Contrabass Digest

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1999-02-19

 
From: LeliaLoban@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:41:04 EST
Subject: Bass Sax du jour...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com

Dave Robinson wrote,
>"Bass sax du jour" indeed!  Bass saxes used to be a rarity; now it seems
they're everywhere.  For a bass sax nut like me that's great, but where
the heck are all these vintage instruments coming from?  Where were they
years ago when bass saxes were so hard to find?>

In the late 1980s, someone published an estimate in Saxophone Journal that
about 200 bass saxes were known in playable condition.  Has anyone updated
that number recently?  It seems as though an awful lot of bass saxes have been
lugged down from the world's attics since then, but I don't have a clue how
many people play bass sax today.

Lelia
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: 19 Feb 99 10:51:03 -0800
From: Grant Green <ggreen@iconixpharm.com>
Subject: Re: Bass Sax du jour...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com

>In the late 1980s, someone published an estimate in _Saxophone Journal_ that
>about 200 bass saxes were known in playable condition.  Has anyone updated
>that number recently?  It seems as though an awful lot of bass saxes have been
>lugged down from the world's attics since then, but I don't have a clue how
>many people play bass sax today.
>
>Lelia

Well, let's not assume that all those bass saxes are already in playable condition ;-)  Despite the number for sale (what, maybe a half dozen over the last several months?), I still don't see them actually *played* all that often.  (insert sigh here).

On a related note, I just picked up my Bb bass sarrusophone from Keith Loraine over the weekend: he had it while making up a couple of double reeds specifically to match.  The new reeds make a *big* difference.  Prior to this point, I'd only played the horn using the single reed mpcs that came with it, and had always worried about the intonation.  I suspect that the mpc cavity is either too large or too small, as the notes toward the top of the horn (C in the middle and upper octaves) tend to go way flat.  The double reeds, however, provide an even intonation (and even timbre) throughout the range, even into the altissimo (which I've found nearly impossible with the single reed mpc).

And now, time to go home and play it!

Grant

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant D. Green                                650-567-5533
Director of Intellectual Property
Iconix Pharmaceuticals              ggreen@iconixpharm.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


 
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