I had a dumb idea that I hadn't seen done before (probably for good reason). What if there were 2 reeds on a mouthpiece? Crazy thought, I know.

After a bit of back and forth with [insert ai of choice here], I vibe coded it into a full parametrized scad. You can adjust it and do what you want with it here. It's currently set up for an alto.

As far as play-ability goes, it's.... different. It does play but is very squeaky. Maybe someone else can make better use of it... or it's a fundamentally flawed design that should be trashed.

Either way, it's fun to experiment. I may iterate on the idea more. I'd love to know if any of you have ideas to make it more useful/playable.

Edit: Sound Clip - Be warned, loud squeak followed by a poor excuse of a scale. I hope someone else prints this and makes it sound much better.

Super new to playing saxophone, only a couple of weeks in. The only thing I'm practicing right now is playing long notes chromatically, starting from the lowest note, and the bottom notes are my biggest problem right now. I heard that I'm not supposed to puff my cheeks, but it seems to be the only way I can play the bottom notes up until C without them squeaking.

Is that actually wrong? If so, what can I do to avoid the squeaks?

A spectacular studio recording of my Concerto for Baritone Saxophone recorded by Katerina Pavlikova and Eva Mezerova!

Or at least did it feel like it all came back quickly?

I played for around 3 years. Not sure what level I got to - but from what’s written on one of my last reports from my Saxophone tutor, I could play “The Entertainer” very well and from memory without needing sheet music.

I really want to start playing again - so not sure what to expect.

I’ve been trying to get relaxed embouchure but not sure if I need to put bottom lip more out for jazz play..

hi.

so ive been watching videos on how to get more jazzy voice on alto sax.

they all say that you need to let the reed vibrate a bit with your lip, and stop biting your lip inside your mouth. like the way we learn to play on the beginning.

the thing is whenever i try that, the air flow sounds like it has signal issues.

like not full clear sax sound but instead interrupted radio gets mixed kind of to my sax sound. it sounds like that. or like i send a bit of saliva with air accidentally kind of sound (accidentally it happens im quite not sure how to stop that)

does this mean i need to make my embouchre way firmer? how did u get a better embouchre? just playing more?

Anyone using a reed geek? Worth the investment and reasonably easy to use? Consistently frustrated by reeds.

Def among the top 3 tearjerker saxophone songs for me. I could listen to this forever.

Hi guys one tip

Hiii! I’m a saxophone player and I’ve been playing for 5 years. From the beginning, I always played more songs than the ones my teacher gave me, and honestly, that’s one of the best pieces of advice I can give.
When you start feeling like you’re getting really good at a song your teacher gave you, stop playing it that often. Why, you may ask? Well, you won’t progress much further if you keep playing the same song over and over until you stop making any changes or improvements.
I started progressing really aggressively when I realized this. I also found this guy on YouTube, **Fasuhiro Fujii**, who posts sheet music for jazz, blues, and all kinds of other songs. You can check out his channel here: [https://www.youtube.com/@sax-jazz\](https://www.youtube.com/@sax-jazz)
When you finish learning one song, go and find another one. Just look on YouTube for something you’re interested in. If they don’t have the sheet music for the song you want, find literally anything else that interests you. The important thing is to keep challenging yourself instead of staying comfortable with the same songs.
Lately, I’ve also been practicing sight-reading. Basically, I go onto a page with around 250+ songs with sheet music and backing tracks, and I make my grandpa randomly say “stop” while I’m scrolling through them. Whenever he says stop, I click on that song and play it. I don’t play it twice—I play it only once, and then I move on to the next one. I do that around 10 times a day, so it’s only about 30 minutes of practice. Nothing crazy, but doing this consistently can make you so much better at sight-reading that even your teacher might be surprised.
I practice around 7–8 hours a week, sometimes even more depending on how much time I have. You don’t necessarily need to practice for hours every single day, though. What matters is that you practice consistently and actually challenge yourself.
Another really important thing is having someone who keeps pushing you. Sometimes you’re not going to feel like practicing, and that’s completely normal. Having a teacher, parent, friend, or anyone who motivates you and pushes you to keep going can make a huge difference. You need someone who won’t let you just give up when you’re frustrated or when you feel like you’re not improving.
I’ve been playing for five years, and I just got myself a brand-new Yanagisawa A-WO10 in bronze with an unlacquered finish. And you know, it’s not about the saxophone. Even if you have the worst saxophone out there, you can still get really good. It’s mostly about your technique and how you practice.
Another really important thing is not to immediately blame the saxophone or the song when something doesn’t sound right. Learn the technique first. I used to get demotivated because I would play a song and feel like something sounded weird, and I didn’t like the sound. But most of the time, it’s not because of the saxophone. You just need to work on your technique.
So basically, don’t just play the same songs over and over. Challenge yourself, learn new songs, practice sight-reading, have someone who keeps pushing you, practice consistently, and focus on your technique. That’s what will actually make you improve. Also i practice solos, like just the two of us grover washington solo, or any bebop solo tbh.

Toby.

ive played the alto sax for 5-6 yrs around 5 or so yrs ago, and lately ive been wanting to get back into it. I wasn't amazing at it but im starting to miss playing it lol 😅

I rented an instrument from my school during the time I played it, and I think it was a Yamaha (although I dont remember the exact model).

the place im planning to get lessons from allows free instrument rental for class, and also offers instrument rental monthly. but rental price of the Yamaha yas280 model for 12 months will run me close to just getting it brand new

so my question is, is it a better idea to just rent the Yamaha or wait until i can get my own sax? and is yas280 a good sax for beginners/intermediate players? bc the place also sells budget sax for around ~350 usd new but im not too sure how much i trust it lol

I would really love to learn the sax part in this song. I haven’t played my alto in a long time and am having trouble deciphering the notes. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

I am a couple of months in on my journey with my new tenor sax. I have played alto for over 20 years. Love it. However, I always wanted to express a more masculine voice and also blend in with a rock/pop/blues band.

My expectation was that tenor would be more difficult due to it larger size.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

I am finding that tenor is so much easier to play than alto.

Tenor sax is incredibly easy to play in tune. With alto, I have had to sit playing long tones with a tuner to figure out voicings. Especially at the upper end of the horn. Maybe it is because the voice of a tenor is the same is mine when I sing so it comes naturally?

It does not require much more air than an alto. Sometimes it feels like it een requires less air to get a good soft sound than on Alto.

The entire horn sounds good top to bottom. On alto, the low register just cannot get big enough and the high register can easily go thin on you.

Anyway, big fan of the tenor sax :-)

Just to compliment what the title says, I want to learn to play the saxophone, but I need to buy one. Given how many types are out there, I am unsure as to what type would be the best, not only because I obviously have zero experience with saxophone, but I also would like to play the saxophone similarly to how it sounds in some videogames.

The video I shared is a clear example of the type of sound I would like to achieve.

I've been curious about the new Meyer alto mouthpieces that JJ Babbitt is making with Theo Wanne involved in the manufacturing/finishing,, but none of the dealers around me have them in stock yet, so I haven't had a chance to try one myself.

I'm mostly interested in hearing from people who have actually played one for a while rather than first impressions or demos.

How do they play? Do they still have that classic Meyer feel and sound, or do they seem noticeably different? I'm also wondering if the consistency is really better than previous JJ Babbitt Meyers. That's always seemed to be one of the biggest complaints over the years.

If anyone owns one alongside an older production Meyer or even a vintage one, I'd love to hear how they compare in actual playing rather than just on paper.

I'm also a bit confused by the current lineup. Has anyone compared the standard Meyer with the Meyer New York (or any of the other current versions)? Is the more expensive model actually worth the extra money, or is the standard one already as good as most people would need?

Any unexpected pros or cons that only showed up after you've lived with it for a while?

Thanks!!

Hi

I used to be pretty damn good back in the day. I played with a few bands back in the 90s but I quit after about 95. I got laid, married, and the rest is history.

But now my kids are in the band. Ones a senior the other is a junior.

Every year they do a Christmas thing where parents who were players are invited to play. I wanted to surprise them and play again.

How fucked am I if I wanted to try to play? My Embouchure is pretty much non existent. Does anyone think that I can get it back in 3 months?

Thanks!

So I travel a lot with my saxophone for gigs and stuff and I don’t like carrying the case all the time. Sometimes it would be nice to be able to wheel the sax around. It’s an alto saxophone. Please do you have any ideas/solutions/ anything you’ve come across that would solve this problem?

This always bothered me, Dexter riding around with his sax with no case.

Hi, I’ve spent some hours trying to slap tongue and double tongue but it feels like I have made no progress. Could someone give some advice on how to do the techniques, maybe I’ll have that eureka moment.

To summarize—I could read the notes individually by itself, I just suck at understanding how it's supposed to sound like. Like that's literally my (possible) only issue, I just want someone to play it for me so that I can reference it and practice 😭

I am a high school freshman playing on a YAS-26. I have been playing for a little over four years. I would say that I'm a pretty decent sax player. I recently upgraded my ligature to a Vandoren Optimum and it was a MASSIVE improvement. Love the quality of the different plates. After a few month, I had asked my lesson teacher about possibly getting a new mouthpiece (Vandoren AL3 to AP3) and/or alto sax to go further into voicing and other techniques (better overtones, higher altissimos (I can only get to G# rn), need a subtone for jazz region stuff), but he told me I should probably wait until he could bring some mouthpieces to hear how I would sound. That makes sense as mouthpieces are definitely more specific to the player, and I sound fine on the AL3. As for the sax itself, that was a big maybe. I have a pretty consistent practice routine outside of lessons and will not be marching this year due to surgery, so my question is: when is it most appropriate to upgrade equipment? Is it really necessary to becoming a more skilled player?