First couple of times I saw a curved soprano (including Garth Hudson in the Last Waltz), it threw me. It’s easier for me to distinguish the traditional soprano. Do people really mistake it for a clarinet, even though it’s made out of brass?
I've always thought Jim should be a primarily soprano player. He definitely has the most personal sound accompanied with impressive technique on a small mechanism. Great review as always.
Sounds marvellous to me! Never cared about saxello,but really dig your sound. Thanks again for the great post! All the best from Ont. Canada Mario Malette
Very expensive toys and not to be played by someone who doesn't know what they're doing or you will experience very costly repairs. But, to the preference of the saxophonist, you can get the same quality sound out of a straight or curved soprano saxophone as long as it's not to be played like a alto or tenor saxophone because the soprano saxophone is not a blowhard instrument and it's used to play soft mellow tones. So in my opinion you can use the curved or the straight soprano saxophone to play all types of music
Very ironic, Jack Pilutti, when you think about Branford Marsalis playing both tenor and soprano after having been teased as a kid for playing the clarinet.
All of your locations are in the UK, right? I'm over in the US and I would absolutely love to visit your store sometime. It looks like a heaven. Big fan of your channel and stores. Keep up the great reviews
Logan Wright lol same, it is my dream to go there and try out some instruments and mouthpieces, in my country you have to buy the instrument if you try it
Would a straight or curved soprano be better for jazz? I've doubled on a straight soprano in high school for a couple big band tunes, but for small group, would curve be better? I love the brightness sound the curve usually provides. Also, you should open a store in Chicago. 😀
Curved might be better for small groups, but I've personally found that I can project more on a straight (so it's a bit better for big band stuff). But that's just me.
There is PM Woodwinds in the Chicago area. Lots of instruments (albeit not as many saxes and other woodwinds), but it is more of a repair shop than store. Still worth checking out. That being said, plz come to the Midwest, and Chicago could be a good spot
To be honest, I'm pretty confident that it doesn't matter at all sound wise, and this video reaffirmed that for me. He played slightly more aggressively on the curved at times, but the core sound was the same. So, play whichever one you like better. The curved soprano has the openings closer to your ear so it'll probably sound fuller and louder to your ears, but the keywork can be cramped. They also look a bit like toys and will raise more eyebrows than a straight will. Curved cases are smaller for obvious reasons. Of course, don't underestimate the power of perception. The curved will not the sound the same as a straight to your ears, and that can definitely make you actually play brighter with more edge.
I own and play both straight & curvied Soprano's and for long playing session's and for traveling the Curivied works best for me. I find I can work the plam keys faster on the Curivied Soprano, both have a dark tone but the is due to my set up.
Funny, I have both a straight and curved soprano. The straight is way more biting and bright than the curved. The intonation on the curved is a lot more consistent than the straight.
I would think different brands, materials, pads and player would all come into affect plus style of play. J Boykin plays a curved Cannonball with Leaky mouthpiece and it is plenty bright.
I might’ve been motivated to get s curved soprano sax, particularly after hearing Garth Hudson play one (as well as a bandleader of mine), but I gotta admit for my personal esthetic, the straight variation is more unique to what it is.
There's something different in the tone: is it that the straight can sound slightly more brass-like and open, the curved more constrained and sweeter in the way that clarinets can? Of course the microphone may pick up the sound of these two differently because of how they project. I first saw a soprano sax (straight) played by a cone-headed Italian clown in the mid-1960s, and from there to Weather Report and Coltrane etc. But somehow the curved looks more suitable for clowns, despite sounding very good in the right hands. These days I'm happy with a 1920s Buescher (straight), so much lighter than a Selmer Super 80 I had for years. But I'm tempted to try a curved, and get a conical hat, too. Thanks for a great vid!
Great job explaining the difference between those two kinds if soprano. Does Ramponi & Cazzani still exist? I thought it closed a long time ago. Do them have a website.. I do have an euphonium. It is so old that it doesn't have a serial number :)
Hi guys, I'm a tenor player and I'm thinking of taking up soprano but before I take the plunge I was just wondering, is the skill set needed very different? Obviously the embouchure needs to be tighter etc, but how different is it? Ps, beautiful straight sop there!
Dark Side of The Saxophone You will be fine, they have the same fingering. You just need to get used to you embouchure as you mentioned. 1 or 2 month will be enough to be used to it
After studying the alto sax for 6 years, I needed to study the tenor sax for 6 minutes before playing in a band. Then I needed 6 months to do the same with the soprano... Controlling the pitch is harder.
Very true. I was wondering since I have grabbed your attention, are customers able to play on the instruments if they're buying because in a year or two I'll be coming to buy a new sax since the current one I have now is a beginner sax that I've had for 9 years now, also keep up the great work and maybe consider putting in some more sax covers of pop songs or something like that :) thanks
Yes, you can try any saxophone you'd like in one of our demo rooms. Thanks for the kind words, we'd love to do some more covers but haven't managed to find the time recently! Hopefully we'll get something done soon. All the best
wonderfull playing, but the microphone position is not good for this test, you don´t hear the sparkel from the curved soprano because the mike is to low
Mr. Australian Shepard - You'd think that NYC would be perfectly capable of opening their own saxophone shop! I thought you guys considered yourselves as the centre of the universe? (Yes, I said "centre" not "center").
I’m a pretty experienced alto player for the grade I’m in. I’m in 8th grade and have been playing since the summer in between 5th and 6th grade. I’m really interested in the curved soprano but people have said I should get more experience with the alto. I think I’m ready but wanted your opinion. Thanks!
Important question. I am tenor, alto musician. I wanted to see what I could do with a sop. I put down a thousand, bought a German horn from Europe. The rebuild was crazy. I had to teach myself. My wife said, “loud and obnoxious.” It was my thousand, I was going to learn. Almost 2 years later- I love the sop. Actually, same note, against same note on alto, the lower register- yep, soprano is more beautiful (lower reg). Try it, you’ll like it! Go for a pro horn. Non pro horns aren’t worth your time or money, and they’re harder to play! I kept my alto, and 10M tenor
He never played a straight soprano. He played a saxello and a curved soprano. The saxello has a much mellower sound. I'm not sure what you do with the saxello if you are playing multiple reeds. Do they make a custom stand that holds a saxello? Anyway, this guy is just a salesman. I'll take my Yamaha 82Z straight soprano over a Rampone anyday.
