Have you Liked Us on Facebook Yet?

Hey you! If you are reading this article, then you must be connected to the Internet! That means that you can go and like our page on Facebook! There will be some sweet giveaways in the near future if we reach 100 fans, so GO GO GO!!! Invite your friends too! Link Here

Sara

It's Been a Long Time, Old Friend...

Hello Blog World!

If you have been following this site, you may have noticed that I have not posted since August. Well, I'm back and wanted to post to let y'all know that I'm still here. Last year, I applied for a special program offered by my state to gain an extra edge in math and science. In this program, you enroll in college two years early, take all college courses, live like a college student (all of us are in a dorm, we eat on campus, etc.), and earn your high school diploma with successful completion. I applied since I hope to major in Computer Science when I finish high school, and I was accepted! Unfortunately, taking Honors Biology, Biology Lab, Honors Chemistry, Chemistry Lab, Pre-Cal, and English is eating up a large amount of time, especially when you factor in all of the studying required for biology (but that's a different story...).  But now that it's towards the end of the semester, I feel that I have somewhat tweaked the fine balance between classes, homework, studying, volunteering, eating, sleeping (still working on this), and free-time. I am trying to get back to posting regularly on this site, and I hope to eventually post more frequently than before. I have a lot to post about music-wise and really want to get it posted soon. I am currently at the University of North Texas, and I'm sure that many of you know about their amazing music program. We get to take electives here (any class the college offers), so I am planning on taking some music courses for senior year. So now that you know that I'm still here, be sure to check this site frequently. Also, I have created a Facebook page for Saxtastic Saxophone. I'll give away something saxophone related (Reeds? A mouthpiece? A saxophone???) if we reach 100 likes, so get your saxophone-ish friends to like it! Link is here, so take a few seconds and like it! Also, I check my Facebook frequently, so if you have any comments or suggestions, just post it on the page :)

I'll (hopefully) be back soon!

Sara

Are YOU Ready???

High school students, are you ready for solo and ensemble contest for your respective state? I know I am! Solo and Ensemble Contest may be eight or nine months away, but I have already chosen my piece! I decided that I will attempt (keyword is attempt) Improvisation et Caprice by Eugene Bozza. Seeing I have only been playing two years, this will be a great piece to work on my vibrato and technical aspects like no flying fingers and muscle memory. Oh, and let's not forget it will definitely be challenging! I ordered the music today, so I can't wait for the score to arrive so that I can get to work! Are you participating in a Solo and Ensemble competition? What are you playing?

Sara

The Difference: A Thought

After researching soprano saxophones for a while, I have come up with a conclusion regarding the differences between Asian made "cheapo" saxes and the "high quality" pro saxes (think Selmer Paris, Yamaha, Yanagisawa, etc.). Please keep in mind that this is just the opinion of a saxophone-playing student not the meaning of life, and I own an Asian made "cheapo" and "high quality" pro sax.

UIL Contest, New iPad, and other Random Topics

Hey guys,

After being MIA for a long time, I have finally returned to my blog! School has been overwhelming this entire semester and haw given me little time to breath. Luckily, we are in the last six weeks, so my workload will be much lighter (I hope). Last week was the first time I had free time, so I've been playing my sax (my Charlie Parker Omnibook arrived recently) and my new iPad.

Why the Long Absence?

I'm sure that many of my dedicated subscribers have been wondering why there has been a period without any blog posts. Have I lost internet connection? Did I quit saxophone? Did I abandon my website? Fortunately, the answer to all of those questions are, "No." I have been spending countless hours of the past few weeks on a big Physics project. The goal of this project is to build a Rube Goldberg machine that waters a plant in twenty steps. My group has been steadily working, we are almost finish with the project. When we finish, I will post a video of the final product. I apologize for the delay in posts and hope to resume posting once this huge project is turned in.

Sara

Post Christmas Present Review

I hope everyone is having a great holiday! This may be a day late, but I wanted to share with you some of the awesome gifts my dad got my for Christmas.

Pre-UIL Success!

As you may or may not know, I am in my high school's marching band. Yesterday, I was at Pre-UIL, a marching competition to prepare us for UIL Region marching contest. At Pre-UIL, we competed against 15 other bands. From all the 16 bands, they chose 6 to advance to finals. Our band was lucky enough to advance to finals. At finals, we played our guts out and ended up winning Grand Champion! Below is a video of our preliminary performance. Enjoy!
http://wildskies.phanfare.com/4857161

A Cool Saxophone Quartet

If only we could play this for Solo and Ensemble Contest (if we were talented enough...)

The Production of a Saxophone

Have you ever wondered how your instrument came to be? Saxophones (and every other instrument) take a while to manufacture in order to provide a quality instrument. Selmer Paris created the video below to show how that convert a piece of sheet metal into a true work of art. Be sure to watch this video, it is quite amazing what process it has to go to in order to be able to be found in bands everywhere.

Update

Hello everyone! If you are wondering why I haven't been posting in a while, it is because I have been out of the country and only came back last Sunday. It was an awesome vacation, but I did not have time to update my site. Also, since I have been back, I have been at band camp (which has been hard work but very fun) which has also prevented me from posting much. I just wanted to make this post to let you know that this website did not die. Also, I have the winner for the Forestone reed giveaway contest! To see if you were the lucky winner, watch the video below:



Congratulations to the winner and thanks to everyone who entered. Remember, there will hopefully be more giveaways coming up, so keep checking back! A new review will be coming up soon, so check back soon.

Website Spotlight: Jary Custom

Have you ever bought a mouthpiece and wanted it refaced, replated or just fully customized? Well, Mr. Jary at JaryCustom.com can do just what you need plus more. He offers refacings, adding a baffle, replacing or repairing a bite plate, and many other services. His prices are reasonable and he is a really nice person. Plus, if you want a fully customized mouthpiece, he can purchase the mouthpiece for you if you aren't sure which one you want.

Website Spotlight: Tuners.com

Tuners.com is the website to turn to for all tuning needs. They are the makers of the IntelliTouch and CenterPitch tuners as well as the Beatnik electronic practice pad. Many of their tuners are clip on in order to provide the most accurate feedback. Plus, all of their tuners are under $55! My personal favorite is the CenterPitch 10 with a large, easy-to-read screen, auto-transposing and a built in metronome that can be set from 25-250 bpm. Their entire line of products offer great value for money. Check out Tuners.com today!

The CenterPitch 10

The IntelliTouch Classic

Website Spotlight: Hodge Products

Hodge Products is a great manufacturer of products for woodwind instruments. They have reed cases, mouthpieces, reeds and reed making kits (for double reed instruments) just to name a few items. My favorite product will have to be the reed cases. They don't just make them out of boring materials like plastic but also leather, fabric and wood (I personally like the wood cases)! Another plus is that their cases can hold 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 reeds. Usually you only see 5 or 10 reed cases, so the amounts in between are nice. If you want to stand out, you can look into purchasing this Asian-inspired 4 reed case for $43:

Or stick to a more traditional, wooden approach for $59 (holds six reeds):

Whatever you choose, any of the reed cases will be a great choice in keeping your reeds in great shape. Hodge Products also offers many metronomes and tuners from brands such as Korg, Quick Time, and Central Pitch at great prices. So if you want some cool items like an awesome reed case or a new metronome, check out Hodge Products today.

WHAT?!?!? Flavored Reeds?!?!?

So apparently I've been missing something here. No one ever told me that reeds can be flavored! According to Flavoreeds, a company making reeds in flavors other than cane, a student's playing will improve because soaking a reed will no longer be unpleasant (although I do like the taste of cane, different flavors would be nice). Also, this reed has the nice plus side of notifying you when to change reeds: when the flavor is gone, it's time for a new one! The flavors are Strawberry, Bubble Gum, Cherry Red, Watermelon, Cinnamon, Mint Green, Piña Colada, and Blue Raspberry (the most popular flavor, but it turns your lips blue). It looks like these reeds come in two packs for clarinet and alto sax, and three packs for tenor sax. All reeds come in strengths ranging from 1.5-3.5. I would love to try these reeds!

Welcome!

Welcome to they new Saxtastic Saxophone blog. You may be wondering why I had to switch. When I created my site, I had a limited amount of memory. It turns out that I only have one gigabyte of memory left, so I had to find another site to host my blog. http://www.saxtasticsaxophone.webs.com will still be active, but this will be where the blog is from now on. Sorry for any inconvenience. 


Sara