Nothing will get you flamed faster on some saxophone forums then saying you play a Mark VI, or even worse, saying you love your Mark VI. I don’t know what it is with these flamers. Do they suffer from some kind of weird Selmer envy? It can’t be that simple can it can it? I don’t know…These faceless, pseudo-named people, with highly unproven, if not outright questionable knowledge and skills, (and I suspect, very little, if any first hand playing experience with said horn) lashing out at people they don’t know, for expressing their views, opinions, or feelings about saxophones they own.
I’ve been on sax discussion boards of one kind or another for 10 years now. And while their names may change, or in some cases haven’t, and their tactics may have become a bit more underhanded as moderators and administrators of discussion boards police the forums with a heavier hand to prevent the destruction of a virtual community, the flamers’ general message remains the same: Mark VIs suck; Mark VI players suck; I’d never get a Mark VI because they suck. Blah, blah, blah…You get the idea. Anything having to do with a Mark VI sucks. The maturity level of their argument provides an insight into either their actual ages, or at least their developmental level.
I don’t mean to imply in anyway that this attitude is held by the majority of players who frequent discussion boards, because this is not the case at all. But I do think there are just enough of these little flamers around to screw things up. I think they are just destructive little cretins who have decided to hang out with the big kids in the type of anonymity that only the Internet will allow.
Before we could access the Internet for opinions on saxophone brands and models, we relied on our teachers, the people in the music stores, and what we could determine for ourselves based on play testing (which was of course entirely dependent on our own skill level and knowledge). Most people over the age of 30, most likely got their first pro model horn based on the recommendations of their instructor (private or university level).
That was certainly true for me. My first private teacher played a Mark VI, so did my 2nd, as did my 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th. Guess what…I play Mark VIs. No big surprise. Now that I’ve played these horns for more than 20 years, I’m comfortable with them, and they feel like they are just a part of me. I’ve played the new Series III tenor as well as a Reference 54, a Series II bari, as well as a Series II and III soprano. I like them fine. Nothing wrong with any of them. But I still wouldn’t trade my old guys for any one them. Is it familiarity that keeps me with my VIs? Probably to a degree. But I also happen to know that not one of my VIs is one of those “dogs” we occasionally hear about. They all kick serious ass. I’m lucky. I’ve got great horns, so why would I trade them?
Having said that, when my students are ready to make the leap to a pro model horn, and ask me what kind of horn to get, I get a bit of a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hate answering that question because there really is no right answer. There are so many good horns out there at the moment. As an advancing player making the transition to pro horn you really need to take your time, literally play a 100 horns if you can, take copious notes (OK, I’m anal, I admit it!) and then make an informed decision together with your instructor (if you’ve got one).
A few years ago one of my students in Fredericton said he wanted to get a Mark VI and a Dukoff so he could sound just like me. I told him that that probably wouldn’t happen. Besides, his band teacher would probably phone me and say: Helen, what were you thinking?… A Dukoff…In high school!…I told my student that I would sound like me on anything I played, and he would sound like himself on whatever he played. To show him what I was talking about, I then played his horn, with his reed, his mouthpiece, and sounded…well…much like myself. I told him…In a small part, it’s the gear…In larger part it’s the player…And the wild card…It’s attitude. For me, attitude in a player is a perfect combination of gear, the player, together with the approach the player takes. These 3 together, in perfect sync, provide the attitude: and a player’s attitude has to change based on the style they are playing ie: rock vs classical vs jazz vs blues.
Getting back to Mark VIs: Why Selmer Mark VIs became the favorite of the pros of the day in the past could be a Master’s thesis, if not a PhD dissertation, so I really won’t even attempt to do it is justice here. I’ll only mention the obvious. Back in the 50s, and arguably even earlier, Selmer became the choice of pros. Most of the big names were using them. (Getz, 5 digit…need I say more?) Much like today, young players wanted to emulate the pros and thus ended up with Mark VIs. These young players then went on to become pros and teachers and we then studied with them. Many of us then ended up with Mark VIs because that’s what our teachers played. Fast forward 20 years and the world is a different place.
Selmer no longer has a strangle hold on the pro sax market. European saxophone manufacturers are in financial trouble, and some are ceasing production of their pro horns and are moving production of their student model horns to countries where production costs are lower (eg: B&S). Cheaper Asian makes and models are flooding the market in ever-greater numbers. Hand craftsmanship has been replaced by automation. Serious students who study either privately or at university, will most likely still listen more closely to their instructors, but for those learning without the benefit of instructors, (who used to flounder by themselves) the electronic age has ushered in a world-wide source of information and misinformation: Discussion forums are everywhere. Saxophone manufacturers have websites. Music store choices are no longer limited to brick and mortar stores within driving distance of your home. It’s the perfect exemplification of post modernity.
The Internet seems to be a double-edged sword for the Mark VI. On one hand the Internet is spreading the “Mark VI mystique” far and wide and is moving the mythology of the horn from the oral tradition to the written one (if one considers the virtual world written tradition). On the other hand, the Internet is in part what is fueling the climb in the horn’s increasing value, which the higher it goes, is putting it further and further out of reach of the average working musician. Today the only people who can afford to buy a Mark VI are those that are collectors, and/or those of means. The average working pro making $100/session or a night playing isn’t rushing out to buy that Mark VI on eBay.
Only time will tell if the Mark VIs will maintain their value in the future, but for now, their mystique shows no signs of fading into the twilight.
