Chiff and Fipple Forums

after a brief but interesting flurt with the xaphoon I got frustrated with the poor tuning on the upper octave. :roll:

Have now got a keyless soprano chalumeau. Love the tone but am frustrated at total absence of upper octave.

Am thinkin of getting 3 key chalumeau from Adler. Any one tried one of these?

paulxaph

Paul

If you're frustrated with the upper octave on the Xaph., then you will be the same with similar instruments. I suggest that you "go all the way" to a simple system clarinet modeled on renaissance types with a few keys. You will enjoy the range,clarity and simplicity of this type of instrument and it will be welcomed at most any session gathering.

Thomas Hastay

Yes. If you want two octaves, you need either keys to complete the 12th (where it overblows) or a conical instrument. Conical - not like whistles - it has to start out small and widen as it goes down like the saxophone.

Thanks or the rapid reply.

Interested in the simple claranette - do you have a particular make / model in mind. The chalameau is prey much just that is it not but with the advantage of being in C. Helpful for me as an oboe and recorder player.

Oboe was no good for folk sessions as it took too much breath. Recorders and whistles too quiet for sessions with violins etc. Xaphoon great. Hrd to eep the upper octaves in tune - that was my problem. Also some of the fingering is a bit converluted.

The 3 key chalameau from Adler allegedly is fully chromatic from c to c''. I'm hoping to try one in a few weeks and will keep you posted.

PS - have had a go at making low D pipes - now thats fun and surprisingly easy. (but still too quiet!)

Why don't you get a regular sop sax? They work, you know, and a used one isn't so dear...
They're much more ergonomic than a Xaphoon, and blow easier too: they use a true soprano reed, not the overbore baritone-like chamber and tenor cane...
Just forget all the saxophone accidental keys, just use the six basic holes and here's your "simple system" if you wish, complete with cross-fingerings (*).

Else, if you insist on a wood sax, the French woodwinds maker Hervieux & Glet (the leader for bombardes and a few other pipes) does make a wooden soprano in D or C. It uses a standard soprano mouthpiece, so you can change your setup at will, for a sound dark or edgy, soft or projecting. It comes with optional keys for the low tones at your wish.

http://bagpipe.free.fr/HG/SB.htm

Finally, there are some used American C-soprano--or C-tenor aka "melody" saxes, if you're not that much into high horns--from the 20's. They're quite easy to play in D, more so than a standard Bb. You can get a good C-melody for $200 (but a C-sop will reach $600 easy), with full repad and tuning for $400... Forget the myth that these horns sound "stuffy": no-one forces you to play them with a same vintage 1920's mouthpiece and a #4 reed (also, listen to early Lester Young tracks...). I heard one used in a couple sessions, and believe me, it worked.

(*) Talking of which, I'd get this one if I lived in the US : the rare "idiot system" Martin... Who needs B, Bb below the C for ITM?
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 86995&rd=1

thanks for that

Yup - I guess I'll have to try a soprano sax. dam - so many options - so little cash! Not good for Mr Impatient here.

By the way in case you didn't realise i'm in the uk. Heard a sop sax + accordian doing some fantastic Balkan stuff at the weekend. I must say the ability to bend notes and add a slightly jazz edge to that music was so good it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

How hard is a Xaphoon to play, really? Can anyone skilled with both explain the differences? (Limuhead? You there?)

I keep toying with the idea of getting a Xaphoon - I played alto sax way back when, but the Xaphoon fingerings look a bit, umm, different

I've heard Limuhead sound great on a Xaphoon, but a) he's a much more skilled sax player than I ever was, and b) he's one of the most skilled multi-instrumentalists I've met - don't know how steep the learning curve's likely to be.

Then I've got to decide whather I want to take the time to learn Xaphoon or break down and get a decent Irish flute (and spend the time on that). Work and finances really get in the way of music, don't they?

Xaphoon? Not very hard, at all. Good for Klezmer stuff, not so handy for the keys used in Irish. Easy to get 1.5 octaves, the rest is harder.

Sax? If i wanted to try it, i'd rent one for 6 months or so. Then if i decided to keep playing, i'd know enough to be able to buy a good used one. I got a mandolin instead.