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You know you are a C-Melody player when....

43K views 230 replies 39 participants last post by  Sax Repair Crew 
#1 ·
A pad falls out of your saxophone while you are playing it. :bluewink:
 
#3 ·
When a pad falls out while you are playing and it sounds the same.

When you realize that there is not a mouthpiece that will work on a Cmel.

When you are friends with Alan Tucker.

When you constantly correct ebayers when they call it a tenor.

When you hoard cases.

When you have more than 3.

When your father played one in the 1920s and had never touched an alto or tenor until I brought one home from school in 1960.

When you get into discussions about using bass clarinet reeds.

When you reply to this thread.
 
#5 ·
Hmmmm.
That's placed me in limbo:-
1/ I regard Alan Tucker as a good friend.
2/ I have just three....not "more than three"
3/ I use baritone reeds on tenor pieces.
4/ I leap to the defence of C tenors.
Yet....I play mainly Bb tenor.

Other definitions are, that:-

a/ A C Melody player will always refer to his instrument as a C Tenor....unless, of course, he plays a Conn.
b/ He totally disregards the sensible scorn of Grumps. :bluewink:
 
#230 ·
Hmmmm.
That's placed me in limbo:-
1/ I regard Alan Tucker as a good friend.
2/ I have just three....not "more than three"
3/ I use baritone reeds on tenor pieces.
4/ I leap to the defence of C tenors.
Yet....I play mainly Bb tenor.

Other definitions are, that:-

a/ A C Melody player will always refer to his instrument as a C Tenor....unless, of course, he plays a Conn.
b/ He totally disregards the sensible scorn of Grumps. :bluewink:
"His" and "He" ??? Urm, are you trying to say it's only chaps play C-melodies? lol!!
My Conn is definitely C-mel, though she's taking on a far more tenorish persona since getting the new mouthpiece ;) !!

You know you're a C-mel player when you're reading this post and laughing and nodding at the reasons listed!
And when you've owned and sold the Tenor, the Bb Sop, and are looking at the unloved alto with a view to ebaying (it's not mine, I can't... would that I could though lol!)
Both my C's mostly live out on stands in my music room/office and are played most days when I get bored with my work (which I do from home!), and definitely get hauled around to gigs/sessions/open mics etc!!
Just about completed making a new case for both C-mel and C-sop to co-habit when on the road as my aquilasax case died (the original '20's case is being used as a piece of "art" in my friends flat - almost functional if ever required but would prefer not to need to go down that route again!) - thankfully the innards of the aquilasax case have been relocated into the new case which helped with making it work!

Captain Beeflat... where in Devon are you?
 
#7 ·
OK - here's one for the Bb/Eb naysayers....

You know you are a C-Melody player when you find it esier to transpose Eb/Bb parts for a C Instrument, than it ever was to transpose concert music for an alto or tenor...

or

You know you are a C-Melody player when you ASK a guitarist to play a blues in E :mrgreen:
 
#8 ·
Haha, well the pad under my Bis Bb key on my 1926 Conn fell out and it sounded like a rock hitting the ground. Felt like a rock too. I slipped it back in and finished the song leaning forward ridiculously to keep it in place, then I used a cigarette lighter to heat up the key and was able to melt the shellac enough for it to stay and finish the gig.

What a fun thread.
 
#9 ·
Haha, well the pad under my Bis Bb key on my 1926 Conn fell out and it sounded like a rock hitting the ground. Felt like a rock too. I slipped it back in and finished the song leaning forward ridiculously to keep it in place, then I used a cigarette lighter to heat up the key and was able to melt the shellac enough for it to stay and finish the gig.

What a fun thread.
An old pro chum of mine used orange peel, in place of a lost pad, to finish a gig.....or so he claims!
 
#10 ·
How about - "You know you are a C-Melody player when you find yourself sharing a phone kiosk with other saxophone players..." :tsk:
 
#13 ·
When you know where to buy a new C melody mouthpiece.

When you know the brands/models of C-mels available after the 20's.

When you not only know that there's a modern C melody available, but you've considered buying one (or at least one of their cases).

When you find yourself looking in 90 year old newspapers for a gig.
 
#28 ·
Hmm, 'Compact character vintage anechoic chamber'... Has a certain ring to it - or not, if the sound proofing works !

Ooops - we seem to have disorientated the thread :bluewink:
 
#35 ·
...other musicians deny that your concert pitched saxophone exists even after you played it in front of them.
 
#42 ·
... you have the ability to simultaneously tap-dance, whilst slap-tonguing ? :mrgreen:

C'mon, get practising ! 'Sweet Georgia Brown' seems an appropriate tune.
 
#43 ·
Sounds dangerous to me...
 
#46 ·
In the states, a Kiosk is a large horned animal found in the Arctic. You know you're a C Melody player when when latin bands always give you the lead part, as when they ask you about your horn.

"Si-melody"
 
#47 ·
Not to get too serious about it, but I found the C-mel to be a good SECOND horn in a Latin band. It has the high range and alto-like clarity to be able to cover second trumpet parts, and the low Bb to cover just about any trombone part thrown your way. Alto is somewhat more convenient for covering those t-bone parts (as far as reading goes), but sometimes runs out of range.

I wrote the book for a friend's band for just two horns - trumpet, and C-mel. I also provided the same book in tenor transposition, but it's unapologetically sprinkled with lots of altissimo Gs and G#s, since those represent notes not terribly difficult on C-mel.
 
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