The Online Virtual Saxophone allow you to play melodic lines by using either a computer mouse or a computer keyboard. Each of these devices can be used to play the Online Virtual Saxophone, you can click the note tiles with a mouse or press the keys on a keyboard. Each of these devices perform in the same manner for playing the saxophone; in order to play each individual note you must press that note with either the mouse or a keyboard, but in order to stop playing that note you must release the notes pad on the mouse or keyboard.
The note grid is located at the center of the Online Virtual Saxophone widget. Within this note grid are fourteen pads that you can click to play each of the notes of the saxophone. The lower row of the note grid correlates to the following keys on the keyboard: A, S, D, F, G, H, and J. The upper row of the note grid correlate to the following keys on the keyboard: Q, W, E, R, T, Y, and U. Each of these keys can be clicked in order to play each of the notes of the saxophone.
How to Play the Online Virtual Saxophone
The lower row of the note grid relates to the first octave of the current scale, while the upper row of the note grid extends the saxophones scale more higher than the first octave. When you click on one of the pads within the note grid the note will continue to play as long as you click and hold the mouse on that pad; the note will stop when you release that pad. Additionally, you can also click and drag the mouse cursor across multiple pads to play a run of saxophone notes.
The Horn selector allows you to choose which of four different horn types will be used to play the saxophone. The four horns are: Tenor, Alto, Soprano, and Baritone. The Tenor horn has a warm and full sound while the Soprano horn has a bright and penetrating sound.
The Pocket selector allows you to select which of the scales will be represented by the note grid of the saxophone. The Pocket selector includes the following scale options: Major, Blues, Dorian, Mixolydian, Minor Pentatonic, and Chromatic. Finally, the Root selector allows you to choose the musical key on which the chosen Pocket will be built.
When you change the Root selector the entire note grid shifts up or down the musical scale to reflect the new musical key, yet the relative positions of each of the notes within the note grid remain the same. The Tone selector allows you to control the texture of the saxophone sound. The four options for the Tone selector are: Velvet, Smoke, Brass, and Edge.
The Velvet texture is warm and rounded in its sound; the Smoke texture is soft and breathily; the Brass texture is cutting in its sound; and the Edge texture is bright and forward in its sound. Finally, the Air slider controls the amount of “breath character” that is present in each of the notes that the Online Virtual Saxophone plays. Lower values for the Air slider will make the notes sound dry and controlled, while higher values of the Air slider will give each note a breathy quality to its attack.
The Vibrato slider allows you to add pitch shimmer to your notes, but the shimmer only appears after you hold a note. The Vibrato slider works best on long held notes; for short notes, you should set the Vibrato slider to a lower value so as to not draw attention to the instrument. The Register button cycles your note grid between the Low, Mid, and High settings.
Use the bracket keys to cycle the Register button settings on the keyboard; the left bracket key will lower the Register setting, while the right bracket key will raise the Register setting on the keyboard. These buttons are helpful for adjusting the register of melodies that are at the wrong end of the pads. The four Lead Voicing buttons will load complete setups for the Online Virtual Saxophone.
Each button will set the horn, the pocket, the root of the saxophone, and its tone. Each button will play a short musical phrase when selected. Once you have selected a Lead Voicing, you can change any individual controls without losing the other settings.
Press the number keys 1 to 4 to cycle through the Lead Voicing presets. The Phrase Starter buttons will play melodic figures that were pre-built into the Online Virtual Saxophone. Each of these figures will play after you click the button; the Space key will play the Lift Off phrase, while the Enter key will play the Turnaround phrase.
The last played phrase can be played again by pressing the Space key. The Fullscreen button will expand the Online Virtual Saxophone to fill the screen. This is helpful for those using a mouse to play the saxophone.
The How to Play button will open a panel to show the keys on the Online Virtual Saxophone; this is helpful for those who would like to refer to the layout of the keys. Begin playing with the Velvet Ballad preset. Play the Lift Off phrase to hear the Pocket while the rest of the pads are muted; begin to press each pad to learn the scale of the saxophone.
Once you have mastered the scale, use the Root or Pocket buttons to change the sound of the saxophone. These changes wont require you to relearn the scale.