Hi all,
The VSL libraries contain beautiful and beautifully sampled Selmer Mark VI saxes. These instruments from the 60s have been the basis for the jazz sound of the era. At the same time, they came when the saxophone was a neglected instrument in the modern classical music (only Stockhausen composed regularly for this instrument, if I'm not wrong). It was late for the great season of the masterworks from Milhaud, Schostakovich, Hindemith, Ibert, Ullman, Dessau, and the many musicians of the 'Entartete Musik' generation who disappeared in the death camps.
The Mark VI was different from the original sax, and the saxes used to compose the great works of the early decades. With smaller tubing and a different design, it sounded rougher, with more middle frequencies, with a sort of hollowness that helped it compete with the other instruments of a jazz band. With it came mouthpieces emphasizing the middle and high frequencies, through an accentuated baffle. This is an instrument that doesn't like to blend with the classical orchestra instrument, and this is maybe the main reason for it not being too much loved in the academy, and the reason for classical saxophonists have later asked Selmer to make instruments with a smoother sound.
Most of the composers mentioned above received commissons from Siegurd Raschèr. The sax he used, and the one that was most used by classically trained saxophonists of the era, was the Buescher (Aristocrat, if I'm not wrong). This sax had a mellower sound, and was derived from the original design by Adolphe Sax. Raschèr also developed a mouthpiece based on the original design, very similar to the early Buescher (and later early Otto Link) mouthpieces. The original sax was conceived to blend with the other woodwinds, with the power of brass instruments. You can hear how it sounded in this restored exemplar:
I wonder if there is a way to make VSL libraries sound a bit like the original sax. Maybe using the LP filter? My experiments only produced a muffled sound. The best I can do is avoiding the highest velocity layer, and stay safe in the middle, smoother one. Has anybody a solution, and could simulate the older saxes' sound?
Paolo