Re: Circular Breathing: Live Looping

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

A rough estimate for a new one is "lower five-digit euro range".

The capacity on odd saxophones is this guy: http://eppelsheim.com

Benedikt Eppelsheim (who incidentially performed on my first CD, Janus) 
has at one point decided to make odd saxophones. One reason: Adolphe Sax 
originally designed the alto sax by a combination of copying from 
clarinet designs, educated guessing and trial and error. He then went on 
and got patents for saxophones in every register, from a sub contrabass 
to a sopranino. What he did there was linear scaling, i.e. on a 
sopranino, everything is half as big as on his alto design, and on the 
subcontrabass, everything is four times as big.

Since then, instrument makers mainly used these Sax designs when 
building their instruments. The result: while the alto and tenor saxes 
you usuall have are great instruments (with regard to intonation, 
response etc.), the baritones and sopranos are mainly ok, and everything 
above or below that is crap - because physics really don't work that way.

What Eppelsheim did (who, according to loop guy Andrew Pask, who with 
Jeff Kaiser forms The Choir Boys, is a "true hero among all the 
experimental saxophone players all over the world, but at least in the 
Pacific US, Hong Kong and New Zealand") was to focus on those extreme 
registers and completely redesign them based on physical research and 
advanced craftmanship.

But I digress: those big saxes cost a lot. Moreover, all of them (with 
the exception of the Eppelsheim ones) are more of a gimmick than a 
proper musical instrument, and for that, much too expensive...

            Rainer
> Thanks for the tip, Brian.   It's very important to get these things 
> right.
> God,  what does a bass saxaphone cost?   I can't even imagine.
>
> rick walker


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