I attended the U.S. Navy International Saxophone Symposium at George Mason University earlier this month. Along with all the great recitals and concerts, I attended an excellent  presentation titled “Working With Your Repair Technician” by Shelly Tanabe, owner of  Wind Player Services in NYC. One of the last slides of the presentation addressed the idea that the sax is a conical instrument and that the volume of the mouthpiece completes the cone.

Deep down, I’ve always been suspicious of this idea and seeing it again in the presentation made me decide to investigate it a little deeper. Since it’ll probably take more than one post I’ll add a menu item on the banner titled “Complete the Cone Series” that will link to everything.

Those of you who know me and my background are probably groaning right now. Yes, there will be geometry, trigonometry, and even some 9th grade physical science. Come on, it’ll be fun!!