbearable to listen to pattern-based players.
how? “The saxophone player provides a flow of air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere (technically, a few kPa or a few percent of an atmosphere: applied to a water manometer, this pressure would support about a 30 cm height difference). This is the source of power input to the instrument, but it is a source of continuous rather than vibratory power. In a useful analogy with electricity, it is like DC electrical power. Sound is produced by an oscillating motion or air flow (like AC electricity). In the saxophone, the reed acts like an oscillating valve (technically, a control oscillator). The reed, in cooperation with the resonances in the air in the instrument, produces an oscillating component of both flow and pressure. Once the air in the saxophone is vibrating, some of the energy is radiated as sound out of the bell and any open holes. A much greater amount of energy is lost as a sort of friction (viscous loss) with the wall. In a sustained note, this energy is replaced by energy put in by the player. The column of air in the saxophone vibrates much more easily at some frequencies than at others (i.e. it resonates at certain frequencies). These resonances largely determine the playing frequency and thus the pitch, and the player in effect chooses the desired resonances by suitable combinations of keys.” Source
Update April 2010:
Regarding my Masterclass in August in Greece I wanted to write a little more about the topics we will work on this year.
I do not run the class in a traditional way with me speaking and students listening, rather it is more of a laboratory and testing ground for ideas related to the saxophone but not exclusively (I expect some Violists this year too). Out of the last 4 years, different ensembles have formed and continued the work we began in the village. The last 2 years have seen us focus on:
-Expanding the repertoire for saxophone ensemble without notation
-Intensive Ear Training and Intonation work (microtonal and overtone related)
-Various Improvisation models for ensemble
-Continued exploration if extended techniques for saxophone (Here is our multiphonic piece from last year’s concert)
This year I will be sharing my current research which combines elements from the Taiji form with saxophone technique- a kind of Sax-Chi-Gong if you like, in which positions, breathing, and saxophone elements are combined into a specific form. (Yes, there is more to this than simple hip twisting)
We will continue to explore new ways of practising scales and intervals using “brain strechers” without notation. We will then apply these to our ensemble work.
Moving deeper into the Breath we will examine the connections between breath and tone, breath and mind – this quickly takes us to the topic of meditation which will will explore further especially how it can help us with our playing in general. Understanding the function of breath relating to saxophone and beyond can open many doors of perception.
Moving beyong stylistic boundries means developing a universal apparoch to music via the saxophone that makes styles in themselves redundant. Put simply, it doesn’t matter what kind of music you are playing, your sound and timbre is always the central and forging element and should always have the same intention and result. This is perhaps easier in theory than in practice but it is a crucial point. I often experience how difficult, even impossible it is, for many listeners ( and surprisingly “experts” and journalists” ) to take in the music without the framwork of styles – this requires and appreciation of timbre and a different kind of listening, a “deeper listning” if you like. As for us players, it is also important to develop a musicality that goes beyond styles. Styles are useful only up to a certain point. In a nut shell, I don’t give a xxxx if you play bebop or country, I just care how you sound and how close your saxophone sound is to the inner voice you hear.
We will intensively work on the connection between our voices and our playing, using singing exercises to strengthen this connection and understand how a greater control of our voices gives us a greater control over our saxophone sounds.
We will walk to various locations on the beautiful Pilion Mountain and conduct many of the classes outside.
I will invite some Greeks to teach us some of the many odd-meter dances so that our clumsy musician bodies are challenged and we can begin to groove with the dancing centaurs around us.
A Short Meditation on Reeds
This is short meditation on the nature of cane and bamboo which is what our reeds are made out of and therefore the source of our saxophone sounds. I don´t know if I have lost more liquid through my spit on the reeds or through my tears because or their irregularity; until of course that fateful epiphany when I was struck by the beauty in their inconsistency and the true nature of this plant. No, this is not a poetical laudation of my endorser, it is a statement of humble admiration for another mystery of nature which we have made sound from.
Already in ancient China, bamboo (and before I forget, what beauty there is in the name already, how wonderful it feels to pronounce bam-boo slowly and deliberately!) belonged to the “8 sound materials” (Bayin) from which instruments were constructed. Throughout East Asia the plant in its many varieties is widespread and it is revered for its lebenskraft- sprouts reach over 10 cms in only a few days and after one or two months the plant has risen to several meters. Whatever the Japanese made from this plant, the wish to share in its energy was always present.
It is the south of France where our dear saxophone canes are harvested. It takes them a year to grow to their full size and another year to gain in strength and body.
The harvest of the 2 year old canes is carried out when the moon is waning and the sap is still. They are then laid out under mighty Ra who infuses the cane with his golden rays, hence the color of the reeds we play. I can feel my mouth watering already.
All of this is carried out in pristine ecology-friendly conditions. My endorser even states that: “We should like to mention that electric vehicles are used to get around our production site in Bormes les Mimosas and that Mr Van Doren, the initiator of this procedure, drives a hybrid car.” Now I really am getting excited.
Notes from the workshop in greece, Summer 2006
When I taught this summer in Greece I prepared some noted on some of the main areas of teaching I was interested in. Each of the sections is very condensed and was designed so that I could take a few ideas and expand on them in each session.
When I read it now I see I speak a lot about being aware and internalizing the music. I would have to explain in more detail what I mean by this. Put simply, I want to automate only the absolute basics of playing and have everything else at my disposal to use and change as I please. When I listen around today, much of the playing seems “automated” and uninteresting to my ears. It’s the same feeling I have often when I hear people speak and all that comes out is clisches and distortions of what they have heard in the media- there’s nothing original in there.
The same way language is misused today and grossly over-simplified, music too has seemed to suffer. It is fine to learn by imitation but at a certain point we have to inject the sounds with our own signature- developing a personal sound and melodic language is part of this.
I am trying to unite breath, mind, fingers, ideas, and saxophone into a meaningful and practical system. These simple sections were a simple outline for the workshop which followed.
overtones
Overtones are what make up the sound of the Saxophone as we know it. Overtones make a sax sound different to say a clarinet and make one player sound different to another.
Working with overtones gives us more control over the instrument and a richer, deeper sound. It also sharpens our perception of sound in general. Thus, by practicing one thing, we are subconsciously training others.
There are several sources where you can find all the theory you need about overtones. Here I will give you the main exercises I have used. They are never “perfected” as such but rather continually worked on alongside your other material.
Warning! Once you open your ears to overtones there is no way back.
These exercises are the ones I have used over the years as warm-ups and tone developers. They are effective when practiced outside. They are performed legato.
breath
If we think of our chest cavity as a cylinder, there are three ways we can increase its volume : extending the cylinder floor ( diaphragm) downwards,
-expanding the walls outwards, and-moving the top upwards.
These are called respectively:
-diaphragmatic
-thoracic
-clavicular (breathing)
and “experienced” respectively with these sounds:
-”oo”
-”aah”
-”Eee”
the in-breath requires the most attention
-the diaphragm can be strengthened by training
-we become aware of all the types of breathing by isolating them, using the seed sounds, observing, and relaxing
-we use long tones to strengthen our lungs
-remember, we are “relearning” breathing- one of the most natural processes
-we are using the saxophone to master our breath
articulation
When we practice anything to do with tone on the saxophone we leave the tongue out of the equation as it only gets in the way. We must always be aware where the tongue is in the mouth so that we use it only when we really need it.
-play staccato passages only using your diaphragm
-without using the tongue find the point where air becomes tone and back. -articulation is one aspect of saxophone playing that can easily become completely automated but be wary of this as we still must be able able to vary and mix things up, just like a martial artist adjusting to his opponent
-experiment with different strengths of tongue on the reed
b.a.c.h. (breathe and chase harmony)
Works such as the cello suites or the violin partitas are great studies for sax technique. the partitas can be transcribed directly for soprano sax. If you learn them this way they will stay with you longer and be more internalized. Many have already been transcribed for sax. How do we practice these?
-you can never play them enough. For dexterity, endurance, melodic invention, and harmony they are perfect. Because they were never written for sax they are all the more tricky and therefor all the more useful.
-use your own phrasing. ALWAYS ignore editorial phrasing as they are merely someone else’s interpretation
-be aware of the harmonies as you play. Break down the pieces into parts and dissect them to facilitate this
-improvise yourself in the style of any piece trying to use the same kind of modulation and melodic approach. then return and play the original.
-record yourself and put your intonation and phrasing on trial. Be harsh but stop short of the death penalty- rather go for parole
-listen to the great interpreters such as Casals. Listen-play-listen-play-L I p S l T a E y N !
unlocking the keys
It is vital that you can read, play, improvise, think, and hear in f-sharp as easily as you can in C. How do we achieve this?
-take simple tunes you know and transpose them to all keys. Always have the harmonies in your head as you go. Play them as slow as it takes.
-mastering all your scales and exercises in all 12 keys is only the beginning. Harmonic movement in f sharp has to become as natural to you as in any other key.
-find out for yourself the sonority of each key. Listen to how composers like Brahms or Mahler worked with this.
-be tough on yourself. If you are playing a blues alone at home for fun, do it in a flat. -start composing in unusual keys.
melodic improvisation
The goal of improvisation as I perceive it is the creations of new melodies. We don’t need to debate here what a melody is or isn’t, we simply need to hear it. Here are some possibilities for expanding your melodic faculties and refining your melodic inventiveness.
-improvise within a certain key or chord progression based on any particular interval. Use this interval as the root of your material, a kind of generating device, or the lowest common denominator in your melodic calculations.
-play music of a certain composer and then improvise. Use other styles- irish, asian,balkan,african, whatever, as a melodic base for improvisation.
-listen.play.listen.play. L I p S l T a E y N !
-Sing to yourself whenever you can
-play along with whatever you can- the radio, your dog, church bells, the wind, the wind over the earth.
-try to notate your favorite melodic fragments, for this always carry a notebook.
-learn as many songs/pieces on your instrument as possible
ear training ( tear raining )
-keep your ears open all the time! Pick out intervals in everyday life- sirens, peoples voices, background music.
-transcribe solos and melodies without your instrument
-sing as much as you can
-when listening to ensembles try to pick out the middle or inner voices. Follow the bass lines. Try and hear the pitch of the drums. Constantly test yourself.
-Remember, your hearing is the only sense which is active 24/7
-play “by ear” as much as you can, especially when learning a new song.
-play with other musicians in different settings. Put yourself in the deep end where you are forced to play without notes.
microtones
In the west we are raised in a 12 tone-per-octave musical system. When we listen to music from other parts of the world we hear that there are many other possibilities- worlds between the tones. It is possible on the sax to play 24 tones per octave with reasonable accuracy from low C to high F. this also gives us more tonal possibilities and sharpens our hearing.
-the following exercises I used to slowly develop my manual and aural ability at the same time. I often stop myself and try to sing what I am playing. This internalizes the music.
-microtonal fingerings use more keys on the sax meaning more resonance meaning a fuller sound.
-once we have achieved proficiency in the 24 tone system our melodic possibilities have been greatly increased. We can begin to use this in a playing situation.
-study the different kinds microtonality in ethnic music- blues, arabian, japanese, etc.
multiphonics
With special fingerings we can produce two or more notes at the same time. Some of these are easier than others and vary depending on the instrument and mouthpiece. they are also excellent embouchure trainers as they require a lot of flexibility and strength to be played well. -once you have mastered a few you can begin to find out your own combinations- keep a record of these.
-practice them at different volume levels
-try and use them in playing situations, only then have you internalized them
circular breathing
This is a useful tool enabling us to hold a note or play a phrase much longer than the duration of a single breath. The air is stored in the mouth and upper throat and released whilst taking in short “sniffs” of air though the nose.
-start with a straw and water then move on to the mouthpiece and neck. Creating resistance by covering the neck makes it easier.
-don’t worry at first about keeping the tone steady, simply concentrate on feeling where the air is and storing as much as possible in your throat and cheeks.
-later move to the sax and try holding notes in the middle range. Also try with a very soft reed. -after a few hours of breathing in, remember to let some air out.
acoustics
-playing outside is a great way to develop a full sound, it’s the musical version of running on the beach for training. However, beware of playing for extended periods at the seaside, rust can set in to your sax.
-any place where you have to fight for a good sound is a good practice space.
-play up against a wall only sometimes in order to hear your direct sound.
-be aware of how your instrument projects in a larger space. when playing in a larger hall try playing to the last row with your pianissino.
practice
-regularity is the key. Om a daily basis we chip away at the ol’ block
-when we practice it should often sound “bad” as we are working on the things we have not yet mastered
-have a glass of water close by, most musicians and public speakers are dehydrated
-use the early morning if you can
-begin each session with a quiet moment where you clearly visualize what you wish to achieve -be aware of your mind- when it starts to drift either close the session or whip it back to the present with an exercise by you for this purpose
-outside disturbances such as neighbours, noise, traffic, etc. should have no effect on your concentration
-relax
-never forget the having the time to practice and having an instrument to practice on are privileges – so make the most of it!
-many skills can be practiced without the instrument, you can run through fingerings and melodies anytime
-use your sax practice to better your breathing and posture in general
-practice or play with others whenever possible
ensemble playing
-learn to transpose at sight. Being able to play from a C part will be a useful tool.
-use ensemble playing as an ear-training device. Listen to and follow the other parts whilst you play.
-be constantly aware of tuning. Each note needs to be pitched differently depending on its harmonic function and the other players.
-NEVER sacrifice a good tone for volume. For this reason be careful of big bands.
-as a saxophonist you have a unique ability to blend with strings, woodwinds, and electronic instruments whilst still playing acoustically- explore this.
-if you can, listen to the sound of your ensemble from a distance. Listen to how different instruments project in different ways.
balance
When playing the sax you should be grounded, feeling as if you had roots into the ground, irrespective if you sit or stand.
Ask yourself these questions:
where is my weight, on the front or back of my feet? Is it evenly distributed?
-am I hunched over with my shoulders rolled forward? Or am I straight around a central axis?
-where does the center of my body feel when I play?
-are my knees locked or slightly bent?
-am I flexible of stiff?
-are all my joints and limbs relaxed?
do I feel light? heavy?
This is all about feeling yourself in your body- sound strange? Get these things right at an early stage and avoid all the problems that go along with bad posture later.
equipment
-learn how to maintain and fix your sax yourself, it’s not that hard.
-almost all reeds can be played- the most important is the break.in period. To do this I:
-play about 3 minutes on the reed
-leave it a day
-play another 3 minutes
-seal it by rubbing it between thumb and forefinger
-leave it some days
-then either play it, or repeat the procedure
-choose a set up that gives you maximum flexibility in tone, volume, timbre, expression. Avoid extremes such as hard reeds or very open mouthpieces. YOU should make the sound, not your equipment.
-a good open sound should go hand in hand with clean intonation. This certainly does not mean that we have to narrow our throats thus sound in the classical sense
-having a vision of which musical situation you wish to focus on will help you form your sound and choose the right equipment
-few other instruments offer you so many possibilities with timbre
composition
-everything you need to know about composition is right in front of your nose- scores, recordings, and musicians to play what you write
-improvisation and composition are closely related, like love and marriage, you can’t have one without the other.
-arranging can only really be learned by trial and error. Try writing for a group you know and have it played
study variation in all its forms. Hear how a small motive can be worked on to create a larger work
-the saxophone has NOT had a lot of great compositions written for it ( maybe 2), but by stealing from the oboe, clarinet, and flute literature we can learn a lot about “classical” composition as well as improving our technique.
vorstellungskraft
-we could translate this as “the power of imagination”. with the sax, our sound, phrasing, ideas, and our playing with others can never exceed our “vorstellungskraft”.
-all of the “feelings” and “sensations” of playing the sax can be experienced without holding the instrument. thus, if we can broaden our “vorstellungskraft” so to can we broaden our faculties on the instrument.
have a clear image of what you want to achieve before you begin a practice session, OR simply play for playing’s sake- but don’t drift in the middle.
-recall positive musical memories- the situation, the timbre, the intensity- relive it as fully as possible
-make the thought of your playing the final one before sleep sets in at night
-when encountering difficult passages try to master them first in your head, then on the instrument
-keep a notebook handy for when ideas come up
-be aware of the wandering nature of our minds
-with training and “vorstellungskraft”, we can acquire relative pitch.
rhythm
- rhythm, the first step is to learn how to spell it
-practice using a metronome at every possible chance. Be inventive in using it with your exercises and pieces.
-learn some kind of percussion instrument
-observe and feel the rhythms of your appitite, moods, friends, seasons, whatever you can think of. Remember, everything is in motion, everything in motion makes a sound,and everything that makes a sound makes a rhythm.
-whenever you feel comfortable with an exercise then vary the tempo and test yourself -what is the tempo of your walking? breathing? your heartbeat?
-try to estimate the passing of hours without looking at your cock. If close to a bell tower, feel the chimes just before they ring.You see? We can train anything.
-wake yourself 5 seconds before your alarm goes off
GREEK MASTERCLASS 2008
Here are some recordings of our classes in Pilion from 2008. All together there is around 7 hours of material, ranging from microtonal work to improvisation. The material is not edited, I simply pressed record whenever I could!
We focused on developing a working model for Saxophone ensemble without written music. Within the recordings you will hear a lot of my warm up and ear-training exercises.
It was all recorded onto my laptop.
1. 2´30´´
2. 2´02´´
3. 1´58´
Download part 1
Download part 2
Download part 3
Kaum Quartet Round the Fire…
During our rehearsal week for the Kaum Quartet in a lonely cottage in county Wicklow, Ireland , we found ourselves around the fireplace talking of all manner of things, music and saxophone related. Somehow Sean managed to leave one of the mics on and there are some funny moments in this discussion. Frank goes off on a long journey concerning classical and jazz saxophone, the true nature of improvisation and subjective reality in music. there are some bits where he really hits the nail on the head as far as classical versus jazz saxophone issues go. The whole deal is uncensored:
Here is an older text I wrote which could be of some interest. It is one I wrote when I was 19 or so, and heavily washed in esoterica and theosophy, I spare no punches when it comes to assessing the current state of humanity even though I was supposed to be writing about the Saxophone. It was one of my compulsory papers at the Music Academy and I still like the bit about playing the Sax with one´s feet, something I still try to do on occasion: Sources of Power.
Here is some more information I have collected on such subjects as Breathing, recording woodwinds, and more. They are all PDFs. I have credited the authors, please follow them up if you like what you read.
An Article on Breath
Flute Breathing
Introduction to Saxophone Acoustics
An Essay by Jon Hassell
Recording Woodwinds
History of Selmer Saxophones
Breathing for the Shakuhachi
Trumpet and Breathing Excercises by Markus Stockhausen
all photos © 2007 |–|å¥d€n (h1sh0/m