There is a movement perfected by members of the high school orchestra – mainly clarinet players, in my experience – that arises right after a musician makes a serious mistake during a performance. The musician will stop and look at his instrument in shock, as if he had just become conscious and created the old unpleasant sound of his own free will. They shake their heads as if to say, “Gee, it’s so hard to find a reliable instrument today,” and then they go back to the performance, hoping the audience will buy the number.
I thought about this phenomenon while playing Yamaha’s YDS-150 digital saxophone the other day. I played the alto and tenor saxophone regularly for about 10 years, from the fourth grade to the martial band and orchestra in my senior year of high school. After that, I played less often and nowadays I rarely touch the tenor that is stored in my closet. It has been more than 10 years since the last year and, honestly, when the YDS-150 appeared on my doorstep, I wasn’t even sure I would remember reading music.
It turns out I did. I uploaded some songs on the Flat and tried it on the YDS-150, and the strumming flowed naturally. I was halfway through “Oh Bondage! Stand up! ”By X-Ray Spex, happy to be playing again and incredibly pleased to have retained some skill, when suddenly the sax stopped playing. I increased the air pressure and – nothing. I took the instrument out of my mouth and looked at it confused, as if he had developed a mind of his own.
Only this time, it kind of did. The YDS-150’s batteries died in the middle of my music and the sax turned off by itself. It made me think that those high school students may be on the right track, after all.
Yamaha
“The sax has turned off” is a strange phrase to type, and I find it difficult to express the exact feeling of surreality that comes when changing the drums for an instrument that, in my opinion, is solidly acoustic. But, that is my own problem. After replacing the four AAA batteries above the thumb rest and initializing the sax again, I quickly forgot my anxiety about the technology’s relentless progress and continued to have fun playing my old favorites.
The YDS-150 is impressive: it is closer in size and shape to a soprano sax, and its body is matte black with pearly keys and brass finish on the bell. The contrast between black and metal is tactical and sharp. The YDS-150 is also light – so light that I didn’t feel the need to use the neck strap for most of my playing time. As a recovering tenor, this is a dream come true.
The electronic benefits of the YDS-150 far outweigh the potential to shut down in the middle of a song, especially considering that it flashes a warning light when batteries are low and comes with a micro-USB power cable that can keep it running while it is connected.
Yamaha
The sax can connect to a speaker or headphones via a mini stereo cable and can receive Prohibited via Bluetooth from a phone, tablet or computer. This allows players to hear and play along with the support tracks for these devices. However, you cannot result sound via Bluetooth, which means that connecting wireless headphones is not an option. Wired headsets work very well, but this seems like a missed opportunity for the AirPods era.
The instrument has 73 pre-programmed voices for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and non-sax sounds, and also allows musicians to insert and save custom channels. They are editable in the YDS Controller app, which is incredibly convenient. After connecting the sax to the application via Bluetooth, musicians can edit voices as well as permanent settings such as pitch, key response, reverb type, resistance to breath pressure and breath response, all applied immediately to the instrument.
Yamaha
There is a separate tab just for fingering and editing information, allowing players to not only search for pre-loaded default settings, but also change the button arrangement for any note. This is useful for accessibility reasons and also provides potential shortcuts for playing complicated or experimental music. The coolest function of the fingering guide is how it responds in real time to any button a player presses on the connected YDS-150, automatically switching to the associated note diagram.
This feature is particularly useful for people who use the YDS-150 as a practice tool, which is where I see its benefit. Although the diversity of voices and settings on the YDS-150 is impressive, the sounds that emanate from the instrument are tiny and keyboard-like. Although some voices are more realistic than others, there is no mistaking that for an acoustic saxophone. The YDS-150 is not exactly performance quality, from my perspective.
This is what one of the saxophonists who helped to tune the YDS-150 can do with it:
And this is closer than I can get out of it:
The YDS-150 costs $ 1,078, significantly more than a mid-size alto or tenor, and Yamaha is selling it as a studio instrument. And, hey, that’s fair. The YDS-150 is impressive; it contains a variety of voices in a variety of styles, from jazz to electronic and classical, and includes four separate instruments in a light and elegant container. The sax’s carrying case is thin enough to be placed over your shoulder like a yoga mat. This is magic.
The YDS-150 is worth the price of the ticket, although it is not a substitute for an acoustic, alto, tenor or sax bari soprano. It is a ridiculously customizable practical tool, a common performance device and a beautiful instrument around.
Even when your batteries die.