Selmer classical music

[worldlady]

Hi!
I am about to purchase a new saxophone and was wondering if you could share your thoughts about the difference between Selmer series ll, lll and standard reference in classical perfomance. I don´t know much about Yanagisawa, but that would be the alternative choice for me. I would like to have a saxophone that would do well in chamber music (quartets, small bands), but is mainly a solo instrument with rich dynamic range and versitile sound color.

Thank You for taking your time to discuss it :)

[Dr G]

Thank You for taking your time to discuss it :)

We've taken the time to discuss this a lot. You will find a wealth of discussion on the matter if you choose to use the Search function.

It will help to narrow your search if you include whether your interest regards alto or tenor.

[gary]

Hi Worldlady - Estonia, huh? My former landlady's husband is from Estonia and I made a tour of Estonia a couple years ago with the Symphonischen Blasorchesters des Landkreises Kaiserslautern (Germany). Lotta cranes, LOL. Did our paths cross?

Anyway, my "classical" alto of choice is the Selmer Serie II.

As more replies are added to this thread, you will read that most any sax can be used for classical playing. I do not completely disagree with that. However, I agree more ;) that the following lend themselves well to my concept of classical sax than others.

Here is a review of altos I did a couple of years ago. Please read it. What I said then stands for my opinion today also. Please read the entire thread, because there are other opinions besides my own - and also because I updated my opinion later in the thread:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=46471

Worldlady - one thing to consider. Where are you buying your sax? The last I knew, one's possibilities in Talin were very limited. You might do better ordering it from Germany or the Netherlands. One thing about Selmers is that you normally need to have a gooe tech adjust them for you before you buy it. They are often not as setup and ready to play as, say, a Yamaha Custom.

[BOPITY FUNK]

And Hello from me World lady! Gary's possibly right on the serieii Selmer's,very solid core loads of 'carrying power'. A Yanagasawa would also fit the bill perfectly, as these can sound very refined and smooth with perhaps a 'thinner sound' than Selmer--although this is subjective.I personally play a serie iii alto--happened to get it cheap a few years back--and I must say it is an outstanding sax.with a powerful voice and very m/p friendly. Funk to quartets with a very 'free' low register. Spoiled for choice are'nt we??
Bopity

[worldlady]

To Gary.

I did't have the chance to see You orchestra, when You were here. But it's a beautiful country, isn't it? :)
I am going to buy my saxophone from Finland. Soitinlaine is the store there, maybe You have heard about it. I most defenetly don't have the luxury to travel to Germany aor Luxambourg, unfortunately.
And they only have the firebird (ll and lll) series in Finland, the limited Europe edition.

[gary]

To Gary. I did't have the chance to see You orchestra, when You were here. But it's a beautiful country, isn't it? :)
It was a refreshing change from the German countryside. I have traveled in many countries but have never seen such landscape, especially with the bogs, through which we took a hike. And the cranes on the tops of the telephone poles were a sight. One evening we had a folklore dance and singing evening with some members of an Estonian band and it was great. Even greater for one of our trombone players was that he discovered some really cheap beer in the supermarket in two litre plastic bottles. I think he bought at least several a day. :twisted: Also, I spent one long afternoon in Tallinn at the fortress and the port. It was a very nice day.


I am going to buy my saxophone from Finland. Soitinlaine is the store there, maybe You have heard about it. I most definitely don't have the luxury to travel to Germany or Luxembourg, unfortunately.
I did not mean traveling there but ordering it from there, either the Saxofoonwinkel in the Netherlands (www.saxshop.ne) or Session Music in Germany (www.session.de), where I got both a Selmer Serie II alto and Serie III tenor. Anyway, good luck with your purchase. Let us know how it went.

[garyjones]

gary's review is right on. if could add mk vi of course if you find a good one.
does the french thing like no other. series ii of course like gary says.
and the yanagisawa can be good but not with the stock neck if you feel like mucking around with the other necks like a 992-pg neck on a 991 can be nice for clasical music. not so full of ring like the french thing but nice and controlled.
also there is a more german school of playing that here in the US at least almost demands the dry yamaha sound.