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Is it safe to play the saxophone?

14K views 60 replies 40 participants last post by  richpagesax 
#1 ·
Given that we get a new scare almost every day about how stuff we use can cause us damage, I wonder if any has ever died or got seriously ill from playing a saxophone.

I have heard that oboists can get problems from the back pressure of blowing causing pressure on the brain or something.

Some people worry about brass mouthpieces maybe causing lead poisoning.

I have had some serious death threats due to my opinions on how to play the saxophone.

I'm sure that a saxophone could be used as a murder weapon, either physically or mentally. Whack someone round the head with it or just play "My favourite Things" or "Songbird" (delete as appropriate to your taste) to a poor prisoner in orange jumpsuit until they confess or die.

What are the hazards involved in playing the saxophone?
 
#4 ·
I don't think there are any serious health issue concerning playing the instrument but rather the health issues that stem from a certain kind of lifestyle that is commonly associated with being a musician. B:cool:
 
#28 ·
As long as there is one saxophonist still alive, that "fact" cannot be scientifically proven. There may be one Immortal Saxophonist out there. Maybe his name starts with K...
 
#7 ·
I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

(okay, so I stole - - I prefer to say "inherited" - - that from the brilliant, late Steven Wright. Well, he obviously doesn't need it anymore.)

Back on topic, I think my playing is more dangerous to people on the other side of the bell (Kind of like second-hand smoke.) And my wife just this week asked if I wear earplugs when I play sax. Not sure what she meant by that . . .
 
#12 ·
I was more concerned about the companionship which comes about from playing sax in the presence of fertile young females. That can seriously harm your lifestyle!


(Mick, it might seem like he is late, but he is still there.)
 
#18 ·
Statistically, more people die while NOT playing the saxophone than while playing. So, I'd say it is much safer to play than not to play....
 
#21 ·
Since we get these kinds of questions everyday at work, and because I am the guy that gets paid to answer them, here's a $1000 answer for you.

Everything in life has some degree of risk and in the end, nobody gets out alive. :bluewink:
 
#32 ·
What are the hazards involved in playing the saxophone?
When I first started practicing in the evening at the research institute where I worked, guards would come buy to check that the doors were locked and no animal rights activists, computer thiefs, and other individuals without access would be present in the building after hours. At some point, I changed mouthpieces to something that clearly was above and beyond what my nascent chops could handle. I am stubborn bastard so I just continued to produce one more haunting squeak after another. At some point the door to the office was virtually kicked in by an guard, who clearly lacked some fitness. Bent over, clinging to a table all he managed to verbalize was: "My God...(insert heavy breathing and evoke images of a man past his prime who looks like he is about to have a heart attack)...I thought...someone...was being...raped!".

At first I felt offended. Next I felt relief as it occurred to me that in a more trigger happy society, the guard might have shot first and looked around later. So it does seem to me that playing the sax, or at least attempting to, might pose serious health hazards. They guard might have died as well. Very nice guard though. He did stop by later on from time to time to compliment me on my improvements. "You sound...uhmm...better" was his usual remark. I didn't dare to ask whether he meant that I had progressed to someone sounding more like torturing a cat.
 
#37 ·
I've suffered most of my life from the "Rockin' Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu " Apparently most horn players carry a' rogue gene' that tells the brain that the owner of that brain will remain 18 years of age for ever even though the rest of the body is falling to pieces.This 'rogue gene' causes men of a 'certain age to' constantly behave in unseemly ways --especially in the company of young ladies, in the vicinity of alcholic beverages, and in the inhalation of noxious or obnoxious substances. The gene also convinces the brain that the 1960's never ended and that the rest of society is deluded into thinking it happened 40 years ago.
Sufferers of this rare syndrome can be identified by their use of strange vocabulary for example; confusion arising from the use of the word "cat"--non sufferers believe this word to be the generic term given to the Feline animal species wheras carriers of the 'rogue gene' use the word to describe human beings who play musical instruments, the word often being pre-fixed by 'bad' or 'beautiful'--bad being the highest accolade and worthy of life long adoration.
The medical profession has no answers regarding this malady although many theories abound.
 
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