Yamaha YSS Custom 875EX Soprano Sax

This black lacquer beauty has a build quality to take your breath away and comes in a solid, well padded, plush lined lightweight leatherette case with reinforced corners, together with top and side handles and an adjustable shoulder strap for added convenience. Coming with both curved and straight necks, it offers the player maximum flexibility in any given situation. The curved neck clearly gives a darker character to the tone, while the straight option produces a cleaner, more clinical tone. Finger positioning throughout is good, but we particularly liked the positioning of the palm keys, which facilitated a precision and ease of playing to this section of the instrument.

Our sample 875EX was in tune, with the notes popping out just fine, with excellent sub-tones in the lower register, although we did find the bottom table C – Bb a little hard to get, but this was probably down to the springing needing to be taken out a little. Intonation was excellent, as was the instrument’s harmonic capability. The 875EX is very smooth and easy to play and is clearly aimed at the professional and semi-professional market. With it’s slightly shrill tonal character and its apparent lack of ability to “move sound around”, it won’t be to every player’s taste. However, the 875EX would seem particularly well suited to ensemble situations, where tone matching through a range of instruments is paramount.

New Zildjian K Cymbals
Zildjian have recently further extended their K range of cymbals, with the release of the 22 inch K Dark Medium, the super sized 24 inch K Light Ride and a couple of new Light HiHats. The 22-inch Dark Medium features a large bell for excellent projection together with special hammering and lathing to open up the cymbal for broad tonal complexities and a darker, warmer sound. The exclusive “pin” lathing enhances the “crashability” and gives the cymbal an appearance similar to that of 1960’s Ks. The 24 inch Light Ride is a first within the K range. Its light weight provides a multiplicity of sound, with a dark pitch that offers plenty of overtones and crashability. The bell is smaller than that normally found on a K Ride, and gives a good stick definition with a controlled wash. Finally, for those who are really looking to push the envelope, there are the 13 inch and 14 inch Light Hats. This pair is lower in pitch than traditional K Hats (although the 13 is higher in pitch than the 14) and feature a medium-thin top for a broader range of tonal colours, paired with a medium bottom to ensure that solid “chick” sound.

Rico Reed Storage Solution
Rico have recently come up with a novel pocket sized way to store your reeds in a humidity controlled environment. Using toughened plastic click/lock air tight cases incorporating Rico’s reed/vitaliser Humidity Control Pack, there are two storage solutions. The reed case stores up to eight reeds and is the ideal gigging companion, while the reed vault with its storage capacity of up to 25 alto reeds or 15 tenor reeds provides the perfect touring package. The interchangeable Humidity Control Packs are effective for up to three months and come in three different moisture levels: low, medium and a ready to roll high. Horn heaven!

Shure KSM9 Vocal Microphone
The KSM9 is one of the latest vocal mics from the Shure stable, and its appearance has become one of the most talked about product launches of recent months. Attracting the attention of many high profile performers, the KSM9’s place in the history of the Shure dynasty seems already sealed. So what makes this condenser microphone so special? Put simply, the KSM9 is every jazz vocalist’s dream package. At the core of the system are the dual gold layered low mass Mylar diaphragms which provide for an exceptional frequency response that smoothes the highs, cutting out any harshness in the upper mid-range, while at the same time giving a warm and rich, focused low-end. Add to this the switchable dual cardiod/supercardioid polar patterns for maximum flexibility in all manner of performance applications, the advanced shock mount system isolating the cartridge from handling and stand noise, the premium gold plated components and a three-stage grill to reduce “pop” and breath noise and you begin to see why this package has become so sought after. I particularly liked the KSM9’s ability to handle various sound pressure levels at the same proximity, adding further flexibility to performance possibilities. Coming in black and champagne (matt silver) and in both standard and wireless formats, there is no doubt that this exceptional microphone looks set to become yet another Shure industry standard.