Featuring: Opus USA

Some Original Information

     I've got some interesting information for all you saxophone fans out there about a little known brand called Opus USA: the brand is actually an off-brand of the Yanagisawa saxophones!

     Opus sells saxophones very inexpensively, though a pretty good quality. In fact, the saxophones have a great response in the key work, and are generally of sound intonation. They provide options for several finishes and colors, which is also rather nice. The brand is really something, especially for anyone looking for a cheap saxophone to buy (I got a curved soprano from Opus for $240 and a black/gold alto for about the same).

     This is all well and good, but none of it is particularly surprising  It was when I was jamming with a friend, however, that I saw something interesting: my Opus USA alto and soprano saxophones looked identical to my friend's pro Yanagisawa alto. The key work, the pearls and the guard designs were all the same on either saxophone. This information was interesting to me, as it would seem that an American company has started off branding an Asian company, quite the opposite to popular debate. This scenario would seem to put a wrench in many bloggers' ideas on off-brand saxophones, that Asian off-brands are the rout of all evil. 

     No, instead this information led me to believe that off-brand saxophones are without borders and, in fact, are necessary for creating a diverse saxophone market. Here's a big bit of my point: big brands like Selmer and Yamaha should stick to advanced and pro level horns, leaving student pieces to brands such as Opus. Why? Simple. For the same price as a YAS-23 (Yamaha student alto sax), you can get a "pro", good looking, fully functional alto sax from Opus that, quite frankly, plays better than the Yamaha.

     This might be shocking to a lot of people, but it's my opinion on the matter, and I strongly maintain that it's a good idea. There's no disputing the big-name brands' skills at designing and building the greatest pro horns, but when it comes to student saxophones, you have to think inexpensive- the most band for your buck. Can a low-budget music program at a high school afford ten saxophones from Store X? 

     Opus USA makes saxophones that don't look student (they aren't brass colored horns with silver key work). They make good looking saxophones at a low price. They modeled the saxophones after Yanagisawas, which is smart- Yanagisawa is no slouch. 

Black and Gold Opus Alto

All Work; No Play

New Challenges

     It has been a long time since I've last written for the Road. It started with the U.S East Coast power outages after Sandy, and continued through me getting a third job. This is, in fact, exactly what I'd like to talk about today.
     I've already discussed the challenges of being a college student and a musician on a campus where you are majoring in something other than music. It's hard to juggle practice time and recreational music time with studies.
     However, a new challenge for me, as I touched upon earlier, is the balance of work and play. In my case, I have postponed my academia in order to work hard to establish some form of fiscal security. I work for a private group in the maintenance department, I have a private landscaping account, and I work for Service Master; three jobs that demand quite a bit of my time. The money is pretty darn great, but I've been finding, more and more lately, that I haven't the time to play my saxophones, or even my ocarina or anything else. I try to get out to do so, but it's hard with the work, and any other private matters that are important, such as family time and time with my partner.
     Ask anyone with even the slightest amount of responsibility: time management is that bit of being an adult that causes adults to tell children "don't wish your days away".
     Ironically, I've been working extra hard in order to afford things like new saxophones and other music gear. However, that said, I think that all this work with very little play will inevitably pay off. Someday soon I'll have a new saxophone which can actually keep up with me, and a new car that can take me to prospective future gigs and open mics.
     At any rate, this is simply a new challenge along my own road as a musician, and I need to travel on it in order to overcome the difficulties. It may be a new challenge, but in a way, this is nothing new. I've been faced with challenges since the moment I touched my first saxophone. This is but another issue I will find settlement in.
     And indeed, if you find yourself in this same 'all work and no play' predicament, I'll tell you now, just keep diligent and you'll figure out what it is you need to do to have everything you want. Budget your time properly and new opportunities will open up before you.

Why Dubstep is Music

Addressing the Naysayers

     I've been playing the saxophone for over a decade. I'm, in fact, classically trained, with a current focus on jam-band style jazz playing. My point is that I am very much a musician, with a fair amount of natural talent and an extremely good ear.

     So you can take it seriously from me when I tell you that dubstep is a form of music. Some of you will read this and say "well, of course it is", but others will say "it is definitely NOT music". Both of these are opinions, and are fair to hold. However, it is when an opinion is so outrageously magnified and externalized that things get 'hairy'. I just mean that it is one thing to have an opinion, and it is a far different thing to force that opinion on others. It is for this reason that I will give you some of my opinions and some musical facts in the paragraphs to follow.

     First off, I'll briefly talk about what kinds of music I listen to. You could guess correctly that I listen to jazz. That's a given. I often tell musicians that it is important towards improvement that a musician listen to other musicians in the similar field/genre. Besides jazz, I listen to classic rock and modern rock: it's what I grew up on. What surprises most people is that I listen to, and very much enjoy, metal, some electronica, and dubstep. I personally don't like most pop music out today, but that's my opinion. Now here's why I like dubstep and some of the other unconventional genre:

     To me, these styles represent a culture. And it's not just me- dubstep actually originated recently in England in the lower-class youth currently struggling in that area of the world. The country isn't doing very well, with a double recession and a divide between the youth and the adults of the people. This is a common story in more countries other than just England.

     Like any new form of music, the culture and the music itself are scrutinized by the pre-established norms. Look at jazz in 1910-1920's Harlem, New York. Whites actually turned against the music violently  because the style was created by Black culture. Now, however, jazz is a greatly popular form of music in the entire world.

     Dubstep isn't generally well received. While people aren't generally killing each other over it, the music is being belittled as "not at all music", simply because it isn't in accordance to the norm. In fact, the genre is supposed to challenge societal norms. It's a style that is widely used by Occupy movements around the world as well as youth protests in an attempt to break from the conventional.

     I could go on about social justice and the meaning of life all day, but instead I want to now tell you, musically, why dubstep is music and why I enjoy it. Dubstep is like hip-hop and hip-hop culture. By this I mean that it is heavily centered on rhythm and beats. Generally, dubstep is like an ensemble of mostly, if not only, rhythm instruments, electric instruments, that collaborate to form, let's say, a really high tech drum circle. But that's not all, like how jazz has instrumental solos, dubstep has a sort of "bass-drop" solo. The wobble bass effect so synonymous with dubstep is used as a focal bridge. 

     With that sad attempt to describe dubstep (for which I'll likely get lots of hate mail), I'll tell you why I like it. Simply, the scope of frequencies and rhythms sounds really good. My sensitive musician's ear picks up on all of those detailed lines of wobble and dirty bass effects, as well as the sub harmonies and melodies. It's not only a form of music, but a complex form of music. 

     Dubstep isn't for everyone, and I definitely get that. Nobody has to like a form of music, but they do have to let others enjoy what they will. It isn't anyone's place to tell another person how to listen to music, or what music to listen to. 

     By this time, you may still completely disagree with me, which is fine. I'll include at least one link to a dubstep song I like, take it or leave it, but I'd like to encourage you to keep an open mind. The only thing, through all of this that I insist, in fact I am telling you, is that dubstep is music. To pose my own counter argument  consider this: the amount of musical work that goes into forming a dubstep single as opposed to the work that goes into a standard pop single, with auto tuning taking out most of that work, is it fair to single out one genre over another? 

     Ultimately, listen to whatever you want: that's the beauty of music- freedom. Enjoy it all. 

Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites- by Skrillex

This song is pretty intense. A pretty good example of raw dubstep.

This official track-video has over 114 million views.