The Maui Xaphoon Pocket Sax

Update: I've had my Xaphoon for 2 months now. Still love it. Just finished my quest for the perfect reed. I started with 2 1/2 strength cane reeds. The good ones sounded great, but...2 out of 4 were not so so good. I think a lot of the fun of this instrument is being able to just pick it up and play. With the cane reeds, there is a lot of taking the reed of and on to wet it to play and dry it after playing. Plus they don't last very long and you have to buy a bunch to find some good ones. So I thought a synthetic read would be the ticket. I got a Fibercell 1 1/2 strength. I went to the 1 1/2 since the 2 1/2 takes work and some facial muscles to play I thought why not go softer ? That turned out to be a mistake. The sound became very kazoo like and it was impossible to get the high notes. So then I ordered a Fibercell 2 1/2. They sent an Alto reed, I returned it and they replaced it with...another Alto reed. After the second try Amazon gave me a credit and I bought a Bari soft.reed. Turns out this is the end of my quest. The Bari plays great. I think it is a little easier to play than a 2 1/2 cane reed, sounds really good, and it's very easy to get the highest notes. And I can leave it in place. And it will last a long time. I am now one happy Xaphoonist.I love my Xaphoon. I have had it a little more than 2 weeks and was able to play a scale (with help from the book) the first time I picked it up. Since then I have been learning the fingering for flats and sharps, which is odd in places, and have also made strides in getting a good tone. I played clarinet long ago so knew how the reed works but it probably helped that I haven't played lately so I did not try to use the mouthpiece the way you would with a clarinet or sax. It is definitely different. The sound is amazing for the size of the thing which I attribute to the big reed and the shape of the mouthpiece. DO NOT leave the reed in place between sessions. I started out doing that so that I could just pick it up and play. When I did take it off there was stuff starting to grow on the back of the reed. Ewww. After looking up some information on how to take care of the reed I have started taking it off and dipping it in a small jar of 50% peroxide and water after playing. I also play guitar and figured out that I can clip my "Snark" at the bottom of the barrel to check the pitch when I am playing so that I get used to playing in key. The pitch can change pretty easily by mouth and air pressure which is great for vibrato and bending notes but playing with others will require I can stay on pitch most of the time. This is definitely a real musical instrument that requires patience and practice like any other instrument. I think the negative reviews come from folks who thought they would be able to just pick it up and jam and are disappointed that there is work involved.

As a child, I played the clarinet. But that was decades ago. So, it was interested to try this new woodwind instrument, the Xaphoon. It's small, lightweight, and very portable. It has no moving parts - nothing to move, get stuck, or needing lubrication. Like any instrument, you need to expect a learning curve. For beginners, just getting a note to sound correctly can be a challenge, especially if you have never played a reed instrument before. I took the advice of another reviewer and replaced the 2.5 reed with a 1.5 reed (tenor sax reed). This will make it easier to play. Sometimes, hitting the low C can be hard - you need to have your mouth positioned correctly on the mouthpiece and give it a good blow. The instrument is similar in some ways to a recorder, but it produces a louder sound and also takes more air pressure. The little instruction book is helpful, although I recommend going online and downloading and printing the .pdf file of the 2-page fingering chart. I am using a small booklet of simple campfire sing-a-long songs to practice, and this is helpful. I am still a beginner. For example, I haven't yet started playing the upper register (upper octave) which seems more difficult than the lower. So, the very lowest notes (low D and low C) might be challenging at first, and also the upper register. If you can hit the note correctly, the instrument's tone is nice - somewhere between a tenor sax and a clarinet. I bought a clean-out rag/stick for a soprano sax. This is long enough to clean out and dry the inside after practicing. Overall, I'm very happy with this instrument and I'm having a good time learning and progressing. One other point: there is no way to adjust the tuning this instrument, such as you can do with a sax or clarinet. I checked the tuning against my digital keyboard and the tuning is a bit off. This might be important if you ever play this instrument in an ensemble - everyone else will need to tune to you.