Untitled Document
     
Advertisement Click to advertise with us!
     

DEEP SCHROTT - world's first bass sax quartet

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
Staff member
Administrator
"Cultural Value" (comp. Dirk Raulf) played by DEEP SCHROTT. This is the first bass saxophone quartet ever, founded april 2008 by Dirk Raulf (Cologne/D), Andreas Kaling (Bielefeld/D), Wollie Kaiser (Saarbruecken/D) and Klaas Hekman (Rotterdam/NL). Check concert dates from october 2008. Videotaped and recorded live at Topaz Studio, Cologne, april 2008. Directed by Robin Baum.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1cma-l8wS5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCU8UB1nagw&NR=1

This stuff just talks to me. I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame. :emoji_rage:
 
I don't know that I'm so impressed. I mean if it were a sub-contra bass quartet then I might be able to muster some excitement :-D

I'll turn the humor off now - that's pretty cool. I'd love to experience that live.

We have the possibility of a Bass Sax trio just using members of the forum. :emoji_smile:
 
Mmmm. I can count a lot more than four WF members that play bass. Let's see: Jim, Randy, Helen, Benedikt (and he MAKES 'em) ....
 
The first video is better than the one I saw on SOTW, but then again, I'm not looking very hard (well?). I like looking at the horns, etc. There are some Zinner bass mouthpieces in evidence, a great bass mouthpiece that's often ignored in the USA.

I know that horns like bass sax are often used in an avante-garde/experimental situations, and that's OK with me. I started experimenting with multiphonics on the bass and contrabass saxophone, and found it to be more rewarding than on other saxophones.

I'll bet there are more bass saxophones in the United States than in Europe. Why is the USA so far behind the rest of the world in using these instruments in a modern context? Oops! I guess the answer is obvious.
 
Well, I play bass sax; I just don't own one.

(The sad, sad story of my bass saxophone error has been told before. Suffice it to say that the bass sax lost out over a new sailboat, the better to impress a girl who was very interested in sailing. Had it gone the other way, the bass sax would have run all of $600.00 US.)

One bass sax in a group makes sense, and I suppose that Hector Berlioz could muster enough pull in Nineteenth Century France to include two or three in his three hundred piece symphonic orchestra (directed by flashing electric lights, no less). But, four bass saxes, all pumping away at a syncopated rhythm, is a bit much, at least for those attuned to "normal" music (whatever that is).

Still, they all seem to be enjoying themselves..
 
Mmmm. I can count a lot more than four WF members that play bass. Let's see: Jim, Randy, Helen, Benedikt (and he MAKES 'em) ....

You do count better than I.

We should sponsor them. Granted it would mostly be emotional instead of financial :emoji_smile:
 
Jim, you are just a wealth of YouTube info. Where do you find time to dig this stuff up?

I'm thinking with the ability to record virtually, we could do a recording of the Woodwind Forum Bass Sax Quartet/Quintet/Sextet/Whatevertet...although it would be much more fun to do it live...but alas...finances...:cry:....Perhaps Jim and I could record our 2 tracks when we get together in August????

I'm thinking there are some possibilities here....
 
You do count better than I.

We should sponsor them. Granted it would mostly be emotional instead of financial :emoji_smile:
Hmmm. That's not necessarily a bad idea. I've often toyed with the idea of seeing if someone would want to commission a composer on behalf of SOTW/saxpics.com and then we'd have our own group play and record the piece. Heck, I even know of a composer that takes commissions and has done large ensemble (numbers, not weight) and quartet work.

BTB, if we're just going by bass players, SOTSDO, we really could include any member here that plays sax :p. If we're going by people here that have played the bass sax at some point, we would also have a fairly large number -- with me included.

I always found it amusing when Vince Giordano was introduced on A Prairie Home Companion because Garrison Keillor would say something like, "He plays one of the six bass saxophones in captivity in the US". Not only are there a lot more than six, there are more than six companies that currently make basses.
 
Helen said:
Jim, you are just a wealth of YouTube info. Where do you find time to dig this stuff up?
Just luck mostly.
Helen said:
I'm thinking with the ability to record virtually, we could do a recording of the Woodwind Forum Bass Sax Quartet/Quintet/Sextet/Whatevertet...although it would be much more fun to do it live...but alas...finances...:cry:....Perhaps Jim and I could record our 2 tracks when we get together in August????

I'm thinking there are some possibilities here....
We should ask Jay Easton and Paul Woltz to join us. Jay's already on deck to meet with you. :cool:
 
Yes Jim, I think that would be fun to do something with Jay and Paul. :-D (Although I'm a bit scared to sit down with Jay, since I'm not a "legit" player...haven't been for more than 20 years since my university days. I'm a rocker & a blues player...Think that Doobie Brothers alto guy you posted on your blog and the other thread on miking... That's what my playing style is now a days. Your poor cats will be running for cover and you dog will be howling! ;-) BTW, yes, I can and do tone it down. Have no fear...)

BTW...I need to check my emails, I think I replied to you, but now I'm not so sure. I was struggling with pretty nasty pain when you wrote to me a couple of weeks ago.
 
Subwoofer

Sigh, watching this on youtube does not give it justice. I think I have to buy some subs for this computer.

I found a cheap subwoofer set at Fry's Electronics (something under US$75). Now have one set for home, and one for my office. Sound good enough for mp3s and videos :-D
 
Damn! It's seeing/hearing things like these that make me regret my wasted youth and all the rest of that pre-sax time in my life...

But I'm currently attempting to engage in catch-up mode - and now have an IW 661 bass that I probably should be practicing right now. In the meantime, I would much appreciate any pointers you bass players might care to pass along. (Was that really circular breathing I saw in a couple of those clips??)
 
more air=more sound

done

The 661 is rather nice on the intonation spread so you're lucky you don't have to fight that.
and yes, that was circular
 
One

The Deep Schrott CD ("One") is now available. There is a link on their webpage (http://www.deepschrott.de/), or you can go straight to the label (http://www.poise.de/), and order using PayPal. I'm enjoying mine right now :)

They also sent me "Bitte Nicht Füttern" with Dirk Raulf (ss, ts, bass sax), Hartmut Kracht (b), Frank Köllges (d), Eugen Egner (g), Dietrich Rauschtenberger (d) [ja, ganz Deutsch], some more great jazz.

Enjoy!

Grant
 
How do they know for a fact that they are the only bass saxophone quartet in the universe? This reminds me of Gagarin. At least if he had come down saying there is no bass saxophone quartet in the universe...
 
Back
Top Bottom