Klarinet Archive - Posting 000791.txt from 1995/03

From: John Henninger <Bunky@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Soprano Saxophone - thanks!
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 17:42:10 -0500

You wrote:

>
>I'd just like to thank all of the klarinetists who replied to my
original
>query about the soprano sax. Wow, what a wealth of information! I
>especially enjoyed Steven Haaser's comments about the "smaller the
>instrument the more squirrelly it is" and how hard "it is to get a
>good tone that doesn't soar about like an unguided missile."!
>
>Helps me understand why Branford Marsalis didn't take up the soprano
>until he had apprenticed on the clarinet, and then the tenor and alto
>sax! It also helps me understand why not just anyone can get the kind
>of tone out of this instrument that I find so intrigueing.
>
>Doesn't sound like an instrument for a beginner. On the other hand
>I'm much tempted to go to the local music store and see if they'll let
>me try one of these. Hmmmmmm. Wonder which would be cheaper, to rent
>one for a couple of months or get a good buy on a used one, and then
resell
>when I'm done. Yeah, sure I'll sell once I've gotten one of these in
my
>hands, heh-heh-heh..........
>
>=====================================================================
>Tom Ascher Internet: u15310@-----.edu
>University of Illinois at Chicago Phone: (312) 413-3665
>
>
Tom, I recommend you find a music store that will take instruments in
trade in, rehabs them then they treat them as rent with an option to
buy. I got a good Bundy flute that way for $250 the same with my alto
sax. I must confess that I took a flier on a soprano sold by Sears (of
all people) just because I wanted one of the damn things. It's a Heimer,
made in Taiwan. It needed some adjustments so I took it to Custom Music
who does the repairs on must of the Seattle Symphony wind instruments.
they praised it to the skies. The only thing we can come up with is some
companies in some countries copy Selmers and Conns so closely that they
produce a quality instrument at half the cost. I don't brag about my
soprano, but it is a little jewel and while it's difficult to get in
tune it stays in tune. It also has the power that I can play all those
wonderful baroque trumpet pieces with the appropriate "brassiness"
adding the trills and turns that a woodwind can do. John