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For someone who is what i consider a fledgling pianist (can get through a song with multiple takes, and some midi repair) hear and there, and who doesn’t have a saxophone VST worthy for soloing , in my opinion, tossed between buying the VST and just going for the real deal and learning how to play it. Nothing fancy, but with a solid foundation in theory, hoping to maybe pull off some decent sax solos maybe within a year. Thoughts? Doable? Let’s just go on the assumption I can’t afford a real sax player.
I personally don’t have the patience to coax a realistic performance out of a VST so I say learn the sax! That is if you think you’ll be using it a lot, given the cost of a sax and the time investment. For the occasional sax parts I either bring in a sax player to my studio, use a sax player with the ability to record remotely and send me the parts, or use loops. You can get a very convincing solo using loops. I’ll send you an example if you’d like. Don’t want to post it here as it’s not watermarked.
I admire your ambition, Chuck.
IMO:
1) You will spend a lot (thousands) of money buying a decent sax, and then you will have one sax, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, or Bari. Sometimes songs call for one or the other or a combination of the above.2) It will take a very long time to develop the embouchure necessary to sound good without a lot of pitch correction, like Melodyne.
3) This is a great VI, which can achieve very realistic results, especially if you use a wind controller. http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/products_saxes.php
4) However, I agree with Michael Nickolas. Hire a sax player. They will a) play with technique that will take you years to develop, b) most likely have all of the saxes available, and c) very likely also double on piccolo, flute, and clarinet, giving you even more flexibilty to write different kinds of tracks and to use them in different ways while they are on the session.
If you do hire a sax player, make sure that you transpose the sax parts to the instrument’s key before the session. That will save time and money, although top players can often play and transpose at the same time.
Actually, the tracks I were thinking about are available on Pond5 now.
https://www.pond5.com/collections/2061952
Most have horn sections, the ones that demonstrate using loops to build a solo are:
If You Riff – sax solo at 1:00
Onward Motion – trumpet solo at 1:29
True Groove – sax solo at 1:53
The Night Growl – sax solo at 1:23If you don’t listen too closely, I think they’re passable.
For someone who is what i consider a fledgling pianist (can get through a song with multiple takes, and some midi repair) hear and there, and who doesn’t have a saxophone VST worthy for soloing , in my opinion, tossed between buying the VST and just going for the real deal and learning how to play it. Nothing fancy, but with a solid foundation in theory, hoping to maybe pull off some decent sax solos maybe within a year. Thoughts? Doable? Let’s just go on the assumption I can’t afford a real sax player.
Chuck, I say GO FOR IT!! You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to!! Just think what the sense of accomplishment will do.
It’s doable. I’m a trumpet/piano player although I’ve been playing my whole life. My suggestion is Get a teacher! With wind instruments it’s very easy to develop bad habits that may take months or years to correct.
And sax is probably the easiest instrument out there and so many of the pop and rock and smooth jazz players really don’t sound that good anyway. So you don’t have to be Coltrane to pull off smooth jazz and production music.Hey Chuck,
I think you saw my postIf you really want to learn to play the sax then I think you absolutely should go for it! Drop $1K on a decent horn (will you start with alto or tenor?), find a teacher that understands your goals, and dedicate 1-2 hours per day to practicing for the next 3-5 years.
If your motivation is getting a real sax on your compositions, then hire a pro when you need one or put the go with samplemodeling
http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/products_saxes.php
I think it would be cheaper too.I’m a retired military musician and a brass player. I really don’t believe you should expect to be able to play sax to the level you would need in just one year if you have no prior wind instrument experience. Developing a decent tone takes years.
I you doubt me, find a local college music department and listen to a few of those undergrads that have 5-10 years of playing experience.I’m not trying to discourage you at all, but I think one year is an unrealistic goal.
Let us know what you decide!
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