We've all spent time playing saxophone saying to ourselves, "Do I really sound like that? Why do I feel like I can't quite hear MY tone?" Well, chances are, unless you're playing directly towards a wall, you're probably not actually hearing yourself properly.
The Jazzlab Deflector provides a simple and easy solution for saxophonists to help hear ourselves whether it be while practicing at home, or out on a gig.
The JazzLab Deflector
The Jazzlab Deflector directs your sound back towards your ears so that you're able to hear yourself better when you're playing or practicing.
The Jazzlab Deflector is an inexpensive item and can be easily purchased from Amazon. Jazzlab offers other products for the saxophonist, like their famous SaxHolder (which we need to get our hands on soon!).
Whoa, I sound good!
Let's be honest: It's hard to work on your personal tone when you can't hear yourself play. It's also difficult not to blow your chops on a gig when you've got an inexperienced (or non-existent) sound man.
The Deflector is a simple product.
Step One: Clamp it onto your bell.
Step Two: While playing a note, change the angle of the Deflector until you can hear your sound properly.
It really IS that easy.
On the practicing end of the spectrum, this product may save you hours of tone work just because you can hear yourself better. When you can hear yourself better, all of the practice goals you've set for yourself become easier. One thing that has really become noticeable in our playing is that we've been able to be a little more dynamic while practicing, and especially in the lower volumes of the horn. Since you don't have to work so hard to play, you've got more opportunity to play softer and gain more control in that area. Getting articulations more precise at lower volumes has been really fun, and it's making our playing better.
To be honest: I think where this product really excels is on the bandstand.
If you're a working musician, I'm 100% positive that you've all been out on a gig where either a) the rhythm section was too loud all night long and no one gave you a mic b) the sound man wasn't doing well controlling the monitors, and you blew your chops playing too loud or c) there was no sound man at all. These are the situations that make us as musicians so angry at the end of the night. Killing ourselves for a paycheck basically. Having to overplay through a whole gig on your gear is just an absolutely awful thing for your chops. You'll notice that even with a great warm up, your chops will diminish so much quicker over time than they would on a gig where you have much more control over everything. Having this on a gig is a huge plus.
Probably one of the best features of the Deflector is that it has a hole in it, presumably for a microphone. With this, you can give the sound man what he needs without sacrificing your own needs if they're not watching monitors so intently. I know what you're thinking: "Does the sound escape/am I getting less sound coming back at me from the Deflector?". No, you're definitely still getting everything that you need!
Want my thoughts?
The Deflector has been foreign to me for a long time. When it came onto the market, I didn't entirely have a need for it because of the gigs that I have been playing over the last few years. Because of how many gigs I'm playing each year, I stopped playing a lot of the types of smaller shows where I knew I had less control (....and of course, I'm changing that again so I can play some more fun smaller shows in my time off) - BUT- to be honest, outside of practicing, I still don't have a huge need for this at the moment.
However, I've seen a huge need for this in my practicing- especially when we're talking about saxophone tone. Tone is a weird thing to work on. It takes a lot of lining-up of a number of things you can practice (overtones), the shape of your oral cavity, and the gear that you're using. Over time, all of these things can shift and your tone can change. Sometimes even if you're doing the same regiment of practice and your gear stays the same- your tone can shift- just because your body changes. Having a product like this while you're practicing keeps you mindful of tone, even when you're not really working on it. For that, I think it's absolute gold.
One thing that I'll caution you about is that it IS a plastic product, and it CAN break. Just make sure that when you're transporting it, take care of it. It's not super fragile, but it needs to be looked after a bit.
With this being said, we do thing it is a quality piece of gear. The construction on it is great!
Yeah, we were sad too. To be fair, this one got thrown around a LOT for the past few years.
Why Jazzlab?
Hailing from Switzerland, Jazzlab designs and manufacturers a host of unique products for wind players including the Deflector, the Sax Holder, and the Silencer. Focusing only on the wind accessories field, Jazzlab's goal is to help musician be more successful by providing products that make playing easier.
"The Deflector is ideal for both practice and live performance. It allows me to hear my sound in the same way that my audience would (by reflecting the sound from in front of the bell) instead of me having to rely on what I'm hearing from BEHIND the horn. Also it allows me to hear my tone easily without having to play very loud." -Adrian Crutchfield (Prince, Cee-Lo Green)
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