I've played on a dukoff D9 for over 20 years. But I got curious and wanted to see what the hype was and trialed the Durga IV and Shiva V. After some serious time with a handful of sizes I fell in love with the Shiva V 8*. I can get a colorful dark sound down low, beautiful harmonics all over, and bark whenever I push. Its a FUN and brilliant paint peeler that I didn't expect to love as much as I do. It's my go to now for rock, funk, and pop.
I think you're absolutely right about how the other frequencies of playing with other instruments factors in. I play on a Shiva 2, and It lets me cut through on solos with a big band and dispersed acoustics. I also think I personally fall in that category where I can bring a more mellow tone to a piece like the Shiva. I play "darker" more naturally. Great video, as always!
Playing them in the mix is an amazingly great idea...Shiva would be the choice in a group like that...my personal sound is the Brahma, which I hear working very well with the backing track.Thanks for another enlightening video!
Terrific video. I need to visit your store one day. It would have been great to see the "stadium chamber" more in detail in the video. Would love to get an Ambika but the price is steep.
A delight to hear you playing well. Jim, in the Shiva with the backing track, you were starting to go off, but at 10:48 the audio level was being brought down, at the same time. It would have been a treat to hear the end of that phrase, at the same level. Your Guardala studio piece is quite bright too. Seemed like you got along rather well with the Shiva.
Ah yes - the fade out! Funnily enough the Shiva came out slightly tamer than I expected. It sounded SO loud in the room, and it sounded more cutting in the room also - but when mixed down it sounds right in that style. (Jim)
Is it just me or did anyone else think the blurred mouthpiece from the thumbnail would be a cool looking mouthpiece design with the hex pattern all over
Yea I liked the darker one the best during the demo with just sax, but suddenly when you added a backing track, the last one felt like it wanted to be heard more than the others. It just had an X factor to how it sounded. Now I wonder if my take might change based on the genre of the backing track... I admit that the track sounded quite funky and modern as far as saxophone music is concerned. Perhaps on a jazz backing track or a more laid back ensemble, I would still prefer the ambika the best. In a perfect world, everybody else would just play quietly enough for everyone to be able to appreciate the beauty of a dark tenor saxophone sound. But alas, I can't expect that to happen. Lol
Thanks for the great video! I personally liked the Ambika best, but your backing track is more suitable for the other two models, so it doesn't do the Ambike due justice. Can you please explain what reeds you're using in the video? Also, I own a Lakshmi 7*? How would you describe the difference between it and the Bhrama?
I hear what you're saying re the track style. I haven't directly compared the Lakshmi with the Brahma (but I will!). I would say off the top of my head from my previous encounters with the Lakshmi that it's more traditional sounding compared to the Brahma, which pushes more on the brightness scale. The Lakshmi feels more like a finely tuned Link, whereas the Brahma pushes more in the contemporary direction.
@@jimcheek304 Thanks for replying Jim, but I just checked on your website and it looks more like a BG Yoke (or a BG Yoke with braces) - can you double check and confirm please? I did try an Extender once and didn't;t like it but the padding looks different on this one. Thanks.
