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Post your classical playing here!

347K views 660 replies 216 participants last post by  GroverC 
#1 ·
It's high time those of us who play classical music on saxophone put our talents on display. There's a very active thread in Misc. Saxophone Discussion where people post clips of themselves - it's one of the busiest areas on this board, other than the buy/sell postings.

I'm starting this thread because I'm personally interested in hearing what other participants in this area sound like.

The only thing that I ask of you is this: if you're going to take part here, be prepared to post. I've got no time for armchair critics.

Here's the first movement of the Albinoni Sonata St. Marc on soprano with piano accompaniment.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/merlinwilliams/albinoni1.wma
 
#3 ·
Bravo!

Thanks for starting this thread too. I hope more people will follow your lead. Here's a recording of me. Not one I'm especially proud of (lots of problems, -but hey it was the leadoff on a recital and I was pretty dang nervous). Not necessarily how I'd play it now, either.

Maybe it will make someone else feel better about posting.... :)

http://home.comcast.net/~awholley/Syrinx.mp3

..and you can hear the quartet I play in here.....

http://home.comcast.net/~awholley/lonestarsax/index.html

Alan
 
#4 ·
Thanks Alan!

I listened to a couple of the quartet tracks on your page as well as your solo work. I should get a list of the charts I've arranged for quartet to you.

It was cool to hear Syrinx on alto. I've got a recording of Brodie doing it on soprano. I hear some similarities in your use of vibrato compared to his version.
 
#5 ·
Hello!

what a great topic!
i will endeavor to record much more classical stuff in the future, but for now here are some recordings i've done in the past year or so.

The gigue from Bach's 1st Cello Suite (not one of my best recordings) and two Vaughan Williams arrangements for saxophone quartet, As the tide came flowing in and The dark eyed sailor, I play soprano on the two quartet pieces

www.angelfire.com/vamp/bigband/recordings.html

Merlin, what is your soprano setup?

on these recordings i'm playing a keilwerth ST with a C* and a vandoren 3 (a setup which i've changed considerably, i now play an SX with a selmer F and Vandoren 3 and a halves)

the alto is an EX keilwerth with a C** and vandoren 3's.
 
#6 ·
Merlin said:
I listened to a couple of the quartet tracks on your page as well as your solo work. I should get a list of the charts I've arranged for quartet to you.
Please do! You can email me at comcast dot net as awholley.

Mr. Syms: check this link out. Interesting how we have two very different interpretations of Dark Eyed Sailor, but they both work!

http://home.comcast.net/~awholley/lonestarsax/samples.html

Alan
 
#8 ·
mr_syms said:
Merlin, what is your soprano setup?

on these recordings i'm playing a keilwerth ST with a C* and a vandoren 3 (a setup which i've changed considerably, i now play an SX with a selmer F and Vandoren 3 and a halves) the alto is an EX keilwerth with a C** and vandoren 3's.
That cut was done on a Jupiter Artist soprano with a Rascher m/p, #3 Vandoren reeds and a Rovner lig.
 
#9 ·
mr_syms said:
man, we never thought of playing it SLOW!!!
what kind of crazy idea's that!! :p

do you play a curved sop all the time?
what sort is it?

(i saw one in the picture on your site)
I play curved soprano only, as I find the sound better for my purposes and I have less difficulty with technical passages (I always felt like the straight soprano was wobbling around all over the place). Also, in quartet, it seems to be easier to maintain balance.

The soprano pictured was a Cannonball Big Bell. I now play a fantastic Buescher TruTone that has been retrofitted with a front F and articulated G#.

Even on the jazz cuts I was using a Rascher or Buescher mouthpiece, usually with Glotin GIII 3.5 reeds.

Alan
 
#10 ·
Here's another clip of me playing soprano on Cafe 1930 from Histoire du Tango:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/merlinwilliams/piazzolla.mp3

Remember folks, we want to be able to listen really closely, so if you can encode your mp3 files at a minimum of 128k, things will sound better. This clip and the Bach I have available were both done at 192k.
 
#12 ·
Hello Merlin

You kindly extended an invitation to us "jazzers" over on that other thread - SOTW Post A Recording.... to visit. So first off, I'll return the favor to any who would like to post up a jazz clip. Now, I am intriqued by the idea of posting classical - and curious - are there midi backings out there for classical? I'm listening to Merlin's Albinini - which sounds like a soprano - but in places so much like a flute that its hard to tell (and I mean that as a compliment). Assuming it wasn't live, where did the backing come from? Is there a classical repertoire for sax - especially other than soprano - the weakest member of my quartet of horns? I'm not sure that I could play with the rigor required in counting, etc., but I wouldn't mind giving it a shot. Of course, I play bari primarily - so I suppose I would have to look at bassoon music? Would a Paquito D'Rivera tune pass muster as at least semi-classical? :wink: :lol: Anyway, great idea. And please do feel free to join us over on the jazz thread. My equipment, clips, etc., can be found on my website. Thanks.
 
#13 ·
rcwjd said:
Now, I am intriqued by the idea of posting classical - and curious - are there midi backings out there for classical? I'm listening to Merlin's Albinini - which sounds like a soprano - but in places so much like a flute that its hard to tell (and I mean that as a compliment). Assuming it wasn't live, where did the backing come from?
The cuts I've posted are in fact live. The pianist on the tracks I've posted so far is Ellen Meyer, who I've done concerts with here in Toronto.

There are some old Music Minus One backing recordings available, and there may be some MIDI things around. Another option is the backing tracks that have been produced by Coda music....the SmartMusic accompaniment series, IIRC.
 
#17 ·
Anyone know how I can post files for download from AOL? Otherwise, I could email an .mp3 directly to you. I have Mussorgsky's "The Old Castle" currently. Others in the works.
 
#21 ·
(Background to what, exactly? I couldn't get anything but a link-free blue page to load.)

Nice improv and a fine demo - it'd be a good one to write out. What'd the violinist think of it?

Just for curiosity's sake, what's your setup there? (Note: Let's not turn this into yet another setup thread.) Hearing that G3, I'm gonna guess it's Buescher-based.

Merlin, thanks for posting the Singelée excerpt. 1929 Chu Berry, Standard Steelay and Blue Box 3, in case anyone cares...Je ne regrette rien.
 
#24 ·
ez_sax said:
Anyone know how I can post files for download from AOL? Otherwise, I could email an .mp3 directly to you. I have Mussorgsky's "The Old Castle" currently. Others in the works.
I'd like to hear it - pop in the mail to me - merlinwilliams AT sympatico DOT ca
 
#25 ·
Alright, I finally got around to figuring out this webposting thing this afternoon.

Before I give the links I need to throw out a disclaimer. This is a recording of me performing the Herbert Couf Introduction, Dance and Furioso in a recital that took place in January 2002, a mere TWO WEEKS after my Ph.D. defense (engineering, not music). I had promised my oboe-playing sister who was in college at the time that I would gladly split her junior recital with her which she scheduled for the 19th of January almost a year in advance. I expected to finish writing my dissertation at least a couple months before that date but those of you who have written theses or dissertations you know how futile it is to plan that sort of thing (as I learned). My defense was on the 4th of that month.

Anyway, it's not a performance I'm most fond of as I flub a couple runs in the Furioso section and for some reason my high F's weren't coming out as nicely as they usually do. Oh well, c'est la vie--that's the nature of live performance.

Oh, I should also add that I had not had a single private lesson in classical playing since high school. I was 26 at the time of this recital.

http://members.cox.net/saxyacoustician/Recordings/Introduction, Dance and Furioso (1).mp3

http://members.cox.net/saxyacoustician/Recordings/Introduction, Dance and Furioso (2).mp3

Don't be too harsh on me, guys. I'll post more later if you want to hear more. Great thread btw Merlin! :)
 
#26 · (Edited)
Wow - this is great! I'm enjoying the playing, and getting to hear pieces that I heard OF but never heard. I'm gonna buy the Piazzolla right now!

I already posted this somewhere else, so please pardon if this seems redundant, but it's the only "classical" posting I have up on the web right now. --A live clip, so please forgive the recording quality. There should be more soon....

www.soundclick.com/util/streamM3U.m3u?ID=1516317&q=hi

This one's a clip from an unaccompanied improvisation I did as a soundtrack for a 9-11 DVD- not reeeeeeally classical, but..... The whole thing is actually 15 minutes long:

www.soundclick.com/util/streamM3U.m3u?ID=1522209&q=hi
 
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