How many times have you had issues with sticky G#/C#/low Eb keys? How many of you have gotten up on stage to play a solo, and you finger a note- and that's not the one that comes out? Who here wants to spend less money overall on saxophone maintenance?
I'm pretty sure that nearly every person reading this page has just answered yes to all three questions above- myself included. The last thing that I want is to have any issue with a saxophone while performing. Key Leaves provides an obvious answer to an obvious problem. Until the saxophone becomes completely redesigned, we're all going to suffer from these issues otherwise.
With Key Leaves, you don't have to worry about sticky keys and extra maintenance issues anymore.
Looking to pick up some Key Leaves for yourself?
Look no further: You can find them quickly and easily on Amazon.com
Have some questions about how Key Leaves might fit your specific horn? Key Leaves has great customer support and it would be worthwhile to get in touch with them directly.
A saxophone maintenance gem
After discovering Key Leaves, I can't comprehend why I didn't buy in to them earlier. I also can't believe we (as a saxophone community) didn't think about fixing the problem this way before now.
Key Leaves on Tenor Sax
For years, we've had a lot of clamp-type products which have truly helped us with a lot of issues. This is not a clamp-bashing post by the way. I do believe that they have their place, and that they are useful. But Key Leaves came at the same problems that the clamp manufacturers were going after- but from the opposite direction, and I feel like they've had even more success which is such a win for all of us.
In a brief glance over the Key Leaves website, I noticed this: "Increase airflow to the saxophone body and key pads to decrease growth of bacteria, yeast, virus and fungus that rot your sax and endanger health." How many of you have read about some of the infections people get from not cleaning their saxophones properly? Although this is quite far off for many of us, it's scary to think that not taking care of our horns can lead to illness. The idea of creating more airflow in the saxophone when it is in the case is a great idea and I'm thankful that Key Leaves stepped up to the challenge.
This is a very simple product. It's a set of wedges (that were built to not damage the finish of your horn) that open up airflow in problem keys on the saxophone. The idea is simple and it works well due to a great design, and a careful choice of materials from people who are obviously woodwind players. Because of the functionality of Key Leaves, it proves itself as a great low-cost insurance for long-term saxophone maintenance at its' best.
Want my thoughts?
Sometimes it's so hard to write about products like these, because they are so common sense that I can't believe the concept wasn't adopted sooner. But, in any case, I'll tell you about my experiences with Key Leaves and why I use them.
I'm at the NAMM show practically every year. This year, my friend Sean Elvy (from Elvy Sound Solutions) came and found me at the NAMM show and said, "YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THIS PRODUCT CALLED KEY LEAVES!". Being that Sean and his Dad are practically family to me and would never steer me wrong, I went over to their booth the first opportunity I got. Before this, I had been hearing for months from other saxophonists about Key Leaves. In fact, I felt like it was everywhere in my world. My friends were showing up in their ads, I started seeing the product on gigs, and to be honest- the lime green products they were putting out were hard to miss.
With all of that being said, if Sean said it was a good idea, then I had to look deeper into it. So I bought a set of Key Leaves initially for my tenor, and then shortly thereafter for my soprano. Later that day, I called my tech, Tyler Hill, and said, "Did I just do the right thing for my horn?" and he immediately told me about how much he loved and recommended Key Leaves to the rest of his clients. Alright, you've got me convinced.
Usually in a few parts through the year, I will see Tyler when he shows up on a few of my gigs to do some basic maintenance on my horns. Yes, I'm picky with that stuff. To my surprise, he was telling me that he was finding fewer issues with leaks on my G#/C#/Eb keys, and that they had far less buildup than he would typically see. About four months later, I see Tyler again. Same story- and I'm seeing less maintenance issues. It's amazing to me to see Tyler- a technician- will go out of his way to recommend Key Leaves so often to his customers. He doesn't want their horns in the shop as often, and I think he's seeing good results with this (which I guess is good for him, since he focuses primarily on overhauls). So anyway: What did I do? Bought more Key Leaves for the rest of my horns. I'm still waiting on some Vent Vines to come in, and I'll definitely be posting some videos about them when I see the results.
The bottom line is: You could be spending less money on saxophone maintenance by using a product like this, and it's worth your time. Just don't forget that to get the most out of your horn, you should also be using a great set of swabs, and also make sure you've got a case that fits your horn very well.
Hear from a tech
One of our friends Tyler Hill is a woodwind repairman/technician and owner of Resilience Saxophones. He was kind enough to submit his thoughts for our video about Key Leaves, and additionally wrote an article on his website about Key Leaves and why he chooses to use them for himself and (soon!) for his customers.
Why Key Leaves?
Based in Seattle, WA, Key Leaves was founded by owner Rulon Brown, a professional saxophone player. Key Leaves has put great care into creating products that help keep life in your saxophone. Quoting from their website:
Key Leaves on Soprano Sax
We care enough to:
- Design for durability & washability for years of use and re-use.
- Use sustainable or recyclable material in our products and packaging.
- Recycle our scrap silicone material. Ethical manufacturing is important to us and our scrap silicone is used to make industrial lubricants that other manufacturers need.
- Research new methods for simpler, cleaner, more effective products.
With Key Leaves, you don't have to worry about sticky keys and extra maintenance issues anymore.
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