MaxSax: Chords on the Saxophone
A DIY device to add chords to your saxophoneCD:
Main Goal: create a device to play chords on the saxophone.
Subgoal: create a version that costs less than $50 of parts. (soldering and assembly still necessary)
Overview of functionality
The MaxSax is a hardware/software D.I.Y. kit that will add a set of touch-sensitive copper sensors on top of your existing saxophone keys to send data through an Arduino-compatible microprocessor through a software program called Max/MSP into a DAW (such as Ableton) with MIDI to allow you to add chords to the moving roots (and thirds/fifths/sevenths!) of your live saxophone.
This is facilitated by using custom pedalboards to select the quality (major7 / minor7 / dominant7 / sus7 / half-diminished7 / augmented7 / minor-major7) and inversion (root / 1st /2nd/ 3rd) to allow you to create chording patterns live.
You may also switch Midi channels live too, allowing you to comp with a Rhodes, and then lay down a bass part, or drum part, or arpeggiate through some sawtooth or squarewave synths as you wish.
Contact me to stay in the loop for updates about the MaxSax!
Reach out with any questions you may have about the MaxSax!
Coming Soon!
Live show/demo
Main Goal: present the working version in front of a live audience.
This will feature multiple visual elements to show what is happening:
** the footpedals (live video feed)
** saxophone fingering (live video feed)
** Max/MSP screen
** Ableton Live screen.
Similarities / Differences with other windsynths
The Synthophone:
The MaxSax device is similar to a Synthophone in that it will produce chords as determined by a musician using a MIDI-instrument that is based on the Saxophone fingering.
It differs from the Synthophone, in that the device rests on top of the keys of a traditional saxophone and doesn’t stop the “analog saxophone” from producing it’s classic true saxophone sound.
The Yamaha WX5:
The MaxSax device is similar to
The Akai EWI:
The MaxSax device is similar to
Timeline of Development:
2015: Creation of the MaxSax Chord function (used on a patch that sampled from Magnum, P.I. theme
2019: Jitter course added visuals
2022: Circuit Bending course: started to do physical computing, looking into Arduinos and creating circuit bent toys… which would lead to creating the physical sensors on the saxophone
2023: Live Performance for the Electronic Musician brought the idea of a physical device that turned a saxophone into a reactive chord to full consiousness… and the next 2+ years of R+D began to make that idea into a reality.
Colin Gleason ~ Saxophones 