If I had a dime for each time I was asked what mouthpiece I play…well, I’d have a lot of dimes. At least enough to take a friend to the movies on a Saturday night.
I’m not sure what it is that makes us want to believe that a piece of gear will change (improve) our playing, but it seems hard-coded into our DNA.
The next time you think your saxophone, mouthpiece, reed, ligature, etc., is holding you back, revisit this clip of Chris Potter — one of the most virtuosic musicians on the planet — playing an early Adolphe Sax tenor saxophone circa 1859. The thing has double octave keys!
Point is, it’s nothing like the gear he normally plays and yet his sound is unmistakeable. As my friend Juan commented, “It’s the fisherman, not the rod.”
I agree that once you have understood, you can play any horn and sound like you sound. But I put forth the proposition that the quality of the instrument is one of the keys to getting there. If your horn lacks soul, you don’t feel like playing it. Discuss.
Well put. This is mainly a call-out to the times when our gear is fine but we’re struggling to push through to new levels (and instead hunt for new toys).
Love your website and your news on Saxophone – AWESOME !!!
Ashwin Sax
Thanks, Ashwin.
You make a good point, and this is a great demonstration of it. But, then again, you don’t see Chris Potter (or other pros) gigging or recording with it. So, clearly players believe there’s a difference when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is (pun intended).
Usain Bolt could impress us by running a 100 meters (or whatever distance) in dress shoes. Jeff Gordon could handle a track well in my Nissan Altima.
To an extent, I think the differences may be less apparent with pros, because they can impress us with any chosen tool. Also, their technical ability to adapt to variances in equipment quality might be greater because they’ve played many many more horns and mouthpieces and understand how to manipulate them despite differences. I wonder if the difference would be more pronounced in a young inexperienced musician, unfamiliar with the adaptation needed with a poor instrument.
All that said, I agree that the biggest variable is always the player himself. However, we like blaming the instrument for what we can’t do.
While I agree that your gear has absolutely nothing to do with your playing ability, it does affect the way you feel and sound. Saying that gear makes no difference is great way to get people motivated to practice, but it’s not entirely true.
Bob harps on his comfort and familiarity between his alto and tenor horns in a recent video. That’s what I’m referring to.
Better ? nope. Different ? yes , somewhat. I enjoy playing on a bigger bore tenor a la Conn 10M vs. a Selmer. It makes me play/ hear more and other possibilities , especially in the lower register which is really fun to play on those kind of horns.
…and Charlie Parker played whatever he could get his hands on! I think that [poor] players like to blame the equipment so they have an excuse not to practice more. Once a player has reached at least, say, an intermediate level of performance, the horn/gear should not make a big difference. While there will always be preferences – it seems like school music teachers like to stay in the ‘known’ and expensive brands when asked by parents what horn to buy their kids when many other brands will work just as good – I do believe that a truly inferior horn will make a beginner worse – bad intonation and such – and lead to frustrations and less practice time. So, I think where a horn can make a person a ‘better’ player is at the beginner level.
However, to a pro-level musician, no, I don’t think the gear will make them ‘better’.
Totally agree.
I love this discussion! OK, now that I’ve got you thinking… 1) Your gear matters. A lot. To a point. 2) It’s once players achieve a certain comfort level with their gear that the problems begin: when our gear works, but our progress seems to stagnate, we default to searching for a change of gear. I’m arguing it’s those points in our development that we should strive to push through and work on ourselves more, rather than hunt for a gear solution.
Bob. Spent a day last summer on a course with Alan Barnes. He put an old mouthpiece and a knackered old reed on his alto. He said if the reed is not too good he puts his tongue between the reed and mpiece and bends it down! Then proceeded to play about a dozen example styles of Parker, Pepper, Woods, Carter, Desmond, Konitz, etc. Then said “I don’t spend a lot on reeds”.
Another tip take a tune and MAKE IT YOUR OWN – OWN IT!
PS. Bob.If I pay 10 times as much for a sax will I sound 10 times better. No, thought not. LoL.
I’ve always tried to play every reed in the box.
Bob. Many decades ago I played next to Kathy Stobart in a big band session. She said on a Conn the sound projects up, on a Selmer the sound goes up and out, on a Yamaha the sound goes straight out. Hence a lot of players love the Conn as you can always hear what you are playing.
When I was thinking about taking up the sax a local semi pro brought me round a choice of a Mk 6 and a Buffet. At the time these were very affordable average prices before they got silly. I bought the Selmer because the Buffet had a dent on the bell. He kept his Conn 10M.