Andrew

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A.B.D. -- Saxophone Performance, University of Minnesota
M.F.A. -- Saxophone Performance, University of Iowa
B.M.E. -- Music Education, B.M. -- Composition, Wartburg College

	2,468 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 1 month
522 badges		location	Minnesota		seen	Apr 28 at 5:57

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49 Comments

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Mar 26	comment	What are some useful and effective exercises for training absolute pitch? Not anymore. This was years ago on an Apple IIgs.
Feb 4	comment	Making a Soundproof Room While there is such a thing as a "practice mute" for saxophone, it is in essence a case in which to put the saxophone to muffle the sound while playing. I've never seen one in person, but I cannot imagine the device working satisfactorily. Because woodwinds produce sound through their tone holes, brass-style bell-insertion mutes do not work for woodwind instruments.
Jan 16	comment	Aiding the transcription of naturally occuring sounds. e.g. Horse whinnying, bird singing, etc I wouldn't close, and I don't think this is a duplicate question (as far as I can tell). The "Edit," however, seems like a separate question that could be made more specific and answerable.
Jan 2	comment	“Andalusian cadences”: How are they commonly heard? I don't have time to answer right now, but consider that the Andalusian Cadence might not be a cadence at all. In particular, when the chord progression is the entire phrase and is repeated as an ostinato, it is likely not a cadence in its entirety.
Dec 19	comment	Is it acceptable to move hand position while practicing scales on guitar? This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post.
Dec 18	comment	How do you start a regular jamming session? As your question stands, I am not completely sure what you are asking. Are you asking how to find musicians for your group? Are you asking how to train (informally) other non-jazz musicians, whose skills you already know, to play jazz with you? I think a few more details would help this question be more useful.
Jun 4	comment	Which Bach toccata is more difficult- BWV910 or BWV911? There could well be a reasoned explanation why one work is more difficult to perform than another. It's true that the answer could be "it depends," but then, there should be reasons that each is difficult. A performer more skilled at handling one source of difficulty over another could then determine just from the description which work would be more difficult for him or her.
May 23	comment	What chord is this from Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 “G - Db - F”? @MatthewRead To meta we go...
May 23	comment	What chord is this from Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 “G - Db - F”? @MatthewRead Asking for the name and/or function of a sonority would seem to me to be a valid, answerable "theory" question. "I'm curious" would seem sufficient justification for asking.
May 22	comment	How to achieve this sax tone? I'm 99% sure that's an alto. Unfortunately for your question, I'm primarily a classical player and don't have any specific mouthpiece suggestions. I can tell you that you are looking mostly for a mouthpiece, along with a ligature and reed that will work on that mouthpiece. I just can't tell you which mouthpiece.
May 22	comment	Improving vibrato and breath volume in singing, in my early 20's This is really two different questions. How about editing this down to one question (about vibrato) and asking about breath volume in a separate question?
Apr 19	comment	Accepted ranges for SATB choral works? @RyanMcClure If you know who is performing the piece, use their ranges. If a piece can be performed by one group, it very well may be performable by others. That said, if you are at all unsure of the amount of rehearsal time you will get, keep the ranges (and other elements) more conservative, as it will keep the singers happier. I had this very experience as an undergrad. I wrote a work for SSAATTBB choir that was quite challenging but within the realm of the college choir. I couldn't get enough people willing to perform it. Just a cautionary tale...
Apr 19	comment	Accepted ranges for SATB choral works? @Luke Yes. Thank you. I have edited my answer accordingly.
Mar 5	comment	Is there any way to find average of song's amplitude? Without looking it up, I'd guess that there would have to be software to find something like the root-mean-square of the waveform. I don't think this tells you anything useful about the style, though, particularly since your analysis would be almost entirely dependent on how the recording was made, not on the style of the music. You would have to have complete control over the recordings, not just the analysis. Even then, I'm not sure how you plan to use the information to determine "what kind of music it is." Could you clarify?
Mar 2	comment	Notating Augmented Chords @Gauthier I misunderstood what you were doing when you said that you played the seventh on augmented chords. It looks like you are instead using an altered dominant (altered to include ♯̂2). In that case, yes, you could just be treating the augmented chord as a dominant-functioning sonority. It occurs to me that it should be possible also to resolve the V7+5 as a non-traditional augmented sixth chord, which would make a progression like `G♯7+5 - E♯7 (F7) - B♭`. I don't have a keyboard handy to hear how that progression would sound, but I think it would sound pretty unusual.
Mar 2	comment	Notating Augmented Chords @Gauthier The Aug7 chord is only going to "fit" if it is functioning as a Maj7+5 chord; that is, it would go where a Maj7 chord would go, but the fifth is altered for effect. Yes, this chord has a defined root, but depending on the harmonic language in use, the augmented triad may not be functioning in a similar manner. The notation of these "divide-the-octave-equally" chords (the other notable one being the fully diminished seventh chord) depends on context, and even then it is not always an exact science, since some music uses the chord's ambiguity to resolve to an unexpected harmony.
Feb 27	comment	Do accidentals in one staff apply to notes in other staffs? No, the circled note is A♮. There is no A♯ in the key signature.
Feb 27	comment	Why do marches usually end with a repetition of the last note? The stinger is so idiomatic and expected that its omission can also play with the audience's expectations. One of the better-known examples is Sousa's Semper Fidelis.
Feb 13	comment	What is the best position for a Sax reed? @DarenW Strength "numbers" have little meaning across brands anyway. A 2 1/2 Selmer Omega is likely to be quite different in strength from a 2 1/2 Vandoren, for instance. Also, because the different brands are often cut somewhat differently, it could be that the reed shape makes your new reeds softer in the low register. To some degree, you can diagnose and fix this issue yourself; see this answer (specifically the "Balancing and strength adjustment" section) for more information.
Feb 8	comment	What is the pattern in this sequence of notes? I think this question is salvageable if we can make it a little more specific. Whether the particular analytical technique used is ultimately useful depends on the purpose behind the question. The poster may at this point simply want to know about the pitch collection presented, while someone else (say @NReilingh) may want to know about larger structures. I see no reason that we cannot accommodate both types of analysis here, as each would be useful for different purposes.