I’d seen guys playing more than one horn at a time (two clarinets & two trumpets in an old movie) but never considered trying it myself. But I started playing two saxes together when I was working in a four piece ‘Vegas type’ show group and the leader was constantly telling me to “Do something different”.
When performing in the show group, I usually had my saxes (alto and tenor) and clarinet on stands behind me so we could do our show routines out front with nothing in the way and when it was my turn to play the horns, I’d swing around and grab one to play a solo, etc. Finally, after being told “Do something different” so often, I went to grab a horn one night but somehow decided to surprise the leader and everyone by spinning back around with two horns (tenor & alto sax) in my mouth and played a rather horrible, clumsy solo on some blues tune. Everyone, including the leader, flipped out! They didn’t care if I was playing bad and weird stuff! They just freaked over my two saxes at once act. From then on I was stuck with this ‘multi sax’ bit and went to work finding something more musical to play on the two saxes.
I had heard about Roland Kirk, a multi-sax wizard, so I found some of his recordings and was amazed at what all he could do with THREE (yes 3!) saxes at once! That was all the encouragement I needed, plus having a band to practice in, to get me off and running on this new, exciting musical adventure. I will try to keep this article to a non-technical level for all of you that do not play an instrument.
The first problem I dealt with was exactly how to play the saxes together for the best effects. It was obvious that I needed another neck strap and soon figured out that the alto should be held to the right of the tenor. Those who play a sax will see the logic of this arrangement. It also became apparent right away that the reeds should be of similar or equal resistance on the two mouthpieces so both saxes responded well to one air stream. Over the years, I’ve used many different mouthpieces and they all seem to play well together if the reeds are of equal resistance.
The biggest problem was consistently finding good notes to play in any particular song on multi horns. This search consumed many hours of practising and trying things out before playing in public. Aside from the many technical and physically challenging difficulties, finding something musical to play was nearly overwhelming at first.
I tried several quick solutions by memorizing some fingering combinations for one or two of the pieces our show group played which got me through a lot of performances right away but soon became dissatisfied with this limitation of the multi horns. I wanted to automatically play what I was hearing on both horns just like I would on one horn. Playing two horns at once also deepened my understanding of harmony and chords because the two saxes had to be playing some part of a chord that fit what the band was playing. Gradually, I learned to play certain combinations of fingers to get the kinds of two part chords that fit but still could not spontaneously play what I wanted to.
When the show group gig ended I soon was playing in a little rock n’ roll band which introduced me to another musical challenge. For Rock, I had to play in various weird and difficult keys that are not very comfortable for saxophones. You need to be a horn player to appreciate the difficulties of this problem but since we were playing mostly blues or one chord type tunes, I had a chance to work out some more (strange) fingerings on the two saxes to play chords that worked. Although the other three guys in that rock band probably never knew it, I was secretly studying and trying things out in the background while they cranked out those loud but simple rock tunes. I was still unhappy with the fact that I had to work everything out ahead and couldn’t just play stuff spontaneously and automatically like a creative player.
After about a year, the break through came when I realized that having horns in two different keys, i.e. a Bb sax and an Eb sax, was the whole problem. The saxes are in different keys and when working with a chord, say C, it meant having to play a D chord on the Bb tenor and an A chord on the alto. Then try to come up with some combinations of two notes that would sound good when played together on both horns. It occurred to me that if both saxes were in the same key then I’d only have to decide which two notes would be available in just that one key! Since I could ‘hear’ best on the tenor, I decided to convert the alto sax to a Bb instrument which meant making up a new set of fingerings for the alto. Thus the alto’s C# became an F#, it’s B became an E; it’s A became a D and so on. This was even easier since my right hand was playing the upper part of the alto sax from it’s right side, which meant I was playing all strange fingerings up there to begin with. Learning a new set of fingerings was quick and easy and from that point on everything just fell into place. Now, instead of trying to transpose and struggle with two different keys (Bb & Eb), all I have to do is find two good notes in just ONE KEY.
After working in a lot of Rock bands and the more difficult keys (E, B, D, A, etc.), I found myself playing in more traditional music setting where we played in comfortable keys like: C, Bb, F, Eb, G, Ab, etc. and I soon began to notice a situation where I wanted to play some harmony notes that were not available because the alto’s range was too limited. In the key of concert F (my G) I noticed that I needed a few more notes (B or Bb) from the alto sax to make good harmony with the tenor. The tenor’s range was from G up and the alto’s range was from C up so all I needed was a B or Bb from the alto to harmonize with the tenor’s G. It became obvious that I’d have to fashion some extra keys on the alto to achieve more range.
Glen Johnston, here in L.A., soldered two long bass clarinet keys to the alto’s lower F and F# keys that reached up just under my right pinky finger and I was able to close those two keys which gave me the B or Bb notes to harmonize the tenor’s G and up. Wow - it worked! Now I was able to get the stuff I wanted when playing in (my) G, as we often did. Sadly, those two long, soldered on clarinet keys fell off right away but they had given me a taste of the harmony I wanted so I tried “something different”.
Next I made up a little stick and cardboard model of what seemed possible to build on the alto to operate the lower F and F# keys with the right hand pinky. I took my horn and extra key model to repairman Larry Comeau at Baxter-Northrop Music to see if he’d help me make the extra key system. I expected him to kick me out of his shop with my crazy ideas but was surprised when he became very enthused with my scheme. Larry built some parts and soldered a few things to the alto as a preparation for my new extra key system. He told me to write to Selmer (the maker of my alto) and ask for some key parts and hinge tubing that I’d need. He gave me a quick lesson in silver soldering and a bottle of flux. While waiting for a response from Selmer, I went to a scrap metal place and bought some sheet brass. To my amazement, Selmer sent me a nice assortment of the hinge tubing and two right pinky spatula keys! Larry showed me how to cut the hinge tubing with a tubing cutter and placed a long steel rod through the alto’s G# key to a point just above the F & F# keys to carry the new key system on.
I was in a big hurry to get my system working so I feverishly went to work cutting out key parts from the scrap brass with a coping saw and blind luck. Thanks to Larry’s help with silver soldering and a lot of failed attempts, I built a working key system to operate the alto’s lower F & F# keys with my right pinky finger! I also added a simple cross-over key to operate the alto’s D palm key since it was very difficult to reach from the right side. In the years that I’ve used this system, I’ve had to re-make it several times when things fall off or get bent, etc. I doubt that there are many sax players out there who have gone to this extreme.
I am currently playing at jazz festivals and other things with The Nightblooming Jazzmen Dixieland/swing band (http://nightbloomingjazzmen.com/) which provides ample opportunities to play multi saxes. There seems to be a lot of people out there playing multi horns and I hear about them all the time. There are several very good multi horn guys here in So. California and I expect to see more of us all the time as the thrill of it spreads and folks get used to seeing/hearing the effect.
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of multi horn work is when it’s integrated into a horn section with one or more other horns (trumpet, trombone, sax, etc.). I love hearing the sounds that the multi horns along with other horns can make. It’s a lot of fun to do this and can be challenging if written into a horn section. If you are a multi horn player, I hope to hear you play some time or hear from you.
You may reach me through my wife’s web site: www.irenezart.com or email: jimmyrichmusic@sbcglobal.net. Good luck with your multi horn playing – it’s really fun.
Jim Richardson
Source: www.articlesphere.com
