This part of the review section is for all the various oddities and knick-knacks that surround saxophones.
It might seem a little unnecessary to review accessories, but when you consider that some of them may cost several hundred pounds or so it seems only sensible to make sure that you know exactly what you're likely to get. It also houses reviews of some of the more obscure members of the saxophone family, such as the C Melody.

The C Melody, as its name suggests, is pitched in C. Given that the rest of the family is pitched in Bb or Eb it appears that the C stands quite alone and apart - and yet when saxes were first built they were available in F and C as well as Bb and Eb. Rumour has it that there are even rarer examples in other keys, though I have yet to see such beasts.

It sounds as though a sax in C ought to have been a winner - and for a brief period in the early 20th century it was. The whole idea was to provide a sax that could read straight off piano parts...and as television was yet to become the opium of the masses, many people entertained themselves and their family of an evening by bashing out a few tunes on the piano, with perhaps other members of the family, or friends, providing accompaniment on other instruments.
Thus the C melody was intended to fit right into this homely little scene.

Unfortunately that's about all it did do, and when radio, and later television, became widespread the 'parlour concert' became a thing of the past...and so did the C Melody.
But that wasn't the sole reason for its demise - it has a strange tone, one that's neither like the alto or the tenor...and many players say that rather than combine the best of its two brothers, it combines the worst!

As for accessories, there's virtually no limit to what you can stick on a saxophone to better 'improve' or enhance your experience. A great many of these things are cheap and cheerful, but a few can cost a considerable sum of money - so it's always worth having an independent assessment of their capabilities.
In recent years after-market crooks have become something of a buzzword. I can see their appeal - where do you go when you have the horn you've always wanted and the mouthpiece that's best for you? Changing the crook give you yet another way to play with the tone.

To read a review, please select a link from the menu on your left....