SECRETS OF A GREAT PAD JOB As most of you know, I do a fair amount of design consulting for saxophone manufacturers outside of our own brands. Last week, I had a lengthy discussion with a factory owner who viewed some very small cost savings as being more important than the ultimate performance of the […]

Could You Just Add Another Key To Make It Do…….? The Evolution of Saxophone Keywork   Nobody is exactly certain when Adolphe Sax produced the first example of the instrument which bears his name. The patents were granted in 1846, and an article written by Sax’s close friend, Hector Berlioz, in 1842 describes the instrument […]

The Manufacturing History of Conn and King For the next couple of issues, I would like to divert the discussion of saxophone design to a review of the manufacturing history of a few prominent American makers. Tracing their evolution and contributions gives us a good perspective on how saxophones evolved, and I believe it is […]

SAXOPHONE EVOLUTION: IT JUST GETS BETTER AS WE GO ALONG! I often hear it said that the very first saxophones, the ones actually made by Adolphe Sax himself, are very similar to the ones we use today. Well, I think the word “similar†is very appropriate. The early saxophones are in many ways like modern […]

SOME REALITIES OF THE CURRENT SAXOPHONE MARKET The manufacture of new saxophones is currently at an all time high, with new factories popping up all over Asia (where pretty much the entire industry has moved) almost every month. Since a saxophone can easily last a hundred years with only basic maintenance, and in consideration of […]

Steve Goodson by Thomas Erdmann Steve Goodson by Thomas Erdmann There is no good place to start this article. Saxophonist and professional musician since the age of 14, band leader, woodwind instrument manufacturer and retailer, saxophone design consultant, performance and instrument manufacturer clinician who is also the star of three instructional DVDs on this subject, […]

  Who are the real professional musicians? It’s getting harder and harder to find them…..they might even qualify for “endangered species†status these days……of course, there are still a few around, but the employment opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer. There’s lots of finger pointing and attempts at blame assignment for this situation, very little […]

The Selmer Varitone: What Were They Thinking? by Steve “Saxgourmet†Goodson Put yourself in the shoes of a wind instrument manufacturer in the 1960’s: the “British Invasion†is in full swing, and every teenager everywhere is letting their hair grow and learning to play electric guitar. Interest in music has never been higher, but the […]

The Demise of the Powell Silver Eagle Saxophone   On September 23, 2010, Steven Wasser, the owner of Powell Flutes, announced that the company was going to be unveiling a new, saxophone. His statement to the press on that date promised “…the United States represents 50% of the world saxophone market, but none of the saxophones available […]

We’ve been blessed in recent years to see significant advances in saxophone design made possible by a much better understanding of acoustics (I think I can honestly say that we now ALMOST understand what is going on inside the horn) and the use of new metal alloys. One area of saxophone design that I predict […]

Could You Just Add Another Key To Make It Do…….? The Evolution of Saxophone Keywork Nobody is exactly certain when Adolphe Sax produced the first example of the instrument which bears his name. The patents were granted in 1846, and an article written by Sax’s close friend, Hector Berlioz, in 1842 describes the instrument in […]

‘Ya pays ‘ya money……’ya takes ‘ya chance A guide for the saxophone purchaser   Since 1972, when I went to work at Herbert Music in Auburn, Alabama, I’ve spent the better part of most business days assisting a customer with the purchase decision for a saxophone. I am forever amazed that consumers spend so much […]

Anybody who has ever visited my repair shop knows that I’m a sucker for tools…..if there’s a saxophone repair tool that exists on this planet that I don’t have, it’s most likely because I didn’t know it existed. Seriously, boys and girls….you can’t do a world class job of repairing saxophones if you don’t have […]

I’m old enough to remember the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and the fact that many of us who were making a living playing the saxophone during those days did something that would be absolutely unthinkable today: we had electronic pickups permanently installed on our saxophones, a procedure which almost always involved drilling a hole […]

I Don’t Want to Bore You……An Explanation of Saxophone Bores and How They Work by STEVE “SAXGOURMET†GOODSON As I travel around teaching and discussing saxophone design, I become more and more convinced everyday that the least understood aspect of saxophone design is the configuration of the bore. I am also absolutely convinced that there […]

BUILDING A BETTER BARI! As many of you know, I consider myself first and foremost a bari player. I’ve been to every continent except Antarctica with a baritone sax, and at one time or another have owned an example or two of all the major brands. I’ve also designed and overseen the production of several […]

An Ounce of Prevention……. I am forever amazed by saxophonists who show little or no interest in being proactive about keeping their horn playing its best. Surprisingly little time or effort is required for a few basic maintenance routines that you can perform yourself with tools and materials that you most likely have on hand […]

I was a paid writer for The Saxophone Journal magazine from 2008 – 2013. Here’s a list of my articles which were published there. They are all available as back issues from Dorn Publications. Of course, I have had articles published in quite a few other music magazines in the United States and Europe, but […]

  I promise that this explanation of the physics of saxophone playing will be totally devoid of higher math, complex formulas, or scientific jargon. I further hope that your eyes will not glaze over, and that you will leave this article with a clear understanding of the physics of saxophone sound production and how these […]

  It’s a testament to the genius of Adolphe Sax that our modern saxophones use a keywork system that is basically identical to what was used on the very first examples. It is true, of course, that the range of the instrument has been enlarged and that certain mechanisms have been improved. However, today’s saxophonist […]

There have been a great many pleasures and benefits that I have derived from my association with The Saxophone Journal over the years, and there is no question in my mind that first and foremost among them is the contact I get with my readers. It is an enormous source of encouragement to get the […]

A SAXOPHONISTS GUIDE TO NECKING by Steve “Saxgourmet†Goodson If you’re sitting at the bar talking to a group of saxophone designers, before long the topic is sure to turn to the neck, and it will be universally agreed that the neck is the most misunderstood and critical component in determining the saxophones sound and […]

bores I Don’t Want to Bore You……An Explanation of Saxophone Bores and How They Work by STEVE “SAXGOURMET†GOODSON As I travel around teaching and discussing saxophone design, I become more and more convinced everyday that the least understood aspect of saxophone design is the configuration of the bore. I am also absolutely convinced that […]

I’ve recently had an internet discussion with another individual about why the USA saxophone companies failed. Make no mistake about it, they didn’t withdraw from the market voluntarily. They failed because saxophone buyers chose to buy other horns. It’s as simple as that. The USA companies, which had every advantage in the world (more about […]

We have met the enemy, and he is us…….take a good look at the player sitting next to you on your next gig…..he (or she) may well be the reason gigs are scarce and pay is low. I used to participate in a discussion group on Facebook until I realized that most (but not all, […]

I had a fascinating and very enlightening conversation on the phone yesterday with a customer who was shopping for an alto. This guy (who is a regular poster on Sax On the Web, BTW) told me I needed to reduce the selling price of the Super 400 he was considering because “everybody knows you can […]

I’m often asked by my students and customers for some tips on how to get gigs, particularly the “right†gigs….I want to assure you that this skill is just as important as learning your scales. There are lots of guys out there who can play, but they don’t seem to work very often. Here are […]