I heard Rascher give a recital in 1971 or 72. He was amazing and hitting notes in the 4th octave that sent chills up my spine. I started on sax in elementary school, switched to clarinet, and got into the altissimo range in that, but I didn't even know such notes were possible on the saxophone. Online, I found that Rascher played a silver Buescher "Aristocrat" but a friend told me that in the 60s, he switched to a Vito. Does anyone know if that's true? I played a Vito made in 1965 and it was inexpensive compared to Selmer and Couf, and most others. But just a few years after my model Vito, the Vitos got bad. It's possible my friend was mistaken. I like how Rascher got into every aspect of the sax mouthpiece, and then designed his own for classical players. Back in the 1960s, clarinet players in high school and earlier faced a quirky challenge, in that the Buffet clarinets, which were considered the best and played by many professional classical players, came with the worst mouthpiece you could buy. It barely worked and it was impossible to produce a good tone on it. Many clarinet players persisted with it, believing that they paid so much for their clarinet, the mouthpiece HAD to be good. I switched to a Vandoren mouthpiece within a week of getting my cheaper model Buffet clarinet, because I was using a cheap junker clarinet before that, and the mouthpiece from that was much better than the Buffet. I got the Vandoren and it worked really well with Vandoren reeds, which were at that time expensive for me. By the time I made All-State on clarinet, I had switched to flute, partly because I hated the expense and headache of finding good reeds. A friend taught me how to modify them with a knife, but I wasn't any good at it. As reeds get smaller, from sax to clarinet to bassoon to oboe, imperfections are increasingly critical in tone production. And that's why oboe players have to devote the most time to their reeds, to a point where some get neurotic about it. Anyway, I always considered myself lucky that I got to hear this saxophone legend play. Because of the high notes, it was one of the most memorable recitals I've ever been to.
Please support the Rascher Audio Collection Preservation Project! Look up our Facebook page, named, Sigurd M. Rascher Collection at Reed Library, SUNY Fredonia. Help fund the project by voting in the Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant Program for the month of November 2010.
"What do you tell the beginner about tounging?"
"NOOTHING!"
His book Top Tones for the saxophone changed my musical life forever!
I heard Rascher give a recital in 1971 or 72. He was amazing and hitting notes in the 4th octave that sent chills up my spine. I started on sax in elementary school, switched to clarinet, and got into the altissimo range in that, but I didn't even know such notes were possible on the saxophone.
Online, I found that Rascher played a silver Buescher "Aristocrat" but a friend told me that in the 60s, he switched to a Vito. Does anyone know if that's true?
I played a Vito made in 1965 and it was inexpensive compared to Selmer and Couf, and most others. But just a few years after my model Vito, the Vitos got bad. It's possible my friend was mistaken.
I like how Rascher got into every aspect of the sax mouthpiece, and then designed his own for classical players.
Back in the 1960s, clarinet players in high school and earlier faced a quirky challenge, in that the Buffet clarinets, which were considered the best and played by many professional classical players, came with the worst mouthpiece you could buy. It barely worked and it was impossible to produce a good tone on it. Many clarinet players persisted with it, believing that they paid so much for their clarinet, the mouthpiece HAD to be good. I switched to a Vandoren mouthpiece within a week of getting my cheaper model Buffet clarinet, because I was using a cheap junker clarinet before that, and the mouthpiece from that was much better than the Buffet. I got the Vandoren and it worked really well with Vandoren reeds, which were at that time expensive for me.
By the time I made All-State on clarinet, I had switched to flute, partly because I hated the expense and headache of finding good reeds. A friend taught me how to modify them with a knife, but I wasn't any good at it. As reeds get smaller, from sax to clarinet to bassoon to oboe, imperfections are increasingly critical in tone production. And that's why oboe players have to devote the most time to their reeds, to a point where some get neurotic about it.
Anyway, I always considered myself lucky that I got to hear this saxophone legend play. Because of the high notes, it was one of the most memorable recitals I've ever been to.
good stuff! Rascher was an alto legend for classical saxophone. What he says is very valuable!!!!!!
This man was a genius!
Omg! He inspired me so much!
Nice tips about saxophone! 😊
Thank you so much, please put more of this and other great stuff on youtube ^^
the 1 person who disliked this obviously doesn't know how to play the alto sax
Kyle Harrelson 6 years later and only 3 more people don't understand the sax!
Pretty cool to hear him tear up some Introduction and Samba. :)
Please support the Rascher Audio Collection Preservation Project! Look up our Facebook page, named, Sigurd M. Rascher Collection at Reed Library, SUNY Fredonia. Help fund the project by voting in the Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant Program for the month of November 2010.
fantastic!
O gênio criador dos super agudos no sax.
Hi! I would like to know what is the name of the piece that he plays with orchestra?
Thank you.
Introduction and samba by maurice witney
What is the name of the piece he's playing at 2:08?
Introduction and samba by maurice witney
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