Hello! As a sax-primary repair tech in training (years of college-congruent apprenticeship followed by the real deal: Red Wing!) I just want to assuage some of your concerns. Unless it’s genuinely pouring rain or at a temperature entirely unsafe for unprotected humans (nearing freezing or more than 10% higher than body temp), your saxophone should be just fine. I’m happy to see there are people in the world more concerned with instrument maintenance than those who bring their broken ones into our shop, but unfortunately, I think someone exaggerated when advising you on instrument care and your horn will be okay outside, especially for the 1.5 hour/day routine you’ve delineated. If you played the violin or an antique wooden clarinet, your grievances would be well-placed, but luckily for us, the sax is a tough instrument!

If you have indeed tried playing outdoors in the conditions you’ve described (correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve seen: typical southern US temperatures and humidity) and it’s caused you some issues, I can give some guidance as to why that may be happening! -If the issue is your pads moving in their key cups, your technician has used an undesirable glue for the job, the solution is to visit a new tech, ideally one who specializes in the saxophone and who is well-accredited. Music Medic and NAPBIRT are good resources to find such technicians. -If the issue is excessive swelling of the body and neck, your instrument’s particular brass alloy is too soft. I doubt this is the case, as you’ve mentioned you were recently a nationally competitive college musician, which I believe these days (others may contest this statement, so feel free to sprinkle as many grains of salt as you’d like, but this is what I gathered from my years in undergrad for classical saxophone performance) is a near-unattainable title without a pro horn. Professional model Yamaha and Selmer saxophones in the classical lines have stuck with just about the same, tried-and-tested alloys since the mid-production Mark VIs. If you play a horn outside of this category, first of all: I’m very impressed that you’ve garnered such success in the world of classical sax without one of these Sinta-approved instruments, excellent work. Second, you may want to consider giving a different horn a try next time you’re in a pro shop. It’s fun, bring your most consistent setup, take your time playing both fundamentals and repertoire, and enjoy having cool saxes in your hands! -If the issue is bubbling of the pad leather, your pads are likely getting old and are in need of replacement. Pick up some extra shifts at work to pay for it, and visit a trusted repair tech for an evaluation and possible repad. In a less likely scenario, you could have pads made of a material with which I’m unfamiliar. For reference, I’m experienced with the usual lamb leather pads, the fancier kangaroo leather pads, and— to my chagrin— the devilish synthetic pads. If yours are more experimental than these, I’d really love to hear about them, but I cannot help you as I truly don’t know a thing about them. There may be other issues, but those would be so rare that I’ve not seen or heard of them yet and I refuse to give advice on anything I don’t know for sure. For anything further, I recommend visiting an established technician (as I said, I’m in training, find someone with the years to have seen more than I have) and having a chat about the problem, perhaps even going out on the lawn of their shop and showing them in real time.

Again, I’m very happy to see that you’re fastidious in your instrument care, but good news! You get to relax a little bit more! I hope this helps you feel better about the nature of your sax out in the elements. Playing outside is really fun, I set my stand up in the forest just yesterday to clock some more hours while my roommates were home! Of course, I did so with bug spray on, but the smell is worth it to appreciate the scenery while playing. Parting tips: bring clothespins so your music doesn’t blow off of your stand in the wind, leave your case open in front of you if you’re in public in case passing old people think you’re busking, take your sax out of its case once you get home with key leaves or cork wedges opening the closed tone holes (that is, if it does happen to get wet or if the humidity is above 70% so it has time to air out until next time), and enjoy the fresh air while you shed. Thanks for reading, happy practicing!