I've been playing sax since about 1998 now which is what, 16 years? How is that possible? But anyway, this post is about something I hear all to often in the world of the musician: The backup instrument.
Over these last 16 years I've owned an insane amount of saxophones trying to find that one that will make me a better player, distracting myself from my true dreams and goals with drugs like Ebay and Sax on the Web. I can say that 2 of them were my main instruments, my Conn Chu Berry which I sold to acquire my Buescher Big B tenor. What were the rest? They were the ever confusing 'backup horn'.
Planning for that rainy day when my main axe gets broken or stolen....or just for when I'm bored and hit a wall, or want a different sound or inspiration.
Guitar I kinda get the collection mentality. I've met those guys who are professional studio musicians. You need a Tele, a Gretsch, some kind of Gibson, a Strat, flat top, archtop, Gypsy, classical, you need a variety of guitars to get those gigs.
Trouble is I carried that obsolete mentality over to the sax world so I spent and enormous amount of energy 're-searching' and acquiring instruments. All that time I could have been seeking gigs or practicing, that is time better spent. Truth be told, no matter what horn I play I sound like a slightly different version of, me. I can not escape me. I can not be anybody but me. May as well accept that.
I meet other horn players doing this as well, obsessing over a 'backup' horn. Well, what do you truly want? A Mk6? Then save your sheckels and buy one. By the time you've had 5 or 10 'sorta' Selmers you could have bought what you truly dream of.
The guy who taught me how to play bought his 10M in 1948 used and played it till he died 5 years ago. He had 2 other tenors over those years, one was a 'backup' that he lent out and never saw again. Maybe the universe was telling him he didn't need that horn after all, and the other guy did!
The other pitfall to look out for: the backup horn may be a small symptom of 'the backup plan'. How much time does one spend thinking of what to fall back on in case the dream doesn't work out? Follow thy bliss. Focus on what you want, leave the rest for someone else!
So 2 antidotes that I think may help. One, if you think you really need a backup horn, buy an inferior instrument. You don't want to play it unless you have to. If your #1 is in a state of dis-repair, allow this to motivate you to get it together. Don't bother looking for that 'other flavor', commit to what you got and roll with it. My teacher could get any sound out of that raggedy ass 10M. That only comes from years of playing it, becoming intimate with it.
Second, when in doubt, sit and write about what you appreciate in the horn or whatever instrument of choice you have. Do this every day for 30 days. Write a sentence about the sound, the feel, how you feel. Write about the qualities you dig in your connection to it, your playing. Trouble is we focus so much on what we don't want that we create our own boredom with what we do have! FOcus on what you love about your instrument and those things WILL grow. You want a deeper tone? Focus on a deeper tone. You want more bite? Focus on bite. You'll find you may not need more equipment, you just need an idea. And if you do reach that point where you need something else, allow it into your life, it will show up! Faith y'alls, faith.
Comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Jef
Over these last 16 years I've owned an insane amount of saxophones trying to find that one that will make me a better player, distracting myself from my true dreams and goals with drugs like Ebay and Sax on the Web. I can say that 2 of them were my main instruments, my Conn Chu Berry which I sold to acquire my Buescher Big B tenor. What were the rest? They were the ever confusing 'backup horn'.
Planning for that rainy day when my main axe gets broken or stolen....or just for when I'm bored and hit a wall, or want a different sound or inspiration.
Guitar I kinda get the collection mentality. I've met those guys who are professional studio musicians. You need a Tele, a Gretsch, some kind of Gibson, a Strat, flat top, archtop, Gypsy, classical, you need a variety of guitars to get those gigs.
Trouble is I carried that obsolete mentality over to the sax world so I spent and enormous amount of energy 're-searching' and acquiring instruments. All that time I could have been seeking gigs or practicing, that is time better spent. Truth be told, no matter what horn I play I sound like a slightly different version of, me. I can not escape me. I can not be anybody but me. May as well accept that.
I meet other horn players doing this as well, obsessing over a 'backup' horn. Well, what do you truly want? A Mk6? Then save your sheckels and buy one. By the time you've had 5 or 10 'sorta' Selmers you could have bought what you truly dream of.
The guy who taught me how to play bought his 10M in 1948 used and played it till he died 5 years ago. He had 2 other tenors over those years, one was a 'backup' that he lent out and never saw again. Maybe the universe was telling him he didn't need that horn after all, and the other guy did!
The other pitfall to look out for: the backup horn may be a small symptom of 'the backup plan'. How much time does one spend thinking of what to fall back on in case the dream doesn't work out? Follow thy bliss. Focus on what you want, leave the rest for someone else!
So 2 antidotes that I think may help. One, if you think you really need a backup horn, buy an inferior instrument. You don't want to play it unless you have to. If your #1 is in a state of dis-repair, allow this to motivate you to get it together. Don't bother looking for that 'other flavor', commit to what you got and roll with it. My teacher could get any sound out of that raggedy ass 10M. That only comes from years of playing it, becoming intimate with it.
Second, when in doubt, sit and write about what you appreciate in the horn or whatever instrument of choice you have. Do this every day for 30 days. Write a sentence about the sound, the feel, how you feel. Write about the qualities you dig in your connection to it, your playing. Trouble is we focus so much on what we don't want that we create our own boredom with what we do have! FOcus on what you love about your instrument and those things WILL grow. You want a deeper tone? Focus on a deeper tone. You want more bite? Focus on bite. You'll find you may not need more equipment, you just need an idea. And if you do reach that point where you need something else, allow it into your life, it will show up! Faith y'alls, faith.
Comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Jef
