The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > Wind instruments: honking and tooting
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| I know there's bound to be some eyerolling, but I've ordered an alto venova, in order to diversify the range of honks and toots I can make, without having to learn a whole new fingering scheme. I know it gets a bad rap from sax fans etc online, but eh, from all the fans of the instrument online, I feel like that negativity is most likely purists not liking new bit of plumbing on the block.  (Since to be fair, it DOES look like a couple of airtraps from the PVC pipes under your sink, but with some holes drilled into it and a sax mouthpiece stuck to one end)Anyway, it'll arrive within a week, according to the estimates. I'm not super experienced or anything with my alto+sopranino recorders yet of course, as it's been a matter of months. So yeah, I'm probably biting off quite a bit - but the venova is something I've been keen to explore for just as long as the recorders. (Same as something clarinety - depending on how I go with the venova's reed, as I haven't played anything with a reed before, I might eventually get a chalumeau in F or something, perhaps. Since then I should be set, without needing to relearn notes) I think it'll also be a reasonable intro to single reed instruments, as I have absolutely zero experience with those. So I'll see how I go! If I end up going OK with it, maybe I'll look into getting a chalumeau or something along those lines, to flesh-out my "same F recorder fingering, but different sound" collection. (If I'm unaware of any other similar instruments though, I'd love to know! If I can get away with being lazy and only having to learn new embouchure, rather than embouchure and fingering, then I'd certainly be interested) EDIT: Also, let me just say, drat I love the smooth and mellow sound of my alto recorder. Delightful to play! Only grievance is that I need to get better with that bottom hole - it's so easy to leave 1% of it exposed, resulting in squeakiness. In situations like this, I half-wish I had fat fingers! Major Isoor fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Feb 17, 2025 |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 05:29 |
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Otherwise though, ahhh it's so nice to listen to. Aside from a clarinet, I'd probably say it's the best woodwind to accompany a gurdy, IMO - aside from the sheer volume of gurdies they can be pretty good for similar sounds, so they make for a nice pair. (The venova however... won't be.
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| #?Feb 18, 2025 07:12 |
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| I had a drum instructor once play something with matched grip. Then he played the exact same thing with traditional grip. Sounded exactly the same. Point was that if you close your eyes and just listen, it doesnt matter so long as you are making music. Let them roll their eyes. |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 08:20 |
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| Agreed! Too many people seem to love trying to dunk on the unconventional. Personally, I love to see it! Some people come up with some pretty creative solutions, IMO (some solutions might be to problems that don't strictly exist, but hey, the more options the better!) Either way, it'll be cool to try out reeds. I know regular reeds are meant to sound a bit better, but I'm kinda glad the venovas come with a synthetic one. It'll let me figure out how to PLAY it first, then once I can properly benefit from a typical reed, I can make the jump. (And slowly figure out the "dunk it in water, twirl about three times, clockwise of course, then say three Lord's Prayers while drying it" routine, while I'm at it! |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 12:29 |
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| In terms of fingerings, saxophone is a pretty straightforward jump from recorder; all the diatonic fingerings are the same, a lot of the forked fingerings also work, and the pinky keys mainly provide alternatives that are more comfortable or fast when playing in certain keys or doing specific trills |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 16:35 |
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| The Chairman posted:In terms of fingerings, saxophone is a pretty straightforward jump from recorder; all the diatonic fingerings are the same, a lot of the forked fingerings also work, and the pinky keys mainly provide alternatives that are more comfortable or fast when playing in certain keys or doing specific trills Oh, interesting! So what, if I was to learn it, I could essentially just ignore those 'bonus keys' and play it much the same way as I'm used to, while figuring it out? That's interesting to hear - good to know, though |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 22:35 |
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| Maaybe. Sometimes the side keys have some interaction with the main keys. For example, when I was in high school, on the ancient bari I was assigned, I discovered I could play Eb with 1 and 3 fingers on the right hand instead of 1 2 and the pinky key. It was actually super convenient, so I basically always used that fingering. Until I found out that it doesn't work on saxes past, say, 1950 at all. Very sad. |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 22:46 |
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| Major Isoor posted:Oh, interesting! So what, if I was to learn it, I could essentially just ignore those 'bonus keys' and play it much the same way as I'm used to, while figuring it out? That's interesting to hear - good to know, though You'd eventually want to learn them as you need them, but you wouldn't be starting from scratch at all either |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 22:50 |
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| Oh yeah, yeah, for sure - it certainly wouldn't be a long-term thing, just while getting familiar. In any case, thanks for the insight! I didn't realise they were quite so similar |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 22:53 |
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| #?Feb 18, 2025 07:12 |
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| reinforcing my belief that woodwinds are haunted. three buttons are plenty imo. four max |
| #?Feb 17, 2025 22:54 |
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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > Wind instruments: honking and tooting
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