The Classical Saxophonist’s Guide to Recording the Saxophone and its Chamber Variations

Practice. Perform. Record.

Throughout my growth as a saxophonist, a teacher, and a recording engineer, this pattern of creation shows itself repeatedly in music. I’ve participated in these categories many times as a musician, but took a while to fully understand just how often this pattern showed up exactly this way in my life:

Practice.

The first step for all of us: small moments that grow into countless hours in a small, cramped practice room. We realize that the dryer it is, the more you hear, the faster you improve. This puts us into a hyper-critical space, and for many of us this is closely intertwined with who we are. We’ve spent this time trying for the exact tongue position on the reed that yields the best articulations, the most even passages, that flawless shift, that justly tuned triple-stop. Some days we leave our spaces disappointed and wanting more out of ourselves, but perseverance always wins. We start noticing the improvements gradually, really earning the ease required for a moving performance. Where we take what we’ve done, moved with our fears, grappled with our failures, only to walk out on stage, take a breath, and…

Perform.

Some describe it as “rushing.” As “letting go.” A “confidence”, “love”, or “vulnerability.”

Whatever we call it, it was earned and reflects a method and a cycle. We take our time and learn to let go in our practice room so a 50-minute recital or a 15 second solo creates a lifetime of unforgettable in that lucky audience member. That one member who had the worst day, filled with rain, that big argument and one unnecessary parking ticket, because they were only in there for 5 minutes. They were debating on not coming, but changed their mind at the last moment, not entirely sure why they did so. They sit down, quiet, and open to this experience, whether they know it or not.

This is who the practicing was for. You don’t know it, but they do. When they stay seated for that moment after the experience you brought them, you gave something to them. They stand up, and immediately look for you. They won’t forget that feeling—in fact, they want more of it. This is how we as musicians continue to interface with the people we’ve moved after we part. We gather what we know, the people who help us create, and find a future weekend to…

Record.

The modern culmination of what we can do as the very best of ourselves on a particular day during our career as musicians. To record is to take a sonic picture of a moment in our musical lives. We cement that moment by creating our ideal performance, and with the help of an excellent producer, audio engineer, and creative mix, we can sit back and feel a sense of pride that comes with hearing a bit of exactly what we wanted in our recording.

The recording is not the musician we were and it’s not going to be the musician we’ll become—

It’s the musician we are right now, and that is to be celebrated.

These three words together create my philosophy as a saxophonist, engineer, and teacher. Each of these distinct areas of musical study deeply influence each other, and I believe that together they create an atmosphere indicative of a great performance, an incredible recording, and memorable lessons. These three worlds were culminated into the terminal document for my Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, entitled The Classical Saxophonist’s Guide to Recording the Saxophone and its Chamber Variations.

This document contains a recording methodology geared towards the classical saxophone in its specificity of technique, but can be utilized in many different instrumental situations and environments. Discussed within are basic routings within a DAW, microphone placement suggestions, stereo techniques, and interviews with prominent audio engineers that have helped me in my journey.

I hope this document can be of use to your personal recording journey, your saxophone studio, or a student looking to vary their musical skillset. Please reach out to me via the contact form with any questions pertaining to the document, my philosophy, or my services. Thank you!