Yamaha reinvents the sax

ttf_timothy42b · Post by **ttf_timothy42b** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:25 am

Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85_73iAm-sU&feature=youtu.be

Well, maybe that's not quite the right word.

This has potential. pBones in either tenor or alto are hard to play - but so is a brass trombone, so that's not unexpected. (hard? we wish it were impossible.)

Sax seems to be a bit easier technically in the early stages.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:02 am

Yamaha has made electronic instruments for quite a few years. I know one guy who plays an EWI (not well, unfortunately). I had thought the EVI might be interesting, but not for what I would have to pay for a head, amp, and speaker. This one is actually a wind instrument.

I like the recorder fingering. It sounds like its range is a soprano sax/clarinet.

Wonder what the tariff will be.

And when will they provide a baritone version

ttf_timothy42b · Post by **ttf_timothy42b** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:28 am

$107, but Amazon is back ordered.

ttf_greenbean · Post by **ttf_greenbean** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:22 am

As a sax/clarinet player in a former life...

Its tone is pretty good. But the limited range will make it pretty boring.
The range is much less than a soprano sax and MUCH less than clarinet. It was getting monotonous is that short clip.

I bet tuning is difficult. That guy had a hard time playing it in tune and he is a good player!

ttf_sirisobhakya · Post by **ttf_sirisobhakya** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:17 pm

I heard it in person at Yamaha Shop in Hiroshima two weeks ago. I wanted to buy it for my father, who said he would like to learn clarinet. But I changed my mind.

As far as I heard, its intonation was as bad as a recorder, sometimes even worse. It also looked difficult to make sound out of it, even the player seems to have some prior knowledge of woodwind playing (he came with 3-4 friends, they all looked like college students, and one of them was carrying a clarinet). Even in some videos on Youtube the Venova sounds horribly out of tune.

I have read that real Soprano Sax mouthpiece and ligature helps it sound better, though.

So, at least for me, I would save $100 for something else, for now.

ttf_robcat2075 · Post by **ttf_robcat2075** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:28 pm

That's impressive. They've managed to combine the annoying sound of a kazoo with the complexity and expense of a woodwind instrument.

The folded wind path is interesting, but really... if you wanted something you can carry around in your purse, you can get a recorder at the dollar store that wouldn't sound worse.

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 11:13 am

Looks cool! Anyone looked into the Nuvo instruments? Similar idea, though more aimed at children before getting into intermediate and pro-level instruments.

LOVE stuff like this!

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 11:13 am

Looks cool! Anyone looked into the Nuvo instruments? Similar idea, though more aimed at children before getting into intermediate and pro-level instruments.

LOVE stuff like this!