Entries posted in "Music"
Saxophone Shopping
Yeah, okay, I know what you're all thinking. "He's such a band geek." Maybe I am... Actually, I am, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Yesterday, my parents finally took me to Oakland to visit the two music stores: A&G Music and Best Music. I tried a whole variety of professional level saxophones and I think that I've finally decided on one. I'll attempt to write decent reviews of the four main saxophones that I tried, but I'm in no means a professional saxophonist (I hope to be one day, but I'm not there yet). My current saxophone is quickly falling apart, and my parents have finally agreed to buy me a professional saxophone.
To test the playability of each horn, I played all the major scales, the chromatic scale, and the first and second movement of the Paul Creston Sonata.
My Equipment
Reed: 3.5 Vandoren Blue Box
Ligature: Rovner Dark
Mouthpiece: Selmer S-80 C*
Yamaha YAS-875EX
Store: Best Music
Playing Level: Professional
Thoughts: I had high expectations for the Yamaha saxophone because of all the reviews that I've read online. Using my tuner to check the intonation, I found that the intonation was off throughout the whole horn's range. When I played through the Creston Sonata, I found that the palm key notes sounded weak and when I attempted to apply vibrato to them, the notes cracked. This may have been my fault because I was using a Selmer mouthpiece (I hear that Selmer mouthpieces don't play well on Yamaha horns). The overall tone of the saxophone was bright and sweet-sounding and the keywork felt comfortable underneath my fingers. Overall, I think that the Yamaha is a good horn, but it's just not the right one for me.
Selmer Reference 54
Store: Best Music and A&G
Playing Level: Professional
Thoughts: I had really high expectations for this saxophone because of the brand it comes from -- Selmer. Did the saxophone meet my expectations? Yes it did. The keywork felt natural underneath my fingers, the tone was bright (but not too bright), and I was really liking the way that it looked. All of the notes on the Reference 54 were either right in the middle, or a few cents off center. When I played through the Creston Sonata, the palm key notes were brilliant and had substance beneath them. I was able to apply my vibrato to them without having them crack, unlike the Yamaha. Overall, I thought the Reference 54 was amazing to play because I didn't even have to try to get the tone that I wanted and it just felt right in my hands.
Selmer Series III
Store: Best Music
Playing Level: Professional
Thoughts: I really liked this saxophone too. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between this horn and the Reference 54, but my parents said that the Series III sounded a little more stuffy than the Reference 54. The intonation on this saxophone was right in the middle, like the Reference 54, and I even managed to play up to the altissimo G with ease. When playing through the Creston Sonata, the high notes came out easily, like on the Reference 54, and during the second movement of the Creston, I was able to make the saxophone sound dark and sweet. Overall, I thought this horn shared many characteristics with the Reference 54 (well... they do come from the same manufacturer) but it had it's own quirks; the Reference 54 and the Selmer Series III are a tie to me.
Yanagisawa A992
Store: Best Music
Playing Level: Professional
Thoughts: The first time I tried a Yanagisawa A992 was on Friday, during my band concert because my band director let me borrow his own personal saxophone. The one in the store sounded a lot brighter than my band director's saxophone, and the keywork felt a little heavy. However, the keywork on the Yanagisawa was amazing though; I loved how the keys grooved in so your fingers could fit there naturally. The palm key notes sounded a little stuffy, like they did on the Yamaha, but the low end of the saxophone was really easy to play. One thing that I didn't like about the Yanagisawa was the octave key. It felt awkward to press because it was a little higher than the thumb rest. The tone of the horn was easy to bend to my will, and I was able to create bright tone with minimal edge. Overall, I thought that the Yanagisawa was a nice horn, but like the Yamaha, it just wasn't the right one for me.
Winner?
The horn that really captured my attention was the Reference 54. I really like the color of the saxophone (a deep bronze/orange color) and the tone that I was able to get out of the saxophone was really nice. The intonation was even over the entire range and I was particularly impressed at the brilliance of the palm key notes. My parents have agreed to buy me the Reference 54 as long as I:
- Join the school jazz band
- Audition for the all-state band (I was going to audition anyways)
- Raise my GPA
- Pay for half of the saxophone
- Wait until November
Oh, and my parents also said that if I bought this saxophone, then I wouldn't be able to drive until I was eighteen -- a worthy sacrifice in my opinion. So now I am anxiously awaiting for the day in November where I can walk into Best Music in Oakland and proudly declare that I would like to purchase a saxophone.
A&G Store Review
A&G was my favorite of the two music stores. The environment just made me feel comfortable. The walls were decorated with various instruments and the moment I walked in, I saw a whole wall of saxophones -- I was in heaven. The co-owner of the store, Dick Akright, greeted me with a big smile and offered to bring me all the saxophones they had for me to try. When I asked if he had any vintage saxophones, he went up and dug out a Conn Chu-Berry for me. He asked what type of saxophone playing I was into, and after I said "classical," he brought ought more saxophones which he said would give me a "darker and fuller tone."
Best Music Store Review
The BART exit is right next to Best Music, so that makes it convenient to get to Best Music. The Best Music staff was really hospitable and they showed me a private practice room and brought out all the professional saxophones that they had. They only had 4 (the ones that I wrote reviews about), but it was still nice of them to bring them out to me. The staff at Best Music was less personal (unlike the A&G staff) and they were more professional-like, which could be a good thing, based on personal taste. They had a wide variety of reeds, and I finally found a place to purchase Alexander Classique reeds.
Permalink