As saxophone players we are told early on that doubling is expected of us. Why is that anyway? Do bassoon players have to double on English horn and oboe? Do flute players have to double on clarinet and sax? Not last time I checked.
So where does the requirement that sax players double in order to be truly employable, come from?
If an article from the August 12, 1936 edition of the Rochester Journal is accurate, band leader Wayne King—himself a saxophonist—had something to do with it. This is what the article says:
Wails Of Sax Subdued By Orchestras
The saxophone, which has been part of the vertebrae of conventional dance outfits, is gradually being subordinated by smart orchestra leaders … Saxophonists are the lads who agitated for a special union rate for doubling on woodwinds … Under the Wayne King influence, leaders now like woodwinds better than saxes … Favourite bands are forcing sax players to become clarinet, flute, and piccolo virtuosi …
Source: Rochester Journal, August 12, 1936
There are a few things that immediately jump out at me about this piece:
- Saxophonists were asking for more money because they had to play more than 1 instrument. Makes sense to me. Not only do we have to be proficient at more than 1 horn, but we have to buy the instrument(s) in question, drag them to shows, and we have to maintain them.
- This writer didn’t like saxophones. Note he writes: “The saxophone… is gradually being subordinated by smart orchestra leaders…” I guess the dumb ones let the saxophone continue to be the backbone of the orchestra? What a jackass.
- Wayne King, who started as a sax player for Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, and was eventually considered America’s Waltz King, was one the band leaders who ushered in the change that required sax players to become more utilitarian in their multi-instrument capabilities.
- The article’s author apparently doesn’t know that saxophones are woodwinds: “…leaders now like woodwinds better than saxes…”
My thoughts and critique about the article aside, it appears that a saxophonist’s requirement to double goes back as far as the 1930s. I’m wondering if this has something to do with the 1920s saxophone craze, and the ensuing backlash?
It would be interesting to do some research into this area, in order to find out exactly when we started seeing the clarinet/flute playing requirements for sax players. While true, it could be part of the backlash, but when did we see strings in dance orchestras? What was the instrumentation like at that time? Was the doubling requirement simply an attempt at cost-cutting?
From my Papua friends I learned a very old habit.
During meetings the musicians (including singers) form a half circle and play music. Doubling is seen as normal in order to balance the sound.
When you double on an instrument you are not very familiair with, you stick to basics and learn on the job.
Similar musical meetings can be found in most cultures.
From such a historical perspective “singlers” are the exception.
In Germany during the 17th and 18th centuries, municipalities employed gifted town multi-instrumental musicians known as “Stadtpfeifers” to perform all functions that involved music. Several generations of J.S. Bach’s family belonged to this profession and J.S. himself was destined for this career had he not decided on following in his older brother’s footsteps to become a church organist. Imagine what would have happened if Bach had become a wind multi-wind instrumentalist instead of a virtuoso organist and subsequently an ingenious composer? (quote from Joffe Woodwinds)
I now imagine Bach as a church organist doubling on a nose flute.
😆 😆 😆 😆
Thank you Bret & Paul. You’ve both offered up some really valuable information, and some interesting insight, into the world of doubling.
I think it is true that the industry is changing all the time, and as musicians we have to change with it. If you want to make a living at being a musician, you have to evolve with what’s current. Being as flexible, and multi-talented as you can be, is paramount to a successful career as a musician. Sometimes we have to have to play stuff or instruments that we’re not that fond of, but it pays the bills.
I too know some incredibly talented sax players who are scratching out a living playing horn 3 or 4 nights a week, while teaching, working at a music store, and flipping horns on eBay and Craigslist. It’s not a great way to pay the mortgage, bills, and raise a family. Actually, it’s pretty damn awful…
I suspect we all know players like this, or are players like this ourselves. In the quiet moments, I’m sure even the most dedicated among us has asked themselves: What was I thinking? :scratch:
Doubling in the studio –
Here’s something else to think about. Back in the days of the huge recording studios with live union orchestras, there was a contract clause that said if you were multitracking and had the violinist record on two different tracks – regardless of whether the second part was harmony or unison with the first track – you had to pay him or her twice, at union wages, because you were using multitracking to avoid hiring a full orchestra. On the other hand, there was a loophole that allowed the violinist to track once on violin and once on viola WITHOUT getting paid twice. So a woodwind guy could go into the studio with a clarinet and a flute, track both instruments and get paid only once. So guess why “doublers” got more work?
You couldn’t replace a classical orchestra’s whole woodwind section, of course, because the give-and-take of a live ensemble would be painfully missing. But on an R&B track, you might more-or-less cover a whole sax section with one or two players. And, let’s face it, it’s easier to learn the whole range of saxophones than it is, say, the whole range of strings or brass instruments.
So the sax players who wanted to be invited to good-paying studio sessions learned to double, triple, and more.
As a tenor player, even though I play for fun and not $$$ these days, I have to admit that some songs just don’t call for tenor sax. So I play a little bit of flute and I have a couple second-tier soprano saxes I can bring along just for those songs. If I lived where you could still get paid for playing on recording sessions, you’d better believe I’d be working on my flute and soprano chops more.
Best of luck, all. 🙂
There’s a dissertation by Phil Thompson (of Winthrop University) that discusses “woodwind doubling” as far back as the fifteenth century. His earliest cited example of woodwind doubling as we know it is from the Black and Tan Orchestra, with clarinet/saxophone/violin(!) doublers. He also mentions several groups in the 1920’s, notably the Paul Whiteman band, using fairly extreme doubling, including all of the major woodwind-family instruments plus now-rare or -obsolete instruments like the Heckelphone, basset horn, and octavin.
I think it’s safe to say there were (and are) examples of cutting costs by hiring doublers, but I suspect that a lot of bandleaders simply considered it expanding an expanding group’s sound palette–no jobs were lost, and expenses stayed the same.
There are plenty of unemployed “singler” saxophonists today, but plenty of unemployed doublers, too. It’s a changing business. I got my job (university teaching) at least in part for my doubling skills, but it’s what I do for fun anyway. That’s my recommendation: double if it makes you happy.