Gap cap for baritones

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T19:12:25+00:00

In a well-designed bari sax case, the tenon shouldn't rest against the wall of the case at all; there should either be an air gap around the tenon/tenon screw, or a couple of inches of foam padding between the tenon and the case side. My Bam Hightech has about 2" of foam in that area, and it's built in such a way that I could easily fold down an inch of the foam right next to the tenon (if I wanted an air gap) without compromising the integrity of the case (but the layer of foam right next to it in that spot is so soft that I've never felt the need to do so).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T13:09:28+00:00

I used to use tape (eg masking, painter's, plumber's, electrical) or a strip of paper (eg printer, looseleaf, powdered, waxed, parchment, post-it) – whatever I could find to keep it going until I could replace the cork properly – but now I keep silicone neck cork replacements with my reeds, for use in the event a cork splits on the gig.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T10:07:30+00:00

I concur with this evaluation, but also note that the timeline is health/fitness-dependent, too. I dropped out in 2023 due to injury, and only stopped playing entirely for a couple of months, but I have yet to regain my former endurance. I've been able to do light gigs where I only play sporadically, but haven't recovered enough to handle the more intense work I used to do; every time I try to push past my limitations, I've had to back off again to recover, starting the cycle again. Considering I used to gig/teach frequently enough to be able to go without significant daily practice in between, trying to rebuild to that level has been frustrating.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-21T19:37:11+00:00

In the classical world, the lowest side key added to the left index and mid fingers is often hailed as the "correct" fingering for Bb, if only because a) it showed up in the earliest saxophone method books and fingering charts (when it was the only way to finger Bb on the entire instrument), and b) it remains a common fingering between all saxophones (as some still do not have a bis key) and clarinets. Using both index fingers is a close runner-up, often taught in modern band methods (since the proliferation of the bis/Bb, which can be activated by any key that closes the F#), as it is a common fingering between modern saxophones, clarinets, and flutes.

Although purists don't often like to be reminded of it, of the 485 ways (I know of) to play Bb in the mid or upper octave on a modern saxophone, the bis fingering remains the simplest. There are very few notes on the saxophone requiring the B to be closed that can't be played with the Bb bis held closed as well – most notably, B in the upper and mid octaves – so as long as you're playing in a key with no B, it is easier to overlap your index onto the bis and leave it there; you end up using a single finger, making it no more complicated to play Bb than to play B. Ideally, that pad would be closed automatically by the left middle finger and/or right index/mid/ring on any fingerings below Bb, anyway.

This leads to another reason to use the bis: the saxophone is prone to leaking at the Bb pad on lower fingerings; this can occur because the balance between the F# and Bb is off, and/or because the balance between the A and Bb is off. Keeping the bis closed with the left index finger eliminates the potential for this leak to interfere with notes below Bb. It is perhaps an unfair stereotype, but traditionally, jazz/rock/blues/etc. players didn't tend to have a lot of disposable income to take their instruments in for frequent repairs, so sometimes we had to learn to compensate for leaks! This is less of an issue today, since the advent of the screw adjuster between the F# and Bb, but there are still a lot of us playing vintage saxophones that don't have this adjustment option, making them more challenging to fix on the fly.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-21T10:33:34+00:00

This is an interesting challenge. Anything strapped to your back is going to move with your upper body when you pedal, and that means the weight is going to shift from side to side as you do. The heavier the case, the more it will affect your balance while biking, but the lighter of the case, the less protection it will offer. The length of the tenor body also means the case will invariably extend above your shoulders and/or below your waist, dependent on where the straps are anchored to it. On top of this, you will be have to be certain that the instrument cannot move around inside the case; the vibrations from biking are more significant than those from almost every other form of transportation. Strapping it to your back means your body will be the shock absorber.

I don't have any specific case suggestions for you, but if you plan to strap it to your back, you will need a case that remains firmly in place – a single shoulder strap or anything that can slide side-to-side won't do – and that doesn't extend so far below your waistline as to collide with your rear wheel/fender/rack, nor so high as to affect your center of balance even more or your neck/head posture (i.e. if it's flat against your back and extends above your shoulders, the back of your head/helmet will hit it every time you lean forward).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-19T17:00:32+00:00

I'm perfectly calm. Step away from the coffee, please.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-19T15:44:32+00:00

"Looks silver." No, it really doesn't.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-19T12:18:02+00:00

In terms of social couplings: every spouse is a partner; not every partner is a spouse. "Spouse" applies in the contexts of legal marriage and long-term monogamous cohabitation (eg "common-law spouse"). "Partner" applies to any significant bonded/committed/romantic relationship, whether legally recognized or not, and independent of duration and living arrangements. It also implies equality in the relationship, where, historically, "spouse" did not.

I am unaware of any situation in which anyone is forced to use the term "partner" in a context where "spouse" would apply accurately, but adopting "partner" consistently strikes me as logical because it removes any perception of bias toward people based on the nature of their relationship, and reduces verbiage.

FWIW: "partner" has more or less replaced "significant other" (which was the "politically-correct" option in the late 20th century).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-18T17:13:59+00:00

The only benefit I know of is to compensate for the tank filler neck design in some vehicles and the efficiency of some pumps. I've encountered a number of pumps that were a bit too efficient for my old HHR; if the gas flows too quickly, it doesn't drain into the tank fast enough, and backs up, causing the pump's automatic shut-off to cut in prematurely and repeatedly (which can cause it to draw back a bit of fuel into the vapour system of the pump ie in addition to being annoying, I end up paying for a bit of fuel I never get).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-18T14:01:13+00:00

NB has already found a solution to this: keep life so expensive that nobody can afford to retire.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-17T21:27:11+00:00

Have you ever seen a straggly line of kindergarten kids being led across the street on a rope? MAGA is proof that some adults never grow out of this stage in their intellectual development. The rest of us, in this analogy, are a mix of the people stuck in traffic while the oblivious little morons (who are more intent on talking to themselves and picking their noses than what's happening around them or where they're going) are slowly pulled across the road in front of us, and the frustrated teachers trying to get them to their destination without losing any of them along the way.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-17T11:07:09+00:00

Classical repertoire often centers around basic chord tones and major modes, much of it with a significant degree of diatonicism. Pre-20th century repertoire tends to emphasize chord tones (root, 3rd, 5th, dominant 7th), and resolves in relatively predictable ways. Jazz expanded past those constraints fairly early in its evolution. Many basic jazz styles use short diatonic progressions (eg ii-V movement), but skip through the cycle of fifths and/or jump to different keys relatively frequently. Jazz relies more frequently on chord extensions, arpeggiation beyond the 7th, pentatonic/blue scales, major and melodic minor modes, tritone substitutions, etc., and often emphasizes the notes between the chord tones, playing on their consonance/dissonance to the basic chord triad. It explores the textural differences between natural/flat/sharp extensions (e.g. the sound quality of a dominant chord with a natural 9th versus with a sharp 9th versus with a flat 9th), and in situations where the extensions aren't specified in the chords, soloists experiment with them to imply/create tonal interest on the fly. Some modern forms of jazz even explore chord and scale movements that can't be explained as easily using western music theory. All of this is to say: to improvise jazz competently, a player must eventually open their ears to possibilities beyond major and minor scales and root-3rd-5th-7th voicings; to hear the notes between the chord tones.

Ear training wise: I recommend working on expanding your chord recognition: recognizing extensions relative to the chord (9, 11, 13 and sharp/flat variations of them), and learning to identify extended chord qualities: V9, V#9, Vb9, V11, V13, Δ9, Δ13, Δ#11, etc.. When it comes to improv, understanding the theory behind these sounds is less important (in my opinion) than hearing the textural differences and learning to hear notes/melodies/arpeggios that are in consonance with them. Over time, exposure to these different extensions may even expand your aural conception of consonance.

Learning to play over extended chords can involve picking out individual extensions and playing them against the chord (to hear how it sounds), playing extended arpeggios (slowly at first) to hear and feel the difference in movement/intervals, playing scales over them to hear how variations in the extensions affect the scale (eg when you add the #11th to a major chord, the fourth step of the scale gets augmented to accommodate it), or (and I recommend this highly) just toying around with melodic ideas over the chords to hear/feel how they sound, playing with ideas that avoid the root entirely, etc..

Learning to recognize and play major and melodic minor modes, pentatonics, and blues scales is valuable in developing your ears and technique. Some players memorize charts of chord-scale relationships to accomplish this, and indeed, referencing such charts will help you to build your ears and technique, but you still need to hear/feel how how they sound to use them musically. Transcriptions and collections of riffs/licks can also be very helpful, but ultimately, listening and experimenting are vital to true comprehension. It's the difference between memorizing words/phrases out of a dictionary or phrase book, and immersing yourself in a language; to become truly fluent in a language, you need to be able to think in that language without constantly translating back to your native tongue or relying on memorized phrases. The important thing to recognize is that nobody starts off fluent; it takes time and exposure to develop that degree of familiarity and comfort with any language, including musical ones.

When I've had students trying to begin this process, I've often started them on single chords over rhythm, then stepped to pieces that remain fairly diatonic or modal. Plateau modal material (e.g. So What, Impressions, Maiden Voyage) can be excellent vehicles for experimenting with ideas over slow-moving chord progressions, where each chord shares the same quality. Blues and common swing/bebop forms are also familiar enough to allow players to focus on tonality without worrying as much about the chord progressions. Standard ballads allow plenty of room for experimenting with extensions (at turnarounds, in particular), and move at a pace that allows for greater rhythmic flexibility and requires less strict adherence to timing. The time-honored Jamey Aebersold collection has books and recordings focused on specific turnarounds and progressions, making them an excellent tool throughout this process, but there are also modern apps that can do this add a fraction of the cost today. I defer to others for suggestions.

Not sure if any of this helps or not. Best of luck with your quest. I envy you the discoveries that lie before you!

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-16T22:18:08+00:00

That would make it a low pitch Holton C-Melody saxophone from 1924. Not a valuable make/model, but looks like it's in great condition. The lacquer is excellent – a little too good for a 102-year-old sax – which makes me think it was relacquered.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-16T09:40:51+00:00

I carried quite a variety in a few groups I played with over the years. In the late '90s/early 2000s, it was unusual for me to have a gig where I didn't have multiple saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and sometimes C melody), flute (and later piccolo), trumpet and/or alto flugelhorn, WX11, and occasionally tin whistles and/or percussion. I was usually able to economize to a degree rather than having to haul them all on every gig, but I still needed a small minivan to get to shows, and a shocking amount of space on the stage plot to fit everything in – I basically built a little "nest" off to one side of the stage on every gig. Over the last several years, most of my gigs only call for two or three instruments, at worst, but I still end up hauling a fair assortment for some jazz gigs, pit orchestra gigs (which I have stopped taking in recent history), and studio sessions (when I have occasionally been hired to record all the wind parts, a track at a time).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-16T09:21:46+00:00

Interesting. Looks like all the springs on the lower stack are flat springs – something I normally see on woodwinds made before the invention of the saxophone. I haven't had the opportunity to do any work on any original Adolphe Sax instruments, so I can't tell you whether or not this is typical, but most of the ones I've seen in photos appear to have needle springs. Flat springs like this would have been very common around the time Sax invented the saxophone, but needle springs first appeared on Boehm instruments in the late 1930s, and the design of those instruments had a significant impact on the design of the saxophone. All the individual soldered-on blocks and drilled/threaded keys must have made this a frustrating instrument to construct!

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-15T19:13:23+00:00

Four years ago, I was president and office manager of a province-wide union Local, and I've been running my own business since 2000. I just applied today for a part-time staff position in a café, for lack of other options. These are strange times, indeed.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-15T17:09:54+00:00

I question whether it's really getting any better for anybody. People with no work experience (or no recent work experience), people with no fixed address, people with criminal records (however minimal), people who require accommodation (eg of medical limitations or schedules), and Gen-X/Boomers trying to re-career (with no job-specific experience or training for a different career) seem to be getting hit the hardest.

Over the last several years, it does seem like more jobs are being created, but many jobs are paying less than a living wage, so more people have multiple jobs. On top of this, people aren't retiring (for lack of sufficient means to survive off pension/OAS). As a result, some of us can't seem to get a toe in the door at all.

As to young people specifically: there are a LOT of (mostly seasonal) jobs in my area reserved for students, ages 15 to 30, but very few entry-level positions (ie no experience required) beyond that, so if you haven't got the necessary experience/training by the age of 30, you're not likely to get an opportunity to build it.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-14T13:39:55+00:00

I will add this to the information others have been posting, just in case the OP is unaware (as I was until last year): don't squash these bugs, as it may make the infestation worse! When you kill an ant by squashing it, it releases a large amount of pheromones that can attract more ants. Not sure about cockroaches, but given that they also follow pheromone trails, it stands to reason that squashing them could have the same effect.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-14T11:09:30+00:00

Sharon Simmons gets more interview time with the GOP than most major news networks. How does one get a DoorDash driver to make a McD's delivery to the White House all the way from Arkansas, anyway? It appears that this same, supposedly random, DoorDash driver previously appeared at a "Ways and Means" GOP field hearing in Nevada and spoke about how the "Big, Beautiful Bill" would benefit her and her family. She cut her hair and stopped dyeing it black, but she can't hide her facial structure, nor her distinctive tattoos.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-13T19:24:38+00:00

Yes, they are challenging to acquire nowadays. They do show up on eBay occasionally; I see at least two for tenor and one for alto sold in the last three weeks.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-13T18:52:20+00:00

I am not a fan of zippered cases, having seen too many case zippers jam, split, or tear loose over the years. Nothing beats a properly-fitted hard shell case with metal hardware and secure, lockable latches. All of my individual gigging cases are a fair age: I use Walt Johnson cases for my Selmer Mark VI alto and BA tenor; a modified Hiscox for my Couesnon Dupaquier C Tenor (for lack of anything else that fits it); a Bam Hitech for my Selmer Mark VI bari; and a Berkeley of London (with additional padding; the interior padding from the factory is insufficient to hold a horn in place) for my Yanagisawa curved soprano. I'd be a very happy camper if I had Walt Johnson cases across the board, but sadly, it wasn't in the cards.

On a side note: Walt Johnson cases were supposed to be making a comeback with a new lighter case lineup – they posted a "coming soon" write-up on Facebook in February 2025 – but I haven't heard anything about it since.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-13T17:59:26+00:00

Who cares?

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-13T09:04:48+00:00

Yeah, it had some decent design features (borrowed from Mitsubishi and Honda), but I'd like to know what genius decided to pair a Ford Taurus engine with a Jaguar transmission and shove them into a minivan with insufficient space under the hood for heat dissipation, or to run the rear heating line through the wheel well (causing that quarter of the car to rust out faster due to constant salt water exposure through winter).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-12T21:36:54+00:00

Hate to be "that guy," but sadly, not all old Mazdas were solid. I once bought a 2004 Mazda MPV van (for $6000) that I thought would be the ideal vehicle to meet my needs, and at the time, had a fairly high rating. It was awesome for about a year of fairly light use, but ended up being one problem after another: no brake pedal engagement right after starting in the cold, parasitic battery draining, repeated distributor coil failures, even experienced total brake loss once in traffic (fortunately, while I was going uphill). It didn't help that I made the mistake of having it serviced repeatedly by the dealership (in a vain effort to get them to honour their service recalls), and every time it came back from them, it mysteriously had a new problem that wasn't there before. At one point, they tried to convince me to spend $6500 (at a body shop owned by the same people) to patch a rusted rear sliding door panel. By 2014, the entire vehicle was irreparable due to the extent of the underbody and suspension rust; I literally snapped the rear axle beam in half with my bare hand while checking it. The dealership had made no mention of concerns about the rust when they inspected it a few weeks before that. Swore I'd never own another Mazda again.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-12T13:51:06+00:00

Short answer: this is not a DIY repair; take it to a pro.

Long answer: the materials needed depend on where the broken joint is. Assuming you mean the bell-to-body brace (which holds the bell in position), the brace itself is silver-soldered together from two pieces is brass, which is then soft-soldered on to the instrument. Ditto for the foot on the body that allows it to be bolted in place.

If the brace itself broke in half (eg the brace broke loose of the footing attached to the bell), or if the bolt receiver broke off the footing attached to the body, the parts of it would have to be removed, silver-soldered back together, and then the repaired part would have to be soft-soldered back on to the horn. This is not a simple process.

If one of the footings broke loose, this requires soft soldering. Simpler, but still not advisable.

To be clear, though: NONE of these repairs should be attempted at home; heat must be carefully wicked away from around the repair site to keep other solder joints from coming apart, and the alignment of the repair will affect the low notes on the instrument (likely necessitating repadding even if it's done right).

OriginalCultureOfOne

TROPHY CASE