All new Xaphoon players: so, how is it?

spittin_in_the_wind · Post by **spittin_in_the_wind** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 2:13 pm

I know a bunch of people ordered Xaphoons last month in some kind of insane woodwind acquisition craze. So what do you think of your new babies? Just curious how that whole scenario turned out!

Robin

Easily_Deluded_Fool · Post by **Easily_Deluded_Fool** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 3:15 pm

Loud :
As the book says you get a big sound from it.

I'm just getting over a code in by doze.
Ackshully, a bad cough, and haven't played anything for a few days.

But... I found you have to let your top teeth touch the mouthpiece, or else it doesn't sound quite like a sax.

Remembering to replace the little finger of the (top) left hand takes getting used to,
as does remembering that the thumb hole on the underside is actually the second hole of the instrument.The bottom lip is toughening up too!

It's a bit like driving a different make of car - everything is there, just you can't find it instantly, but eventually....

I bought a softer reed for it a "1.5" to make it easier to blow ("2.5" supplied). Also the reed position is all important - but easy to get right.

To be honest it's better value for money than
some 'high' end whistles. It isn't truly chromatic because some cross fingering is required, so it's like a whistle in that respect. I don't 'spose I'll be using it for fast reels/jigs etc , but I can play some airs and waltzes on it.

I'll practice a bit more in a few days and put a sound clip up so people can have a
laugh/cry/be impressed by it/etc.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 6:51 pm

fatveg · Post by **fatveg** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 10:58 am

I've had great fun with mine so far. I've never played a reeded instrument before, so it is taking a while to get used to that. The major issue for me is getting to grips with an instrument where your embouchure can change the pitch by significantly more than a semi-tone! I can play some higher notes, go back down and find out that I am a semitone out!
But I'm getting used to it, and I am loving the challenge of a new instrument. When I get it right the sound is fantastic -- in a way more like a clarinet than a sax. I'm finding that noodling on Klesmer-like scales sounds super. I'm going to try out noodling on arabic Maqams next (my bit for the peace process...)
All in all this is fabulous value for money. I rate things as fun/$, and this rates high.
My fellow house-Vegs may not have such a benign view of it, though

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 11:12 am

Ouch. I'm gonna have to get one of these. I used to play sax so it shouldn't take much getting used to. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I'm yielding to subtle pressures to take up flute; new button boxes tempt me at every turn. Life is thoroughly WhOAful. Where is all this going to end.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 12:59 pm

On 2003-02-13 12:12, Wombat wrote:
Ouch. I'm gonna have to get one of these. I used to play sax so it shouldn't take much getting used to. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I'm yielding to subtle pressures to take up flute; new button boxes tempt me at every turn. Life is thoroughly WhOAful. Where is all this going to end.

Yeah. Me too - I've been trying to resist but the temptation is rising. But if I get a Xaphoon I can probably hold off on flute for a while. And my wife even encouraged me to buy one ;->

My family may start looking back on the days of incessant tinwhistle-only practice with nostalgia.

Steven · Post by **Steven** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 2:55 pm

End? Wombat, you think this might end?? No chance!

Now both of you, Wombat and DCrom, quit pretending that you can resist starting the flute. You can't. You know it's going to happen. Just do it! On the bright side, your family won't mind the beginner part of the learning curve nearly as much as with the whistle. With the whistle, you just make lots of horrible noises until you get it figured out. With the flute, you make no noise at all until you get it figured out!

You will be assimilated,
Steven

CDon · Post by **CDon** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 2:56 pm

On 2003-02-11 16:15, Easily_Deluded_Fool wrote:
I bought a softer reed for it a "1.5" to make it easier to blow ("2.5" supplied).

Could you tell if this made it less loud?

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 3:17 pm

On 2003-02-13 15:55, Steven wrote:
End? Wombat, you think this might end?? No chance!

Now both of you, Wombat and DCrom, quit pretending that you can resist starting the flute. You can't. You know it's going to happen. Just do it! On the bright side, your family won't mind the beginner part of the learning curve nearly as much as with the whistle. With the whistle, you just make lots of horrible noises until you get it figured out. With the flute, you make no noise at all until you get it figured out!

You will be assimilated,
Steven

Steven, I know I'll probably end up with a flute - but I figure that the whistle will make the learning curve a lot less steep; once I can make a sound I'll have the fingerings and a good assortment of pieces I know under my belt. And I am practicing (some) with a little Yamaha plastic fife already - moving to Irish flute will probably be greeted with relieved cheers.

But as an old sax player, it's hard to resist the Call Of The Xaphoon. Especially when it's a third of the cost of something as low-end as a Dixon polymer flute. And I'd *really* like the M & E Rudall and Rose model - that's a serious purchase. The Xaphoon is, comparatively, pocket change.

Eventually, I intend to have a whole arsenal of woodwinds with which to assault the eardrums of all who pass by . . . (Cue maniacal laugh)

Dana

Easily_Deluded_Fool · Post by **Easily_Deluded_Fool** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 3:26 pm

With the 2.5 reed the xaphoon is very loud, with the 1.5 reed it's just loud.
My loudest whistle is a Chieftain sop' D, the xaphoon (with 1.5) is about the same that - so my family say

Never having played a reed instrument before,
I noticed my bottom lip getting 'thick'.
So I bought the thinner reed to see if it made a difference 'discomfort' of the lip.

I don't think it did. I am just getting used to it, like wearing a new pair of shoes!

HTH

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 3:29 pm

I got the plastic version a couple of weeks ago. It's been over 10 years since I played sax in the US Army Band (95th Division!), so getting my chops back is taking some time. I went out and got a 1 1/2 and 2 reed to use while I was getting my embochure back. I also added one of those rubber stick-on things for sax mouthpieces that goes where your teeth contact the upper part of the mouthpiece. It's much more comfortable for me to play that way.

It's a fun instrument to play. The sound is sort of a cross between a clarinet and a sax. The band I play with has already worked it into one tune......

spittin_in_the_wind · Post by **spittin_in_the_wind** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 8:08 pm

On 2003-02-13 12:12, Wombat wrote:
Ouch. I'm gonna have to get one of these. I used to play sax so it shouldn't take much getting used to. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I'm yielding to subtle pressures to take up flute; new button boxes tempt me at every turn. Life is thoroughly WhOAful. Where is all this going to end.

A friend of mine from work today told me, after listening to me talk about my whistle all the time, that he is thinking of taking up the Andean pan flute/pipes (don't know if that's the right name or not). I told him I know where he can get one, the next time I order a whistle! WhOA to him....

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri Feb 14, 2003 1:38 am

On 2003-02-13 21:08, spittin_in_the_wind wrote:
On 2003-02-13 12:12, Wombat wrote:
Ouch. I'm gonna have to get one of these. I used to play sax so it shouldn't take much getting used to. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I'm yielding to subtle pressures to take up flute; new button boxes tempt me at every turn. Life is thoroughly WhOAful. Where is all this going to end.
A friend of mine from work today told me, after listening to me talk about my whistle all the time, that he is thinking of taking up the Andean pan flute/pipes (don't know if that's the right name or not). I told him I know where he can get one, the next time I order a whistle! WhOA to him....

Know what. I actually have a set of pan pipes. Can't get a sound out of them. Hope I do better at flute.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Fri Feb 14, 2003 2:07 am

On 2003-02-13 15:55, Steven wrote:
End? Wombat, you think this might end?? No chance!

Now both of you, Wombat and DCrom, quit pretending that you can resist starting the flute. You can't. You know it's going to happen. Just do it! On the bright side, your family won't mind the beginner part of the learning curve nearly as much as with the whistle. With the whistle, you just make lots of horrible noises until you get it figured out. With the flute, you make no noise at all until you get it figured out!

You will be assimilated,
Steven

This thought is terrorizing.

I've been considering a fife lately.
In the dream it had 10 holes, plus one I was hopelessly trying to inflate...

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Feb 14, 2003 5:00 am

Anyone have suggestions for playing the second octave on a Zaphoon? I can play the first one pretty well, and love the sound, but all I can get are squeaks from the second register.