Learn To Play Saxophone with the help of computers

Forte creates an ideal environment for making music
Products
FORTE Premium
FORTE Home
FORTE Basic
FORTE Free (Freeware)
Forte MidiToAudio
Forte Scan Light

http://www.fortenotation.com/en/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8xiPUUM-Yg

https://www.youtube.com/v/e8xiPUUM-Yg

BBC Music Jazz on DAB radio

The service will be on air from 12 ? 15 November 2015 with presenters from across BBC Radio as well as celebrity jazz fans and a collaboration with Jazz FM.
BBC Music Jazz is available online in the UK and internationally. It will be available as an ?on demand? service for up to 30 days after broadcast.
On your Dab Radio Scroll through the station list and you should find BBC Music Jazz after BBC Asian Network.
For more information follow the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/NK0RzQnT5r0KLb4D45Vwvl/how-to-listen-to-bbc-music-jazz

Cadwaladers was initially established in 1927 by the Cadwalader family in Criccieth.
Sadly Cadwaladers, the Welsh coffee and ice cream chain went into administration Diane Brierley and Mark Andrews bought out the firm.
Pwllheli and Abersoch shops - will close as part of the re-structure.

In my opinion Cadwalders ice cream palour  Criccieth  has lost its warmth friendly atmosphere and no music evenings. But do wish them luck with the new venture and do hope they will bring back the Jazz evening.

Hi Amit

Well done congratulations on your new additions I hope you don't mind I have put a further post on my forum.
http://learnsax.co.uk/talk/index.php?topic=141.msg211#msg211

I class myself still a beginner on saxophone but started playing about 4 years ago and I am now 70 years old.

A friend filmed me during an impromptu practice session with his video camera the video worked well but the camera
Audio capture was very poor we must use a better microphone in future.
Any comments would be appreciated on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_QGUxnLLXM
http://www.youtube.com/v/q_QGUxnLLXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bScLPmMEkgM


http://www.youtube.com/v/bScLPmMEkgM

I work a lot with midi I hear a tune I like.  I come home within minutes I can find the tune on my 70 GB database
or download from the internet.
Import the midi from the internet into Sibelius software and re-arrange for tenor saxophone.
And can start playing the tune that evening. My note reading is poor and to help I put note heads above the notes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9xyScxJLzg

I think bandpad could help me with note reading
What I would like in Bandpad is a way of importing a midi saxophone staff into Bandpad
there are plenty of free programs for editing midi.
Many times I am away from home and have lots of time to practice music.
But don't have access to the Internet so web based on these occasions are of no use so could do with a stand alone application

Good luck
Wishing you continued success
Tony
learnsax.co.uk

Thanks so much for your posting. I have never seen BandPad before and would like to compliment on your site.
Its Fabulous and free as well.
The audio is good notation is great for learning to sight read.
I play Tenor Saxophone would like to select this instrument.

From the notation window I wasn?t sure how to get back to the home
Screen.
Many thanks.

--------------
Tony Edge

Web site:
http://learnsax.co.uk/talk

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/learnsax
     

Well done I love Band Pad on the web
Its Fabulous and free as well.
The audio is good notation is great for learning to sight read.
I play Tenor Saxophone would like to select this instrument.

From the notation window I wasn?t sure how to get back to the home
Screen.
Many thanks.

--------------
Tony Edge
Forum:
http://learnsax.co.uk/talk

Web site:
http://learnsax.co.uk

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/learnsax
     

Many thanks to my good friend William Johnson Music Composer to set up my keyboard ready for a try at improvisation.
https://www.youtube.com/v/t39KiRJlBp4&list=UUazDaDehxiDfWGY2zAtskVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t39KiRJlBp4&list=UUazDaDehxiDfWGY2zAtskVg

https://www.youtube.com/v/YDrSPOHTd_c&list=UUxodx7Q4qagjalnFtlAeoFA
link for youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDrSPOHTd_c&list=UUxodx7Q4qagjalnFtlAeoFA

Why a midi keyboard on a saxophone web site you may ask.

I started playing saxophone at over the age of over 60 without any music training and unable to read music.
Both friends and musicians have commented on my progress. You sound really good.
I put this down to arranging the midi file in Sibelius 6 to for Saxophone and playing along with a Yamaha Psr keyboard.

Composing and playing along with Sibelius 6 Software is great fun.

Adding note heads helps with reading. My faithful Yamaha PSR 520 only has one problem visiting friends, pianist, keyboard players have difficulty with styles and saving to computer. The Yamaha Psr740 solves this problem and in my budget of less than ?160 second hand.

I have removed the floppy disk drive and installed a ?15 Gotek usb device, it works well.
998 diskettes that can be stored on a standard 2gb memory stick using 998 virtual partitions.
Partition 0 can be read on any computer without additional software The Gotek software is in Chinese works with XP
But is quite a struggle to work with windows 7. My solution was to buy another Gotek floppy on Ebay cheapest ?10 and
install the extra floppy emulator in my Windows 7 Desktop.  Backing up the usb memory stick with 998 partitions was easy
with a program called Image USB By Passmark Software.

Please visit learnsax youtube channel again and of course William Johnson music composer on YouTube.
1 hour later after filming in the Goyt Valley William composes a new melody
https://www.youtube.com/v/OMfvmff86Js&list=UUxodx7Q4qagjalnFtlAeoFA
Follow the link for YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMfvmff86Js&list=UUxodx7Q4qagjalnFtlAeoFA

Thanks for watching
Tony

http://www.youtube.com/v/YDrSPOHTd_c
to play the video on Youtube click on the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDrSPOHTd_c&list=UUxodx7Q4qagjalnFtlAeoFA





Great afternoon with William JOHNSON a Music Composer Music Video No.275 uploaded  Friday 1st August 2014 .
Thank you for demonstrating my new Yamaha PSR740
Bought on eBay for ?155. I play saxophone the keyboard is all new to me and am most grateful for your time. Well done love the music.
Nice to be able to save the complete score and pull in the music to Sibelius 6 and arrange parts to my own musical ablity on tenor sax.

The video.
The recording was made with a Toshiba Camileo Z100. Never used this camera before perhaps we should have connected the audio interface direct into the headphone socket on the Yamaha. The audio from the camera internal mike does not capture the music well. Just a small matter wonder if I could have slowed the zooming down also adjusted depth of field to reduce background.
Thanks again learnt a lot.
I have to admire people like William JOHNSON a Music Composer that can just sit down at a keyboard and compose a new melody.
Tony

Hi

Sorry can't help. Someone on the forum asked a question. Is there a trial version>

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=258415&site_id=1

eBay seem to be good on prices
PG Music Band in a Box Pro 2014 PC Composition & Accompaniment Software
item number:331091246388 US $96.99
Approximately ?57.00 buy it now.
Older versions can be found at an even lower price.

Congratulations on taking up the tenor saxophone after 40 years.
I only played saxophone for the first time after I retired from work.
In my younger days life was to busy with no spare time.
Now I have the time it?s a wonderful hobby and love to play for a couple of hours a day.  The only problem is the sax is quite loud and do have to consider neighbours and my long suffering wife.

The Muriati saxophones have a very good reputation some have rolled tone holes.
I?m sure will have a very fine tone and instrument.

Sorry I am not qualified to advise on the best mouthpiece.
I bought a Yamaha 6C mouthpiece and very pleased with the quality and ease of playing (The cost on EBay less than ?40). I like Vandoren reeds V16 2.5. V Cut. With 6C mouthpiece.

My saxophone teacher told me not to buy a metal mouthpiece but buy a hard rubber one.  But her music is classical.   A lot depends on the sounds you want to achieve.
YouTube have lots of demos.

Good luck let us know how you go on.   Love to hear how you progress and if you don?t mind put an mp3 online.
Thanks again for your post.
Tony.

Many thanks for signing in to learnsax.co.uk
Great to hear you have started learning the saxophone
It does not matter what age you start.
It can be a bit hard to get a good sound at first.

But like any hobby it takes time to become an expert.
I am no expert but love playing the tenor sax.

If you need any help just post a message.

Good luck
Keep in touch

Tony

A Fabulous event for the best free audio tool in the world today.


Audacity Unconference 2014 (AU14)
The Audacity Unconference 2014 (AU14) is an event for all Audacity users including teachers, musicians, and researchers.

It will run from Friday 11th to Saturday 12th July 2014 and you can book either day or both.

It is hosted by UCLan (University of Central Lancashire) in Preston, England.

Developers and support people will be there and so you will have an opportunity to talk to them as well as other users. We?d love to see you there!

Please see Audacity_Unconference_2014 for more details.
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_Unconference_2014
They may run sessions on:
Audacity for noobs, first lessons
The use of Audacity in Audio - Visual sequences
Radio Journalism and Audacity
Mixing
Teaching/composing with children in school with Audacity
How we used it in our library
Nyquist and what it has to offer
HCI of Audacity in comparison to other Audio Software
Music
They want to attend sessions on:
(these have been grouped and ordered a little)
Basic User How To / Audacity for noobs, first lessons.
Interested in learning about basic sound cleanup/treatment for podcast/video soundtrack
Learn techniques, procedures, effects, equipment recommendations and why's
Sessions to create better podcasts and music from scratch
Audacity/podcasts for Post-Beginners: avoiding screw-ups, making-do (budgetwise), and any clever tricks that aren't too hard!
Getting to learn how the program works, how it has been working for others indifferent settings, whether there is any other like software for deaf people too
Using audacity in self-recording
Tips and features
Ways to use effects
Creating children's music
Benefits/uses of different file extensions
Best practices Professional workshops
Audacity workshop Advanced Audacity user plug-ins
Learning from professionals, stuff about plugins, talks on sound + music

Audacity for sixth form sound investigations - using it to calculate frequecy, wavelengths etc.
Using audacity to help to teach sound and waves in school
Uses of audacity in science experiments
Tutorials and workshops on how to introduce students 16-18 to audacity
Education - composing in elementary & secondary school. Developing teaching material.
Using audacity in higher education and libraries.
Learning how to use audacity and using the application in school linked to the EYFS and new curriculum

I want to make music
Meet other acoustic musicians and/or singer-songwriters
Listening to other's music / Listening to cool stuff done on Audacity
Voice Acting/Actors on YouTube panel
Demonstrating how Audacity helps me as an experimental musician
A band and a bar.
Possibly cookout/BBQ/Stove Geek session

Resume of the last improvements - New possible functions - New mobile compatibility - Future of Audacity
What is in mind development wise / Discussing improvements that could be made to Audacity
Discussion on improving the software
Listening to any technical, how to or similar talks
Interest in discussion about technical resources and content delivery ideas
Workshops (code and research), hack sessions
Latency problems, VST-Plug-ins

Plugins
Nyquist programming
Quote from wikipedia:
Nyquist is a programming language for sound synthesis and analysis based on the Lisp programming language. It is an extension of the XLISP dialect of Lisp.
With Nyquist, the programmer designs musical instruments by combining functions, and can call upon these instruments and generate a sound just by typing a simple expression. The programmer can combine simple expressions into complex ones to create a whole composition, and can also generate various other kinds of musical and non-musical sounds.
The Nyquist interpreter can read and write sound files, MIDI files, and Adagio text-based music score files. On many platforms, it can also produce direct audio output in real time.
The Nyquist programming language can also be used to write plug-in effects for the Audacity digital audio editor.
One notable difference between Nyquist and more traditional MUSIC-N languages is that Nyquist does not segregate synthesis functions (see unit generator) from "scoring" functions. For example Csound is actually two languages, one for creating "orchestras" the other for writing "scores". With Nyquist these two domains are combined.
Nyquist runs under Linux and other Unix environments, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows.
The Nyquist programming language and interpreter were written by Roger Dannenberg at Carnegie Mellon University, with support from Yamaha Corporation and IBM.


http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_Unconference_2014

Wikifonia is no more.

The Wikifonia site is not available anymore.
A license to secure the rights of copyrighted works could not be extended.
There is no more access to the Wikifonia lead sheet database.

What a shame.

My solution download the midi file you want to play and open the file in a free music program. .

Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
MIDI has been around for a long time technology was standardized in 1983 by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). All official MIDI standards are jointly developed and published by the MMA.
Advantages of MIDI include compactness (an entire song can be coded in a few hundred lines, i.e. in a few kilobytes),   the midi instructions describe a music score in far more detail than ever a written score.
A lot of music programs all have different user interfaces and don?t have a common gateway to mix programs. A bit like before windows all programs had a stand alone user interface.
Band in a Box is good. For modifying notation and tracks Sibelius is my choice. Pity Band in a Box and Sibelius are not combined into one package.

The only common gateway between music programs is MIDI.

Advantages of using midi rather than printed score.

(1)   Not only do you get the melody but also some amazing accompaniments.
(2)   They are free
(3)   It?s so easy to change the instruments, transpose, and simplify the music to your own musical ability.  Pick out parts for Saxophone.
(4)   Play along to the rhythm without a metronome.

(5)   You can play the midi files in Windows Media Player and select the file that has the best sounds.
        Windows 7 can be a bit fussy with midi. One solution is to use an alternative media player such as Apple quicktime.
        If you don't get any midi sound to your speakers.  Some sound cards output midi direct to your keyboard using Windows 7 Media player.
        Ideal for listening to a few bars before loading into your music programs.

        But the very best free midi player designed For Yamaha PSR & Tyros keyboards.  XG soundcards or GM soundcards should work with most KYB's
                                  Download the free MidiPlayer Version 8.3.1

         by Michael Bedsem  from http://psrtutorial.com/
         Play files from a PC. Revoice instrument voices and OTS for your instrument, Repair files, Display and edit file data
         Processing many files at once.  Pass files to sequencers and other utility programs.
         Accepts midi, pad, and styles from all recent instruments.
                                            Windows 7. To set up your midi interface.

                                         (a) Plug in your usb midi interface.
                                         (b) Install MidiPlayer ver 8.3.1
                                         (c) click on C:\Program Files\MidiPlayer\PLWMidiMap.cpl
                                         (d) Select your usb to midi-keyboard.

       
(6)   Part of the fun being able to arrange the music and printout beautiful score import lyrics. Include pictures.

Disadvantages using midi
(1)   some editing is needed to make the music easy to read. But quite easy in programs like Sibelius.
(2)   Midi sound quality is dependent of your sound card and of course the speed of your PC. Slow net books and very old laptops don?t sound good but hook up a good second hand Yamaha midi keyboard such as Yamaha PSR520 with the Yamaha XG midi set can be bought for about ?50 on EBay. Connect this to your HI FI for superb sound

Downloads and free programs
(1)   Use Firefox as a browser with a plug-in downloadthemall  is very useful plug-in to prevent having to download each file one by one.
        Or for Google Chrome browser install a plugin  ?Download Master?
        chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/download-master/mcceagdollnkjlogmdckgjakjapmkdjf
        Use the filter *.mdi  to select just the midi files.
(2)   After time you may end up with thousands of songs in your midi folders. Windows XP search is quite good but I find windows 7 search poor. A program named FileSearchEX by GOFF Concepts very good you can use it free for a month. But if you like the program it cost $5 just a few pounds in the UK. And they accept payment by PayPal.
(3)   Sibelius demo can be downloaded free. Other free basic programs can be found on the Internet. Search Google for free music programs.
(4)   Millions of Karaoke files can be downloaded free.
(5)   To convert a .kar file just rename the file .mid or midi
If you have hundreds to convert copy the .kar files to a new folder but keep the .kar files they may come in use later.
(6)   Conversion from a dos command prompt >rename *.kar *.mid
(7)    Question after downloading hundreds of midi file they are all compressed as zip format.
How do I unzipp all the files in a folder all at once not one at a time.
download a free program 7-zip
highlight all the files right click "extract here".
7-Zip is open source software. Most of the source code is under the GNU LGPL license.
download from http://www.7-zip.org/


(         How do I keep all my files up to date on all my computers. I have 40 GB, over a million midi files. I use an old 2.5? Sata disc drive that was redundant after an upgrade. From EBay bought a case for ?5.
This is the item description:-
2.5 SATA to USB HARD DRIVE CADDY HDD CASE ENCLOSURE -  FOR external Use
Shell material: Aluminium - Dimensions: 129 x 75 x 12.5mm.No external power required. Plug in and play. Supports Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista/ Windows 7/Mac OS 8.6 or latest versions. Compatible with USB 2.0, SATA/ESATA. 480Mbps data processing speed.Stable and quick.
Large storage support. Hot-Swappable with Easy Plug & Play Supports 2.5" SATA Hard drives any speed up to 500GB Thickness 9.5mm. Product Details: Shell material: Aluminium  Dimensions: 129 x 75 x 12.5mm.
Pack includes1 ? Leather Case1 ? Screwdriver2 ? Screws1 ? 2.5" Sata External Hard Case for Hard Disk Drive1 ? 1 to 2 USB Cable.


(     A free program named Synkron keeps all my computers up to date in minutes using the external drive.
Synkron
Version 1.6.2
http://synkron.sourceforge.net/
Synkron is a simple Qt application designed for easy folder synchronisation.
This programme is distributed under the terms of the GPL v2.
2005-2014 Mat?? Tomlein
-----------------------------------------------------------
How do I prepare a music session with friends?
Use a free cloud program
Save your PDF or Midi or .sib file to the free cloud program

https://www.dropbox.com/

You can save the music to a folder on your computer by simply dragging and dropping any file to the dropbox folder.
For ease of use. Click on the shortcut on you desktop C:\Users\*\Dropbox
The free version allows 2gb of store space.

Invite your friends to join and practise the tunes prior to your music session

They will see the folder on their computer no need to email files.
Checkout tutorials on YouTube.

https://www.dropbox.com/

Bad news for 2014.
Jazz Fm stopped the Dab radio broadcast for people outside the London area.


But for home use I resurrected an old SKY box we still have the dish outside.
I tapped into the internal +5V supply with a 250mA fuse and resistor to limit current in case of any short circuits.
I soldered a USB cable to the +5V and 0V.
I rummaged in my old junk box and found an old FM transmitter
These can be bought for about ?5 on ebay
In car wireless MP3 radio transmitter they use batteries or power from a USB connector and a small phono connector for MP3 players.
The ?1 shop had a converter cable.
Then just plugged in the FM transmitter into the SKY box.
Selected JazzFM on the Sky box.
Now we can listen to JazzFM on the radio.

Replacing the Rotary Encoder on a Proteus 2000
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/replace-encoder.pdf
Switch, Encoder 16MM 24 Detents Vertical mount.
Bourns PEC164215FN0024 encoder for replacement.
I used a BI TECHNOLOGIES/TT ELECTRONICS, EN16-H20AF15, INCREMENTAL ENCODER purchased on EBay UK. ?4.75
INCREMENTAL ENCODER
Pin vertical/down facing
Not pc horizontal rear facing
?  Encoder Resolution:24CPR
?  Encoder Type: Incremental
?  Leaded Process Compatible:Yes
?  No. of Detents:0
?  Series:EN16

Locate the encoder pcb remove screws mark the ribbon cable with felt tip at pin 1.
Remove the pcb.
Use a solder sucker to remove the old encoder the following picture shows the encoder broken apart.
The middle spring is the detent.
The new encoder ready for soldering

After replacing the encoder refit the PCB
Making sure all the cables are correctly
Located.

open the user pdf help page
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/replace-encoder.pdf