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Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 16:06:30 -0800
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] CD location
I'm trying to track down a CD: "Ships at Sea, Sailors and Shoes" by Ned Sublette, Lawrence Weiner, and the Persuasions
(Excellent/Qbadisc, 1993 or 94). I'm told that it includes Lenny Pickett on sarrusophone. Certainly sounds like an odd mix: has anyone heard it, or know where I can locate a copy?Thanks,
Grant
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grant Green
Sarrusophones, contrabass reeds, &
other brobdignagian acoustic exotica http://www.contrabass.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------------------------------------------------------From: "Harry Searing"
Subject: [CB] more Heckelphone news! (sorry for long, boring post)
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 22:21:35 -0500I guess this is about as good a place as any to recount my recent Heckelphone experience. (If you're not interested in the Heckelphone - please ignore or delete, just don't flame me.)
I've always been curious about unusual instruments, but I never thought I would get a chance to play a Heckelphone in an actual professional concert! I'm a free lance bassoonist and contrabassoonist in the New York City area and play contra frequently with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. I'm friends with the personnel manager and I thought I would help him locate a Heckelphone player for the 3 performances of the ALPINE SYMPHONY that were scheduled for late January. The 2 players that I know personally and suggested to him were not available, so I started thinking, "if only I could get a hold on an instrument..."
Well I did, through a good friend (make that great,) I was able to borrow the instrument that belongs to the Yale University Band. It's serial number 26 and must date from either 1908 or 1909. Heckel couldn't be any more exact. This instrument is usually not let out of the Yale University Band's building.
While I have nothing else to compare it with, I have to say that it is a wonderful instrument. It has a very resonant sound and the scale is quite good, although certain notes can be drastically different from reed to reed, like G sharp above the staff. But then, that can happen with any woodwind instrument. It just seemed more pronounced on Heckelphone.
I had well over a month to learn the part to the ALPINE SYMPHONY and I had a ball practicing it. For those who have never played it, it's a wonderful part that, although you're doubling some other instrument almost all of the time, is challenging and there are exposed passages. You must be able to play it in tune and blend. There's a few 'licks' where you can really open up and sing. Boy, it was fun! I'm sorry there weren't more performances.
The oboists in the orchestra were amazed when I told them that it didn't use bassoon fingerings and that I had to "learn" oboe fingerings. I guess it was the first time any of them had seen one up close and personal.
For some strange reason, Strauss wrote for low notes off the instrument - all the way down to low F!
Thanks to Dr. Frank Morelli for vouching for me to Yale, Mark Perchanok (NY) for pointing me in the direction of Yale, and to Peter Hurd (WA) who supplied me with a couple of reeds to get started. I actually ended up using basically a bassoon reed. I started with blanks, trimmed the tip on a Riegger tip profiler and went from there. The conductor and my fellow colleagues were very pleased with the sound I produced, I say quite humbly.
I'm in the process of trying to put together a performance of the Hindemith Trio. Why not?
I'm buying lottery tickets every week now. I want my own instrument!
And as soon as time permits, I'm going to hit lower Manhattan's pawn shops. I just know there's one sitting in the back of some shop down there!
Harry Searing
---------------------------------------------------------
From: corwinmoore
Subject: Re: [CB] CD location
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 05:19:16 +0000> I'm trying to track down a CD: "Ships at Sea, Sailors
> and Shoes" by
> Ned Sublette, Lawrence Weiner, and the Persuasions
> (Excellent/Qbadisc, 1993 or 94). I'm told that it
> includes Lenny Pickett on sarrusophone.It's also reviewed (quite favorably) on the AMG site.
Check the "albums" option and enter "Ships at Sea" in
the search line.- Corwin Moore (AMG technical editor)
---------------------------------------------------------From: "David Price"
Subject: Re: [CB] Unbouncing...
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 11:27:39 -0000Grant,
Apologies if I was one of the offenders.
Last night I downloaded (yawn), IE6 & the latest Outlook Express so that I
can now store and peruse my hotmail emails off-line.My hotmail account won't therefore run out of room again.
Regards.
Dave.
> A bit of administrativiata... A number of addresses are bouncing
> consistently (and have been bouncing for over a month), and I am
> getting ready to delete a number. If your address only *appears*
> dead, and you suddenly stop receiving the list (or digest), please
> let me know.---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 15:16:01 -0800
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] Saxophone InquiryFrom: "Peter Hurd"
Subject: Fw: Inquiry about soprano sax
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 13:54:40 -0800
Dear Grant,
Would you kindly post this to the Digest ?
Thanks, Peter************************************************
Dear Peter,
I need you to do me a favor. The contrabass web-site is big. WOW!...I never knew??
It would be a great help if you would forward the information we talked about on my soprano to someone who would know such things. I composed the letter and sent it to a couple of people and I kept getting a return error message. It would be a big help to me and this is a no rush inquiry. My e-mail address is glucas@wwandbw.com
To whom It May Concern,
I would like to find out some information on a soprano saxophone that I own. The sax is made by Frank Holton & Co. The serial number on it is #28559. I believe the date of manufacture was around 1914, but I am not sure. It has the original satin gold-plated finish, which I would describe as in good condition. It is a Bb, low-pitch instrument. It has the normal range of low Bb to high F. The instrument has 2 unusual key on it. One of the keys is a right hand articulated G# key (not a floating type).
The other key is what I would describe as some sort of "trill Key". It is particularly useful for trilling from high C to D and a few notes chromatically higher. The touch pieces of these keys are located between the side keys and the alternative F key. Key buttons are mother-of-pearl, as well as the key rollers. The tone holes are soldiered on and I will have to say that this aspect of the instrument's construction is absolutely "outstanding" in quality. The sax also has its original case and mouthpiece. I also would like to make a few comments about the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is metal with a grenadadilla wood inlay over it (much like the bake-o-lite mouthpieces, with a similar construction). On the bottom of the mouthpiece, there is a ring with some engraving and stamping on it. The engraving is "Holton" in a cursive style and the engraving on the other side of the ring is "PAT. APPLIED FOR". Also, a few space on around the ring, there is an imprint of a "1" on it. There is a little pitting on the mouthpiece, but overall it is in excellent and playable condition. I am curious to find out the accurate age of the instrument. Also, I would like to know the value of the soprano and does having the original case and mouthpiece add to the value as a package. Any information you could share with me on my soprano sax would be greatly appreciated.Sincerely,
Greg Lucas
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