WOODWINDS
Saxophonist and composer Gordon Hyland gigs around his hometown of Toronto as a freelancer and as a regular
with Dwayne Gretzky, Ronley Teper & The Lipliners, Vivienne Wilder & The Vice Presidents, Blunt Object, and
the Mack Longpre Quartet. Rejoining with members of indie-electronic group Ninja Funk Orchestra, Hyland
now leads his own project, Living Fossil, a conceptual post-bop ensemble. The first Living Fossil album, NEVER
DIE!, reached number one on the !Earshot Magazine National Jazz charts in February of 2018.
By Gordon Hyland
Electric Sax!
I
never thought to try electric effects pedals
on the saxophone until I was presented
with the dilemma of blending the acous-
tic sound of the saxophone with electric
guitar, electric bass, and insanely loud
drums in the Toronto indie-electronic group
Ninja Funk Orchestra. Just being amplified
wasn’t enough; I needed to be able to change
the shape of my sound to blend with the sonic
possibilities of electric stringed instruments or
face irrelevancy. It turns out this wasn’t a new
problem.
Electric Sax History
In the mid-1960s, saxophone makers Selmer,
Conn, and King were all focused on electrifying
the saxophone so they could take advantage
of the consumer obsession with electrified
instruments in a post-British Invasion America.
It was imperative that horn sections could plug
into amps like other instruments lest they be
drowned out and forgotten.
Selmer was the first to create what it called
an “electric saxophone.” The Selmer Varitone,
like the Conn Multi-Vider and the King Ampli-
fonic, solved the amplification issue by drilling
a pickup into either the neck or mouthpiece of
the instrument and sending the signal via 1/4-
in. cable. A built-in effects processor allowed
for a basic EQ, reverb, tremolo, and an octave
generator.
Eddie Harris brought the Varitone into the
spotlight with “Listen Here” on Electrifying Eddie
Harris (1968), but Sonny Stitt’s album What’s
New!!! Sonny Stitt Plays the Varitone (1967)
was the first major recording to feature the
Varitone. Even outspoken jazz traditionalist Lee
Konitz can be heard trying out the electrified
saxophone on the introduction to “Variations
on Alone Together” on The Lee Konitz Duets
(1968). All of these recordings feature the
Varitone’s octave generator effect.
John Klemmer’s album Blowin’ Gold (1969)
is considered one of the first fusion records
ever made and features an octave generator,
Maestro Echoplex tape delay, and overdrive
distortion. “Excursion #2” starts with Klem-
mer playing an intensely chromatic passage
W W W. C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N . CO M
through a panning overdrive distortion effect
before snapping into the melody with acoustic
saxophone. “Children of the Earth Flames”
begins with a growling saxophone faded in
and saturated with delay. Then, he engages a
distorted sub-octave effect before turning it
off and playing a frenetic solo. The introduction
of “My Love Has Butterfly Wings” has Klemmer
playing solo with just Echoplex tape delay.
Klemmer fell in love with the Echoplex delay
and would later release a new age album titled
Cry - Solo Saxophone (1978) that features tenor
saxophone, Echoplex, and wordless vocaliza-
tions.
Using Effects
Klemmer, Harris, Stitt, and Konitz were some of
the first to experiment with electric effects and
their early recordings were glimpses into what
was possible; however, it was Michael Brecker’s
work blending acoustic saxophone and elec-
tric effects in the jazz fusion group The Brecker
Brothers that got me interested in using effects
pedals with the instrument.
Musitronic’s Mu-Tron envelope filter is
one of the most iconic electric effects on the
saxophone and Brecker uses it all over Heavy
Metal Be-Bop (1978). Most of this live record-
ing features some kind of effect on either the
trumpet or saxophone, but at 4:09 on “Funky
Sea, Funky Dew” Michael can be heard experi-
menting with his effects pedals during his epic
solo cadenza. At one point, he fades in the har-
monizer as if it were a chordal instrument ac-
companying his improvisations. The effects are
very clearly audible and it’s fascinating to hear
the strengths and limitations of the technology
he’s using while the band has stopped.
The next generation of saxophonists had
grown up listening to the music of those who
experimented with electric effects and were
now creating music of their own. No longer
did you need a pick-up in the neck or mouth-
piece of the saxophone to effectively trigger
harmonizers or envelope filters. This made
using effects easier for those who didn’t want
to drill holes in their saxophone.
The Bloomdaddies had no chordal instru-
ment, leaving room for saxophonists Chris
Cheek and Seamus Blake to accompany each
other with harmonizers and delay effects
like on “Hick as Heck” from The Bloomdaddies
(1996).
Cheek continued to evolve his ability to
blend effects pedals with saxophone riffs and
melodic lines on Rudder’s albums Rudder (2007)
and Matorning (2009). Meanwhile, the influence
of Eddie Harris’s R&B-infused jazz can be heard
on Joshua Redman’s album Momentum (2005).
Kneebody’s crossover jazz albums feature
Brecker Brothers-like fusion moments in con-
temporary compositions. The overdrive distor-
tion on Ben Wendell’s solo on “Platforming” from
Kneedelus (2015), a collaboration with electronic
music producer Daedelus, sounds like John
Klemmer’s opening phrase on “Excursion #2.”
Colin Stetson uses the extremely low bass
saxophone and extended techniques like
circular breathing on his critically acclaimed
solo saxophone recordings History of Modern
Warfare Trilogy (2007-2013) and All This I Do
for Glory (2017). He creates electric effect-like
sounds by placing microphones on his throat,
saxophone body, and at strategic places in the
performance or recording space. His wordless
vocalizations and cascading notes sound like
Klemmer’s Cry - Solo Saxophone at times.
There couldn’t be a better time to experi-
ment with technology and the saxophone.
By listening to the artists who have incorpo-
rated electric effects into their music, we can
find inspiration for what comes next. I hope
you find something in the music above that
inspires you.
Electric Sax! Spotify Playlist
Check out an exclusive
playlist by Gordon
Hyland called “Saxo-
phone Electric Playlist
for Canadian Musician,”
featuring many of the
tracks mentioned in this
article and others, at
www.gordonhyland.com/electricsax.
C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N • 29