Hi–I have one of Erik’s bamboo blues whistles, and I am thinking about getting one of his bamboo sax or clarinets. However, I don’t play the REAL sax or clarinet–in fact, I have never played any reed instrument. I am pretty good on the whistle, breath-wise.
My question is, how do these bamboo instruments compare, in terms of ease of playing, to the real thing? And how do they compare to playing a whistle?
I want to order one but not if it’s going to be tremendously hard to play. I just LOVE the sound. I know I don’t have the discipline to learn how to play a whole other instrument, but thought these might be easier to play.
I got a Maui Xaphoon, which is another brand of bamboo sax, perhaps a little before I tried my first whistle. Its ease of playing was comparative to the whistle, and much easier than clarinet, requiring significantly less breath pressure than clarinet, and not having the tendency to overblow, or the sensitivity to dry reeds, characteristic of the clarinet.
That said, I’ve not tried any of Erik’s instruments, and have not played a regular saxophone.
I’m interested to try one of Daniel Bingamon’s PVC clarinets. The price is right on them, too.
I’ve come across three makes of bamboo saxes, though I haven’t played any of them yet.
I absolutely love the sound of Erik’s bamboo saxes ( http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com ) and came close to buying one a few months ago. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that they only have a range of about an octave and third. Most of the stuff I play requires a full two octave range.
The Maui Xaphoon ( http://www.xaphoon.com ) also has a nice sound and it has a full two octave range. IMHO though, the sound is not nearly as resonate as Erik’s saxes and I don’t care for it quite as much. The maker also sells a plastic version called a pocket sax.
The third maker I came across is Indochina ( http://IndochinaMusic.com ). Their bamboo saxes have a really interesting look and a full two octave range, but I don’t like the sound at all.
Does anyone know of any other sources for bamboo saxes? I would love to find one with a nice resonate sound like Erik’s but with a full two octave range.
Mike,
I never seem to have the time, but I was thinking of getting a machinist friend to turn a wooden (or plastic) fitting to accept an oboe reed and plug into standard copper plumbing pipe… this way I could experiment with a ‘schwam-like’ instrument.
kar
I do have one of Erik’s bamboo saxes. I got it primarily because I wanted to dink around with my son while he was learning the sax. Well that never happened because my son can play circles around me. Ha!
But here is what I learned about Erik’s saxophones. For those of use who play whistle, the figurings are about the same, however, the breath control isn’t. It takes much more air and practice. As one who had never played a reeded instrument before, I was amazed at the delicate nature of the process. My son was able to make it do amazing things - so the fault lies in me, not the instrument. And the sound is really nice.
I, at one time, took it to a music store to replace the reed and showed it to a real sax player. He was amazed as he had never seen one before and was able to get a full two octaves out of it. He noted that the mouth-piece was of the cheaper variety and thought it was a good “toy.” He didn’t like the fact that it only played in a few keys (we are used to that though). It rocked in his hands - really, wow.
I’ve had mine for over two years and recently noted that the glue used to secure the mouthpiece to the bamboo was no longer working. My son put on a “jazz” mouthpiece and the instrument sounds much better.
Bottom line: If you’ve never played a reeded instrument, don’t expect to be able to play it well within a matter of days. However, with work, it can sound quite good, especially in the hands of a true sax player.
I used to play a clarinet in middle school, haven’t touched one in over 4 years though. Reed instruments take some getting used to, and if it’s keyed, then there’s 5 billion fingerings to memorize, so I guess overall a clarinet is harder to play than a whistle or keyless flute.
After carefully considering all the available info–and thanks for everyone who replied–I decided to go ahead and try Erik’s sax. He’s actually having a special right now, which is buy a Sax Pack and get a Clarinet for free, which was great for someone like me who can’t decide which I liked better.
The only time I tried to play a reed instrument was during a Lark in the Morning visit when I attempted to play a mizmar. However, my mouth was still mostly numb from a dentist’s visit earlier that day, and I am HOPING that was the reason I couldn’t produce even a sqeak. I never thought I could play ANY instrument, but my success with the whistle has encouraged me to branch out.
I think you will enjoy it . . . and I also think you will enjoy working with Erik. I’m amazed at the quality of folks who make the instruments we purchase. I have found them to be trusting, gracious, prompt and very easy to work with.
