There is, in my opinion, a movement perfected by orchestra members – especially clarinetists – that emerges directly after a musician has made a shocking mistake during a performance. The player will stop and look at their instrument in shock, as if it has just become sentimental and created the former nasty sound of his own will. They will shake their heads as if to say, ‘Yeah, these days it’s so hard to find a reliable instrument,’ and then rejoin the execution, hoping their audience has bought the deed.
I was thinking about this phenomenon while playing Yamaha’s YDS-150 digital saxophone the other day. I regularly played alto and tenor saxophone for about ten years, from fourth grade to the orchestra and orchestra in my final year of high school. After that, I played less often and nowadays I rarely touch the tenor that is kept in my closet. It’s been more than ten years since last year, and honestly, when the YDS-150 showed up at my door, I was not even sure if I would remember how to read sheet music.
It turns out I did. I loaded some songs on Flat and tried it on the YDS-150, and the fingerings flowed naturally. I was about halfway through the solo of “Oh Bondage! On yours! “By X-Ray Spex, happy to play again and incredibly happy that I retained some skill when the sax suddenly stopped making noise. I increased my air pressure and nothing. I got the instrument pulled away from my mouth and looked at it in confusion, as if it had developed its own mind.
Just this time it had some sort of. The batteries in the YDS-150 were dead in the middle of my song, and the sax turned itself off. It did make me think that these high school kids might be doing something.
Yamaha
‘The sax shut itself off’ is a strange phrase to type in, and I find it difficult to express the exact sense of surrealism that comes with replacing the batteries on an instrument that I think is strongly acoustic . But this is my own suspension. After swapping the four AAA batteries above the thumb rest and restarting the sax, I quickly forgot about my anxiety about the relentless advancement of technology, and I continued to play the old favorites.
The YDS-150 is striking: the size and shape are the closest to a soprano saxophone, and its body is matte black with pearl keys and a copper finish on the clock. The contrast between black and metal is tactical and sharp. The YDS-150 is also light – so light that most of my playing time I did not have the need to use the neckband. As a tenor player recovering, it’s a dream come true.
The electronic benefits of the YDS-150 outweigh the potential to turn it off in the middle of a song, especially when a warning light flashes when the batteries are low and the micro-USB power cable keeps it going it is plugged in.
Yamaha
The sax can be connected to a speaker or headphone via a stereo mini cable and can receive inputs via Bluetooth from a phone, tablet or computer. It allows players to listen and play along back tracks of these devices. However, it can not output via Bluetooth, which means wireless earbuds are not an option. Wired headphones work just fine, but it feels 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 it also allows players to enter and store custom channels. It can be edited in the YDS Controller app, which is incredibly convenient. After the sax is connected to the app via Bluetooth, players can edit voices, as well as permanent settings such as tuning, key response, reverb type, resistance to breathing pressure and breathing response, all of which are immediately applied to the instrument.
Yamaha
There is a separate tab for information and editing, so players can not only look up the default, preloaded settings, but also change the buttons for any note. It’s handy for accessibility reasons, and it offers possible shortcuts in performing tricky or experimental songs. The coolest feature of the finger file is how it responds in real time to any buttons a player presses on the connected YDS-150, which automatically swipes to the accompanying note diagram.
This feature is especially useful for people who use the YDS-150 as a training tool, and this is where I see the benefit. While the diversity of voices and settings in the YDS-150 is impressive, the sounds emanating from the instrument are thin and clumsy. While some voices are more realistic than others, it may not be an acoustic saxophone. The YDS-150 is not quite performance quality in my perspective.
This is what one of the saxophonists who helps voice the YDS-150 can do with it:
And this is closer to what I can get out of it:
The YDS-150 costs $ 1,078, significantly more than a midrange alto or tenor, and Yamaha markets it as a studio instrument. And hey, that’s fair. The YDS-150 is impressive; it contains a breadth of voices in different styles, from jazz to electronics to classical, and it contains four different instruments in a smooth, lightweight container. The sax’s carrying case is slender enough to sling over your shoulder like a yoga mat. This is magic.
The YDS-150 is worth the price of admission, though it is not a substitute for an acoustic soprano, alto, tenor or barisax. It’s a ridiculously adaptable exercise tool, an unusual execution device and a beautiful instrument all around.
Even if its batteries are empty.