Hi Darcy,
I haven't asked Gary, but I think what probably happened was that he
simply ran into a saxophone player/collector who had all this stuff
and who convinced Gary to take the time to record them all. All of
what you write below makes sense to me, but I have another concern
about this collection, and that is who played the instruments. There
are so many variations in saxophone sound that I hope he got someone
who is at least actually a real jazz player. I don't know who he
got, or what he sounds like, but I'd forgo some instruments in favor
of a tenor sound I could relate to (and there are many of them).
Imagine - Wayne Shorter, or Lew Tabackin - big difference, and both
beautiful, but who knows who Gary got. I do not get the idea that he
is very jazz savvy. So we will simply have to wait and see, and
whatever it is, it will be far better than what I am now saddled with
- dumb GM or GPO bassoons that run out of range and sound rather
wrong anyway.
Sometimes I think I should make all wind parts play some generic
sustained sound, leave in the piano and bass, and imagine the rest.
It's all just a sketch for me anyway, and I'd like it to be better
than it is, but I never think for a minute that it begins to resemble
a band. Even my students can get to the point that they sound better
than the computer and, believe me, they are not great.
Chuck
On Jun 22, 2005, at 8:19 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote:
Hi Chuck, Chris, et al,
I think Chris's point (with which I emphatically agree) is that
it's a little perplexing as to why Gary felt the need to include so
many exotic saxophones -- sopranino; both curved and straight
soprano (neither is "exotic," obviously, but the difference in tone
between them is negligible); both mezzo-soprano and C-melody; bass,
contrabass, *and* subcontrabass saxophones -- in favor of more
commonly-used instruments.
We all agree that bass clarinet is an absolute necessity, and so
I'm VERY VERY grateful that Chuck was able to pull some strings to
make that happen. But I can think of several instruments that
would make more sense for this library than, say, subcontrabass
saxophone. None of them are absolutely glaring omissions like the
bass clarinet was, but I'd certainly be willing to forgo all of the
rare saxophones (even sopranino, a personal favorite of mine) in
exchange for any of the following:
• a "mallet kit" (it currently has only sticks and brushes)
• modern electric guitar with chorus and volume pedal
• acoustic guitar
• Hammond organ
• solo voice (oohs and aahs)
• French horn
• tuba
• solo violin (jazz player)
• accordion
• oboe/English horn
Obviously, many of these aren't a problem for me personally since I
already own the orchestra GPO (as do Chuck and Chris), and so I can
mix and match freely. It's just a little -- well, *weird* -- that
Gary thought it was worth the time and expense to track down and
sample all those rare saxophones instead of including instruments
that are much more useful to working jazz arrangers and composers.
(Not to mention much more likely to be available in a real-life
playing situation!)
I know there's a certain geekish satisfaction in shipping such a
thorough saxophone library, but it's almost like Gary believed "If
I just include mezzo-soprano saxophone, no one will notice the lack
of bass clarinet."
But again, I'm very happy Chuck was able to set him straight on
that -- and I'm definitely looking forward to the library. It will
certainly be fun to mess around with a sax quartet consisting of
sopranino, mezzo-soprano, C-melody and subcontrabass saxophones.
Not very productive, but definitely fun.
- Darcy
-----
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brooklyn, NY
On 22 Jun 2005, at 8:31 PM, Chuck Israels wrote:
On Jun 22, 2005, at 5:08 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
I have written countless times for banjo, accordian, French
horn, tuba, and jazz violin in jazz contexts (none of which are
present in the GPO jazz collection)
Of course, so have I (some, anyway - French Horn, the most often),
but as you seem to reasonably understand things (and as I do),
none of these are standard doubles in a normal jazz band, so I
wouldn't think they'd need inclusion. If those instruments are
needed, then I understand the organization of the GPO marketing
that would put them in the orchestra library and not include them
in the jazz sounds. Anyway, that's how it makes sense to me.
Chuck
Chuck Israels
230 North Garden Terrace
Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com
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Chuck Israels
230 North Garden Terrace
Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com
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