Bittersweet Symphony

Today's such a emotionally conflicting day. There're gd things and not so good things dat happened
today and i'm a little bit in state of surprise..

It was a pretty ok lesson today sight-reading Charlie Parker. But my sight-reading is still way below
par. I still can't read dat fast and i cant seem to be able to read ahead of wat i'm playing.. Guess the
only way, is ONE way. Dat is to keep sight-reading and sight-reading and sight-reading and sight-
reading and sight-reading..... yeah, plus with the metronome to keep in time. Reminds me of the
chinese language during primary 2/3. sad case, i couldnt read for nutz.. it was a disgrace. same thing
with wat's happening with sight-reading only dat i can recognise the notes but playing to rhythm and
reading ahead and fast is the trouble i have with sight-reading.

Anyway besides dat, it's a new year, and a new year bring forth new surprises. yea surprises, i got
the biggest surprise THIS year yea the beginning of 2004. Because of other commitments, my
instructor told me he'd cut down lessons to once a week, one hour ONLY. and when i go to NS, he'll
have to stop teaching me. Now dat is quite sad honestly cos i know i've got alot i can learn from him
but no choice, he has other commitments and i respect dat :) he said he'll find me a gd suitable
teacher dat i approve of in the event dat he stops teaching me, but if i dun feel comfortable with dat
teacher, he said he'll find a way to teach me still. The guy has big plans of his own though :)

So, yea i'm feeling a little lost.. no in fact i'm feeling VERY lost cos i dunno wat direction in saxophone
i'm gonna be taking. I might be led 'astray' and get lost halfway or sumthin.. without guidance i might
learn or practise wrong things and dat sucks. Suddenly, this lesson made me a whole lot more
conscious of the reality dat i might be facing in time to come. I've always regarded Boon Chye as my
lucky star cos without him, i wudnt be playing wat i am playing today and so to lose him is like a huge
part of my learning being detached from me. I find myself all alone swimming in the ocean or sumthin
like dat. But then again, this lesson has forced me to really grow up and take charge, put my learning
into my own hands. Keep sight-reading, practising scales, long tones, metronome etc etc..

So yea dat's the not so good thing for today, BUT the good thing today is my saxophone tone!!!! The
past days i've been having difficulty with the low notes STILL.. yeah sorta resistance felt in the area
and inconsistent tone production there. When i came home today, i discovered the culprit - my thumb
rest. Apparently the whole thing was glued to the saxophone the last time to ensure a tight bond and
contact between thumb rest, bracket and sax body. This ensured a consistent full vibration. However,
over time, the glue sorta got too hard and shifted. This caused cracks and resulted in air pockets
between the thumb rest and the sax body and eventually DAMPENED the vibration in the area causing
notes low D all the way down to low Bb to have resistance.

So i removed the thumb rest and bracket, sandpapered the surfaces to get rid of the hardened glue
and smooth things out. After dat i replaced the thumb rest on the sax and really tightened the screw
real tight! after dat, it was a matter of adjusting and tension of the screws to ensure the optimum
vibration of the saxophone~ So eventually, i found it, and after experimenting for a few hours, i could
play the high, mid and low registers with the greatest ease and yet maintain the sizzle in my tone
which made it powerfully bright! After adjustment and balancing, i played in the hall, and boy the whole
house was filled with the sound because the sax was vibrating so hard and well dat the sound that
came out of the bell of the sax was greatly enhanced and amplified! it was so loud my ears hurt a little
after i put the sax down to rest and i felt numbness in my ears! dat's not good for long periods of time.

I think i sounded so loud, the whole surrounding neighbourhood would have had no problems hearing
me. Partly also because this hard rubber mouthpiece of mine is such a powerful fella too~ It's amazing~
i can probably be well heard over a rock band haha! I'm happy dat i'm getting to know my instrument
better~ so much so now dat i can even adjust and balance according to wat i like and sound good too~
Oh, i think i was using some so-so reed which i shouldnt have.. but yeah if i used my performance reeds,
wow, i think i'd really sound bright, powerful and full of projection. i could like play in a church without
micing and be well heard over the other instruments.