Talking About Sax

I could write an entry of dealing with random intrusive thoughts, but I'm not going to. I think I already have enough entries on that for now. So for today, I'm just going to write about the recent pick up of my new tenor saxophone.

I finally picked up my ordered Wongful Tenor Saxophone from WindWorks Singapore.

The Wongful Tenor Saxophone is an amazingly fun instrument. I'm not as good a saxophonist as I am a concert flutist (which isn't as good as my dizi playing, which I still think isn't really good anyway). The sound is very even and mellow, responding really well with the Selmer S90 180 mouthpiece that I had. For a causal saxophone player like me, I could easily hit the lows and highs at low dynamics levels, and they were still in tune. Amazing---I would totally recommend this make of a saxophone to anyone who wants to play it. And mind you, the one that I have is not some professional version---it is their lowest grade instrument. In the hands of an excellent player, it is likely to sound even more magical. Windworks Singapore is the dealer for the Wongful brand in Singapore, and Mr Yap is amazingly knowledgeable on saxphones. I think that anyone who wants a good horn without breaking the bank should really talk with Mr Yap to try out Wongful.

I like the saxophone. The dizi is my most expressive instrument, but it is an instrument that I am most likely to be playing pieces that were written by others. The concert flute is my second most expressive instrument, and is really my primary compositional tool with respect to melodies because of the versatility (chromaticity) and range (3 octaves). The saxophone is a funny instrument for me. I think the role that it plays in my music making is still ill-defined for now---on the one hand it satisfies that inner ``rock-out'' feel that I want due to its timbre crossing between that of regular woodwind and brass, and on the other hand its range is much closer to that of the dizi than that of the concert flute (i.e. less than 3 octaves), making it a little less flexible as a compositional tool.

So I end up using the saxophone as a way of playing pop tunes more enjoyably than with the concert flute. I suppose it is also a side effect of observing that jazz music as played on the saxophone tends to be of that nature too.

Another interesting fact about the saxophone is that they are among the lowest wind instruments that I have. The soprano saxophone is akin to the alto flute (less the concert G3 note which, really, no one plays often), while the alto saxophone is closer to the bass flute (no concert C3, and therefore closer in style to dizi or Irish flute than flute). The tenor saxophone is thus like that of the contra-alto flute (no concert G2 note).

If I ever got a baritone saxophone, it would cover the range of the contrabass flute comfortably, especially if it has a low [instrument] A key. Which also means that it covers the cello range, and is definitely more powerful than the contrabass flute.

Hmmm...

But it won't be any time soon. I've run out of budget for any more new instruments in the near future. My income has basically been reduced to earlier than 2015 levels due to many reasons, and therefore I need to live back to the standard of living of that era, which unfortunately does not include having enough budget for extra instruments.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I've got some more reading to do before bed time today. Recreational reading, if one would believe the nonsense I spout.

Till the next update.