The Bis Key Chronicles

From the always interesting Oberloh Brass Works site are vintage images of the C. G. Conn band instrument factory from 1911.

Now most instruments are made overseas because of the high cost of labor in the U.S. You can read more about the Conn Music Instrument story here.

I caught the tale end of this piece on NPR this morning and thought I’d share it with my saxophone luvin’ friends out there. The Taiwanese have come a long way from making the saxes you loved to hate to making some very decent instruments. When they started they were making copies of vintage horns such as those in this chart. Now they make modern instruments with better materials and ergonomics.

" Morning Edition, February 25, 2008 – Taiwan has etched out a reputation as high-tech hardware store to the world. Its economy has boomed as companies churn out components for famous global electronics brands. But this country of 23 million has quietly garnered a chunk of the world market in a very different product: saxophones.

Virginia music store owner Kevin Landes plays a saxophone that dates back to 19th-century Paris. French saxophones are still the gold standard today. But the horn Landes is cooking on next wasn’t made in France.

"You would never have thought of Taiwanese instruments trying to inch into the pro territory. But they are. And they are making some really nice horns."

Read or listen to more…

When I started looking to acquire C Melody Saxophone, I had visions of looking over Suzy’s shoulder as she played the piano. You see these instruments were designed in the early 1900s (1910 – 30s) for the amateur to use in the home. So they were pitched in the key of C like the piano. The saxes you are used to are pitched in sop, tenor, bass – Bb and sopranino, alto, and bari in Eb. There were some odd balls like the F mezzo soprano sax and such too.

So a beginner could play the instrument well enough by reading the top line of a piano score. But the Depression hit in the 20s and pretty much helped kill the the instrument. I could imagine a pump organ and a C melody being the main instruments in a prairie home. Maybe with a guitar and some singing.

So I did some research and found that the Conn C Melody straight-neck arguably had the best intonation of the available instruments. I’d love to get one of the 20 or so C Melody’s that Vito made in the 60s, but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon. Well I purchased a Conn C Melody and my son liked it so much that I gave it to him. Then I started anew with another beater that I had refurbished by Sarge of Worldwide Sax in Everett. So those are the pictures you are seeing in this blog.

Next I proceeded to look for a mouthpiece that would make the instrument speak. You see I am an amateur musician and every instrument I acquire I have to learn to voice, get a great mouthpiece and figure out a good reed story. But I didn’t every really get a finish to that journey as shortly thereafter I started learning to play the bass clarinet. So this particular instrument hasn’t made it into the rotation of saxes I play on a regular basis.

The instrument has a unique sound and as such is very interesting. And there are a lot of professional musicians and hobbyists who can really make the instrument speak. So take a listen at Dan Higgins a professional reed player.

Kind makes you want to pull the ol’ C Melody sax out and give it a toot, eh? If you want to read and talk more about the C Melody instruments which include the soprano sax too, visit the ‘Home of the C‘ and say hi to my good friend Alan.

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