Message 75/87
Date: 16-Dec-05 @ 04:32 AM Edit: 16-Dec-05 | 06:38 AM -
RE: so who plays proper instruments?
Actually, we play a lot of music from 1915-1930, the early days of radio and recording.
In those early days of electronic sound reproduction the microphones were very crude, of limited range. The recording equipment even worse. And speakers... well, not much to them.
So, low bass was often "lost in the mix". Tuba and string bass, the two most popular bass instruments just did not record well, or come over on the radio. However, the bass saxophone, rich in reedy overtones, came through quite well. Tuba and string bass players quickly switched to the newly popular bass saxophone. It was either that, or lose their jobs.
I have even seen a photo of the Glenn Miller band with bass sax, only the bass saxophonist was sitting in the back by the drums, piano, and guitar... in the rhythm section, not up front with the sax section.
I can demonstrate even now by playing a recording with bass saxophone, and moving the lowest few sliders of an equalizer all the way down removing the fundamental. But the bass line can still be heard clearly.
Radio and recording affected other instruments as well. Around that time Selmer came out with their "Radio Improved" line of saxophones, with a bore designed to sound brighter, project more, record better. Mouthpieces with brighter tone were developed. All this because of radio and recording.
The bass saxophone remained popular in dance bands and small combos until better electronic equipment came along, and then almost disappeared from use. Now the bass sax appears only in a few diehard groups like ours. We play a lot of music by the Six Brown Brothers, the first Victor Talking Machine Company (Later Victor Records, then RCA Victor) recording artists. Most of their recordings were in the 1915-1919 period, when the Victrola was first being introduced.
Because of this, the Six Brown Brothers are said to have been responsible for the "Saxophone craze of the 1920's". Their recordings popularized this almost unknown instrument in America, and led to the saxophone section replacing strings in the "dance orchestra", and led into their use in the "Big Bands".
Yes, the music may be "corny", but we owe these early artists some respect.