{"id":644,"date":"2008-08-21T11:29:52","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T19:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=644"},"modified":"2009-12-27T10:12:17","modified_gmt":"2009-12-27T18:12:17","slug":"an-interesting-hard-copy-bass-sax-resource","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2008\/an-interesting-hard-copy-bass-sax-resource\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interesting Hard Copy Bass Sax Resource"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0January\/February 1990 issue of the Saxophone Journal<\/em><\/a>, Vol. 14, No. 4, was an issue dedicated to the bass saxophone. Imagine that \u2757 \u00a01990 \u2757 \u00a0This was before the bass sax saw\u00a0the resurgence in popularity that\u00a0it’s currently seeing (in part, no doubt, thanks to the Internet). This was also when the\u00a0Saxophone Journal<\/em> was only $4.50 \u2757 \u00a0(But that’s a post\u00a0for another day…)<\/p>\n

If you’re a bass sax player, and you haven’t read this issue, you should do so. Although the issue is out of print<\/a>, you can still order it from the publisher, Dorn Publications. For\u00a0$8.95 (plus shipping and handling) they will send you a photo copy of the original journal.<\/p>\n

The articles in that issue are really quite good, and contain information not\u00a0available anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Dorn Publication provides the following list of articles in that issue:<\/p>\n

Jean-Marie Londeix Artist in Residence
\nAn Historical Celebration of the Bass Saxophone-Paul Cohen
\nAn Interview with Bass Saxophone Specialist Spencer Clark-Robert Williams
\nWalter Hartley’s SONATINA GIOCOSA for Bass Saxophone-Laura Hunter
\nMaking a Bass Saxophone Pad-Emilio Lyons
\nBeauty and the Bass:Jazz Improvisation-Scott Robinson
\n1990 Saxophone Journal Buyer’s Guide
\nThe Changing Role of the Bass Saxophone-David Robinson
\nTheme and Variations of the Bass Saxophone Mouthpiece-Ralph Morgan
\nWriting for Bass Saxophone-Bill Holcombe
\nThe Joy of Playing Basso-David Bilger
\nBass Saxophone Publications-David Demsey
\nBass Saxophone Record Reviews by Mel Martin, David Liebman, Joseph Viola, Paul Wagner and Tim Price\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the reasons I used to buy the Saxophone Journal<\/em> was because of the ads, and this issue doesn’t disappoint in that regard.<\/p>\n

Starting on page 61,\u00a0a number of mouthpiece manufacturers promote their products. (BTW, this is a nice tie-in with the article that Ralph Morgan wrote titled: “Theme and Variations of the Bass Saxophone Mouthpiece”.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

What I found interesting is the full page ad on page 62 by Rico<\/a>. The\u00a0page’s layout\u00a0is mostly photos of reeds and 2 mouthpieces: the\u00a0Rico Royal Graftonite<\/a> & Metalite baritone<\/a> pieces. While the photos were not really exciting in any way, it was\u00a0the column of text that I found rather\u00a0interesting:<\/p>\n

Arnold Brilhart Speaks About the Bass Sax Mouthpiece and Related Products Marketed by Rico Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Legendary mouthpiece maker, Arnold Brilhart, who currently works as a consultant and product developer for the Roy J. Maier Corporation, states “There are very few bass saxophone players who play bass saxophone mouthpieces. Of the\u00a0eighteen players who I have either worked with\u00a0(including the\u00a0great Adrian Rollini), or contacted recently, most of them used baritone mouthpieces and reeds. They include: John E. Lowe, Jack\u00a0Nimitz, John M. Setar, Jack B. Wadsworth, Gene Cipriano, Jay Migliori, John Mitchell, Vince Giordano, Spencer Clark, Arthur Rollini (brother of\u00a0Adrian Rollini), Dave Robinson, Bob\u00a0Tricarico, Scott\u00a0Robinson, Don Sodice (Tex Beneke Band), Dominick Cifarelli (Yerkes Flotilla Band of the 1920s), Adrian Rollini, and\u00a0John Clarke.<\/p>\n

The only companies that might still\u00a0be producing a bass saxophone mouthpiece are the\u00a0old timers like Selmer, Woodwind, or Babbitt. Our company used to make bass saxophone reeds, but we haven’t produced them for several years. I addition, all of the bass sax mouthpieces that I have ever heard of were made of hard rubber.<\/p>\n

I owned and played a bass saxophone in my high school band days, and even at the time the instrument, when played using a regular\u00a0bass saxophone\u00a0mouthpiece, sounded very stuffy and out of tune. I chose a good baritone mouthpiece, and using baritone reeds and its transformation into a good playing bass saxophone which played in tune in all registers, was amazing!<\/p>\n

When I worked\u00a0with the California Ramblers (around 1924), Adrian Rollini played a baritone mouthpiece and reed on his bass sax. In my opinion, and that of many other musicians, Adrian was probably the best bass saxophone player of all time. He even played a complete line of altissimo harmonics on the bass sax, which at the time was a rare occurance [sic]. But even before my experience with the California Ramblers, I worked with the Yerkes Flotilla Orchestra (1921-22), and our bass sax player was Dominick Cifarrelli, who also played a baritone mouthpiece on his bass sax. He was a fine concert player who played with the Creatori Band.<\/p>\n

Our new baritone saxophone mouthpieces, marketed by Rico, are ideally suited for use on the bass saxophone. They include the baritone Grantonite [sic] B5 and B7\u00a0baritone mouthpieces, and\u00a0the newest Metalite M9 and M11 baritone mouthpieces. Our baritone mouthpieces\u00a0use standard tenor ligatures. Recommended reeds are the baritone reeds marketed under the brand names of Rico, Rico Royal, LaVoz, or Rico Plasticover.<\/p>\n

With Kindest Regards, I remain,<\/em><\/p>\n

Arnold Brilhart<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you’ve read my posts on the Rico Metalite<\/a> and Graftonite<\/a> mouthpieces, you know that I have used them exclusively on bari for years. But…an M11 for bass? That bass player\u00a0would\u00a0have to have amazing chops, because the M11 was too open for me on bari, and I’m a very solid bari player. On bass it would kill me. I know the M11 is too open for many bari players, so I don’t know why you’d ever try it on bass, \"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0but whatever…<\/p>\n

I have never tried my Rico mouthpieces on my Buescher bass.\u00a0For the first 5+ years I used the customized baritone Runyon<\/a> piece that Paul\u00a0Coats\u00a0included with\u00a0the horn when I bought it from him. More recently, I have been using a customized baritone piece, also made from a\u00a0Runyon 88 blank, that Ed Svoboda from Chicago Mouthpieces<\/a> developed. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the next few weeks I will try\u00a0the 2 Ricos on my bass, and compare and\u00a0contrast them to\u00a0the\u00a0pieces from\u00a0Paul and Ed, and also to the original Geo Bundy bass m\/p<\/a> that I have. I’ll post my\u00a0results on\u00a0my blog when\u00a0done. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the 1990 bass saxophone edition of the Saxophone Journal<\/em> being dated, it is still good resource\u00a0for bass sax players. In this day of\u00a0instant access\u00a0to\u00a0everything, we sometimes forget that there is\u00a0still\u00a0valuable information out there that is not available electronically.<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span>My \u201creal\u201d <\/strong>website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span>sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0January\/February 1990 issue of the Saxophone Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4, was an issue dedicated to the bass saxophone. Imagine that \u2757 \u00a01990 \u2757 \u00a0This …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82],"tags":[41,650,619,83,95,96,98,99,97,107,116,108,615,115,75],"class_list":["post-644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-literature","tag-accessories","tag-arnold-brilhart","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-books-literature","tag-graftonite","tag-metalite","tag-rico","tag-rico-mouthpieces","tag-rico-royal","tag-runyon","tag-runyon-88","tag-runyon-mouthpieces","tag-saxophone","tag-saxophone-journal","tag-saxophone-mouthpieces"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t