Learn To Play Saxophone with the help of computers

Sound sim cards are available but at very high cost they could cost over ?100
On ebay I purchased 9 blank simms for ?10
My proposal is to build read/write modules for less than ?10.

My ideas so far. Download the file in office 2003 doc format.
learnsax.co.uk.docs/make-simms.doc

Download the file as a .pdf

learnsax.co.uk.docs/make-simms.pdf

Ideas to use emu blank simms PC10498 Rev A 32mb Sound Rom W/2Mb Flash
purchased on ebay nine for ?10 for Proteus 2000

U5 is a LH28F-160S5T-L10A
low-cost, nonvolatile, read/write storage. 100,000 Block Erase Cycles
Configurable x8 or x16 I/O

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U6 is a 74ACT138 3 TO 8 LINE DECODER
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Various options could be used to program the flash memory.

EZoFlash. Parallel memory programmer.
                                      http://www.ezoflash.com/adapters.htm
Programmer EZoFlash support :
?   8bit , 8/16bit and 16 bit flash memory in TSOP, PSOP, DIP and PLCC packages,
?   EPROM, E(E)PROM and E2PROM parallel memory, FWH/LPC and AT89C51 family,
?   +3.3V and +5.0V Vcc devices,
?   address range to 64Mbit (..A22),
?   +12V driver for programming and temporary sector unprotection,
?   adapters with standard sockets for DIP and PLCC devices,
?   adapters with memory chip soldering or surface mount identical footprint sockets (Meritec, Yamaichi) for TSOP , PSOP and SSOP devices,
?   software commands - get ID, read, verify, erase, blank check and program.
?   Latest version EZoFlash4v5 support serial EEPROM (I2C, Microwire, SPI), SPI Flash, Microchip PIC, Atmel AVR-8bit MCU (ATmega, ATtiny, AT90)


Just one solution to read/write EMU U5. Make a ribbon cable header to a 72pin simm socket
Use Ezoflash free software
Download the Schematic   Part list   PCB   Component layout   Download package
From http://www.ezoflash.com/ezoflash.htm

Option 2  http://uk.farnell.com/raspberry-pi

The Raspberry Pie should be fairly easy to program i/o
But would need a simple interface to the EMU simm skt

And a patch cable.  Memory addressing could use a cmos16 bit up down counter I/C and a bi/direction data buffer I/C and control lines.

SSOP 56 sockets are available but very expensive you could even burn/prog chips prior to soldering.

So far this is just at the ideas stage and the topic is open to develop a low cost read/write sound rom.

Cost so far blank C10498 sim bought on ebay aprox ?1 each
U5    LH28F-160S5T-L10A  ?4 each (Used on Sisco router)
U6    74ACT138 ?1
Ezoflash programmer no cost parts can be salvaged from scrap computer boards
May need to buy film and photo pcb and etch ?5.


Tony Edge

Proteus 2000 released in 1999 a 19 inch Midi rack sound module based on Audity 2000 released in 1998. It contained  over a thousand waves utilising 32 megabytes of ROM. It featured up to 128 voice polyphony and 32-part multi-timbrality. It could be expanded with slots for three additional sound ROM cards.

Just arrived back home after 7 hours driving
Delighted with Dab radio received Jazz FM in the remote parts of North Wales.

Lovely journey listening to the pod casts on Saxophone made the journey a joy.

For me to name just two interesting tips gained from the lectures I need to work on.

(1)   Watch the masters of saxophone on You tube when they play fast music you can hardly see their fingers move.   Try and keep your fingers touching the pearls but remember on tenor this is not easy for many.
(2)   Most of the players practice with a metronome.

One of the discussions mentioned should Tenor sax or Alto lead.
One of the podcasts reinforced my thinking

I like to use sibelius to practice. The source of music could be a midi file or a scanned sheet with melody and piano.
I like to play the music in Band in a Box change the melody instrument to Tenor Sax With ctrl alt 5 or ctrl alt 6 change the key that sound nice and is within easy play range.
Quite often dropping an octave.
A problem encountered the piano sounds too low.
With Band in a Box this is easy if I wish to keep the piano and other instrument without change. Drop just the key of Sax with 3rd 5th or octave by using [melody] , [edit melody track], [transpose melody only]  or use the similar for the melody if in the soloist track.
Add any extras such as improvisation and chords. When happy
Save all to a midi file.
Open Sibelius and import the midi file.
I find for practice I like the play along you can see all instruments the play along vertical line cursor is very precise.
I noticed during playing along watching the notation if I played the tenor sax note a little before the same note for piano did not sound as good as if I played the sax note when the cursor line was just to the right hand side of the notehead.

If you are planning a long journey and want to listen to talks on how to improve your saxophone playing.
Download some brilliant talks by some of the masters of the saxophone these will be sure to keep you entertained for hours.
These can be downloaded for free, as .mp3 format.
The website http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/
The podcast link http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/tag/podcasts/
With tutorials on saxophone Techniques
http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/category/best-saxophone-tips-and-techniques/

Learn from the lectures from some of the saxophone players.
http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/category/best-saxophone-players/

These days many car radios have sockets for mp3 players.
My car had an old radio and no input sockets.
I love listening to Jazz FM but is only available on DAB Radios
So it was time for a change the reviews for a low cost car dab radio
The Mutant MT5068DAB Car Stereo RDS DAB Radio with USB, CD, WMA, MP3, iPod, iPhone and SD Card were very good with prices with delivery just a little over ?70 on EBay.
Fitting was quite easy once the old radio had been removed the connectors on most are standard ISO.  Hiding the tiny Dab antenna wire took a bit of fiddling but with a bit of patience with a small length of ring main cable stripped to just one insulated wire.
After 5 minutes managed to reach the door frame and secured the tiny SMA Antenna
with some gaffer tape and carefully pulled the wire back to the radio.
Switched on with the antenna mounted near the windscreen pillar.
Bingo!!
Looking forward to a 7 hour drive tomorrow the company of Jazz FM and the "Free Podcast on Saxophone Best Saxophone Web Site Ever dot com" downloaded to a tiny ultra cheap mp3 player.
Happy motoring
Tony

Warm up with the blues scales in all keys.

Download the free blues.pdf by right clicking the pdf and save as.

http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/blues-scales.pdf

Download the midi file
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/blues-scales.mid                     

Download the Sibelius 6 score blues-scale.sib
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/blues-scales.sib

Play the Band In a Box 2012 version blues-scales.mp3
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/blues-scales.mp3

Buxton (Dove Holes) Beer & Jazz Week-End July 5th?7th 2013
Three day event
Hot&Cold Food, Club Cricket, Real Ale tent + ?meet the Brewer?

Staring the fantastic Jamie Brownfield, Tom Kincaid & Jim Swinnerton

http://www.jamiebrownfield.co.uk/
http://tomkincaid.co.uk/pianist/

Featuring New Orleans Heat, The Blue Magnolia Jass Orchestra,
The Rich Bennett Band, Martin Bennett?s Jazz Friends,
Spat?s Langham?s Hot Combination with Emily Campbell,
John Hallam, Jim  the Incredible Limeburners Parade Band

For more information on the 22nd Dove International Beer & Jazz Week-End and time table Visit:-

http://www.dovejazzclub.co.uk/Documents/FORM%202013.pdf

Sibelius 6 how do I slow the tempo in the middle of a score.

Normally the hidden messages are not displayed. To view press the VIEW button, Hidden objects.
You will notice at the first bar the tempo is set ~crochet=100.  We can change the tempo anywhere by entering this string of text. The tilde ~ is not essential for tempo but if included the instruction will be hidden.

Create text or use the quick keys CTRL+ALT+T
Right click the mouse a flashing vertical line is displayed
Right click on this line will bring a pop up menu from the menu select crotchet symbol CTRL+4
Enter crochet symbol=40.   The music will start off at 100 ticks and slow down to 40 at this point.

To change the volume anywhere in Sibelius 6 you can add a midi message into the score.
Normally the hidden messages are not displayed. To view press the VIEW button, Hidden objects.

Midi controller 7 determines the volume the tilde squiggle ~ is the start of a midi instruction.
~C7,0 is soft  ~C7,127 the loudest

Create text or use the quick keys CTRL+ALT+T
Enter ~C7,127 at the desired note or staff.

Abersoch Jazz Festival - Gwyl Jazz Abersoch - is back!
On the glorious  Welsh Riviera at Abersoch on the LLyn Peninsula.
http://www.abersoch.co.uk/jazzfestival/
September 27th 28th 29th 2013
With a new format and new dates, please note the changes.
The festival site will be more contained promoting an even more accessible and friendly event.

We look forward to welcoming musicians, and friends old and new, to enjoy a fabulous weekend.
All you musicians out there of any ability are warmly invited to join the ?street buskers?, so bring your instruments with you.

  You are all invited to come along, enjoy yourselves, support your local venues and businesses, to ensure that we continue to keep ?Jazz alive in Abersoch?.

Ticket Prices ? Stroller Tickets ? ?40 before the 30th June ? ?42 thereafter.
Day Tickets ? ?22.  For booking and further details phone 01758 712929/01758 712000 or send an S.A.E. to Abersoch Information Centre, Abersoch, LL53 7AP.

Backing track made with Band In a Box.  The music based on Larry Alderson music. This practice session is for Tenor Saxophone.

https://soundcloud.com/tedge-1/georgia-on-my-mind-backing-for
******  Song Summary  *************
Title: GEORGIA ON MY MIND
File: Georgia On My Mind nice for tenor sax.MGU
Key=G  , Tempo 80, Length (m:s)=8:21
Soloist is saved with the song : MONTY: MontyA Sw 16ths (184)
Style is JAZZSLOW.STY (Jazz Slow Style)
Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic String Bass (33), Acoustic Piano (1), Acoustic Guitar (26), Slow Strings (50),
MIDI Drums :1 Standard Drum Kit (1)

RealDrums substituted :JazzBrushes: a: Brushes Swirling b: Brushes Busier

Upload some of your music to soundcloud.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundCloud

Misty with quite a nice bluesy jazz
recording using my cheap Yamaha PSR520 as a music synthesizer
Its all computer generated with Band in a Box.
The saxophone improvisation is based on the chord progression
using realtracks.

To improve on the quality I used a phono cable from the headphone
socket of the Yamaha keyboard and plugged the other end into
the microphone socket of my PC computer.
Recordings were made with the free audio program called Audacity
and saved as an mp3.
play or download (right click save link)

http://learnsax.co.uk/play/mp3/12-Misty.mp3

Tony

Misty
Uploaded to soundcloud.com

https://soundcloud.com/tedge-1/misty
******  Song Summary  *************
For Tenor Saxophone in C
Title: Misty
File:Misty Backing bluesy with sax final 2.MGU
Key=Bb , Tempo 80, Length (m:s)=3:30
No intro. 68 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 68.  Repeat x1 chorus
Melody has 629 notes, Melody harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Soloist track has 443 notes, Soloist harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Song is saved with  Volume,  Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for  Patches, Tempo ,
Soloist is saved with the song : Sax,Alto,Jazz Bal Sw85 Blues (491)
Style is J_WYNT_K.STY (Wynton K. (Chord Embel ))
Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic String Bass (33), Acoustic Piano (1),
MIDI Drums :1 Standard Drum Kit (1)
Based on J_MISTY.STY from Style Disk 6.
RealDrums will be substituted :JazzBrushesSticks: a: Brushes b: Snare, Ride
******************
Chords
CMaj7 A7 Dm7 G7b9 Em7b5 A7b9 D9 G13

Melody
G (f5), E (d5), C(c4), E (eb4) G B chord (g4 bb4)
"Look at me, I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree,
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud, I can't understand,
I get misty, just holding your hand.

Walk my way, and a thousand violins begin to play,
Or it might be the sound of your hello, that music I hear,
I get misty, the moment you're near.

You can say that you're leading me on,
But it's just what I want you to do,
Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost,
That's why I'm following you.

On my own, would I wander through this wonderland alone,
Never knowing my right foot from my
left, my hat from my glove,
I'm too misty, and too much in love.
I'm too misty, and too much in love.

You can say that you're leading me on,
But it's just what I want you to do,
Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost,
That's why I'm following you.

On my own, would I wander through this wonderland alone,
Never knowing my right foot from my
left, my hat from my glove,
I'm too misty, and too much in love.
I'm too misty, and too much in love."

Link to:   40 page paper by Timothy Nunnink
A COMPARISON OF THE TECHNIQUES USED FOR ADJUSTING THE
SINGLE REED ON THE SAXOPHONE
download:
http://doctorsax.biz/musical%20instruments/reeds/reed_adjusting_paper.pdf

Yes this is not difficult but the video control panels may be a bit different depending on your video card.
But first a simple tip go to FILE, PREFERENCES, SCORE POSITION, MOVE BEATS EARLY from 0 to 2 or 3.
this should help.

Setup Dual monitors with Windows XP Pro

Download the instructions word Dual-monitors-xp.doc
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/Dual-monitors-xp.doc
or open the .pdf file Dual-monitors-xp.pdf
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/Dual-monitors-xp.pdf
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From Windows control panel display adjust dual monitor settings click on the 1 screen and set the resolution.
Set the resolution for screen 2
Observe screen two move the blue screen box to the optimum position.
Now to test Minimise any of windows applications slightly then drag the window over to the next screen (the drag does not work until minimized)
Another quick test moving the mouse pointer should move into the next screen.

Install the correct video driver.
The Nvidia control panel for the video card
GeForce 7800 GT

Install the desktop manager.
From the toolbar at the top of the screen,
Right click on the black icon
Enables 7 options
(a) Maximise to desktop
(b) Send window to
(c) Send application to
(d) Transparent
(e) Always on top
(f) Visible on all desktops
(g) Collapse to this desktop
(h) Individual settings

To span the display over to two monitors
Select maximise to desktop
From the toolbar black button
 
Any image that normally fits the standard monitor will now stretch over to the next monitor forming a very large image.
For reading music notation Sibelius and Band In a Box by (PG) can now be spread over two monitors.
It makes reading and playing so much easier with Sibelius
You can now read ahead without hesitating waiting for the next note.
In Sibelius toolbar click the box near the magnify glass [100%] to [fit screen width]
Change the font size in LAYOUT, DOCUMENT SETUP, STAFF SIZE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9xyScxJLzg

http://www.youtube.com/v/t9xyScxJLzg

Yes this is not difficult but the video control panels may be a bit different depending on your video card.




Setup Dual monitors with Windows

Download the instructions word Dual-monitors-xp.doc
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/Dual-monitors-xp.doc
or open the .pdf file Dual-monitors-xp.pdf
http://learnsax.co.uk/docs/Dual-monitors-xp.pdf[/size]
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From Windows control panel display adjust dual monitor settings click on the 1 screen and set the resolution.
Set the resolution for screen 2
Observe screen two move the blue screen box to the optimum position.
Now to test Minimise any of windows applications slightly then drag the window over to the next screen (the drag does not work until minimized)
Another quick test moving the mouse pointer should move into the next screen.

Install the correct video driver.
The Nvidia control panel for the video card
GeForce 7800 GT
 
Install the desktop manager.
 From the toolbar at the top of the screen,
Right click on the black icon
Enables 7 options
(a) Maximise to desktop
(b) Send window to
(c) Send application to
(d) Transparent
(e) Always on top
(f) Visible on all desktops
(g) Collapse to this desktop
(h) Individual settings
 
To span the display over to two monitors
Select maximise to desktop
From the toolbar black button
 
Any image that normally fits the standard monitor will now stretch over to the next monitor forming a very large image.
For reading music notation Sibelius and Band In a Box by (PG) can now be spread over two monitors.
It makes reading and playing so much easier with Sibelius
You can now read ahead without hesitating waiting for the next note.