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Coltrane with effects?

F

Fergusc

Active Member
Hey all

I’m expecting this to be a very short thread

I just found this photo of Coltrane playing with a Varitone saxophone effects system (which was made by Selmer I think).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpOP45-NwKs/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I’m curious now if he was ever recorded playing through this system. Sahib Shihab made incredible use of it on the Danish release Winds and Skins.

Hope the link works

fergus
 
That's interesting- I had no idea anyone had developed sax-specific fx so early on. Will have to read up on that.

Link is working. No idea about Coltrane recording with the setup though.
 
Thanks for the reply vdg

A few people used it including Shihab and Yusef Lateef I think.

There were two systems back then. One made by Selmer and another one made by I’m not sure who.
 
There were rumours some time ago that Coltrane had been recorded playing around with a Varitone at his home, but certainly nothing from the studio or stage will exist
 
florette69 said:
There were rumours some time ago that Coltrane had been recorded playing around with a Varitone at his home, but certainly nothing from the studio or stage will exist
Click to expand...

hope to hear something some day. There must be a lot of home recordings out there unissued.
 
There were many variations on the Selmer Varitone - you may find this article interesting, outlining its concept and design:

https://www.nationofmusic.com/the-selmer-varitone-what-were-they-thinking/

What were they thinking indeed! I can recall two LPs in my collection that feature such devices - Lee Konitz on his Duets album, and Rusty Bryant using the Conn Multivider (sic) on Rusty Returns. My favourite is Joe Henderson using a wha-wha pedal on the fabulous Elements LP, although I hope for everyone’s sake there are no recordings of Coltrane doing anything remotely similar. He didn’t need it.
 
Miles stuck all manner of FX on his trumpet from the late-60s onwards, wah, tape-echo etc. Worked great. No idea about this Selmer thing, though as with any music technology I’m sure it can be used for good.
 
As far as I understand it Chris Wood (Traffic) used some sort of octave splitter(?) he picked up in the US to use with his sax, presumably to fill out the sound when playing live.
 
Tony L said:
Miles stuck all manner of FX on his trumpet from the late-60s onwards, wah, tape-echo etc. Worked great. No idea about this Selmer thing, though as with any music technology I’m sure it can be used for good.
Click to expand...

Can’t imagine too many disagreeing with you regarding electric Miles, but the Selmer and Conn devices when applied to saxophones were a different story.

Snufkin said:
As far as I understand it Chris Wood (Traffic) used some sort of octave splitter(?) he picked up in the US with his sax, presumably to fill out the sound when playing live.
Click to expand...

The Selmer Varitone was sometimes referred to as an octave divider to fatten the sound of a sax. As many players discovered it had the opposite effect, robbing the sound of its natural and complex harmonics. Andy Mackay in early Roxy Music amplified his sax and oboe via Eno’s VCS3 with some interesting results.
 
"Conn Multivider".... thats what I was trying to think of

Graham H said:
There were many variations on the Selmer Varitone - you may find this article interesting, outlining its concept and design:

https://www.nationofmusic.com/the-selmer-varitone-what-were-they-thinking/

What were they thinking indeed! I can recall two LPs in my collection that feature such devices - Lee Konitz on his Duets album, and Rusty Bryant using the Conn Multivider (sic) on Rusty Returns. My favourite is Joe Henderson using a wha-wha pedal on the fabulous Elements LP, although I hope for everyone’s sake there are no recordings of Coltrane doing anything remotely similar. He didn’t need it.
Click to expand...
 
Snufkin said:
As far as I understand it Chris Wood (Traffic) used some sort of octave splitter(?) he picked up in the US to use with his sax, presumably to fill out the sound when playing live.
Click to expand...

If I was a betting man, I'd say he had a (Tom Oberheim designed) Gibson / Maestro W1/2/3, which was a bit more robust (and easier to carry) than the older Selmer units. You see them on stage with Buzz Gardner and Ian Underwood in the Mothers at about the same time and they can be clearly heard in "King Kong (Gardner Varieties)" and here at the BBC.


7.jpg



Chris definitely used an Echoplex as well (https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/s...amily-in-exchange-for-other-musical-equipment).
 
WRT Coltrane and the Selmer Varitone, as far as I can tell from a bit of an interweb mooch, he made some recordings at home testing it out, but nothing commerical and nothing released.

Eddie Harris used one, I think he also went for a Maestro unit later (probably keeping the Varitone pickup). Interestingly, he later had something custom designed and built by Bob Moog - https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/moog/eddieharris.php

He also used an echoplex.

 
Fergusc said:
There must be a lot of home recordings out there unissued.
Click to expand...

It's a good question. Alice made a lot of her commercial recordings in the studio in their house. You'd imagine there must be a tape archive somewhere but I've never heard it mentioned. I guess it's in the possession of the family.

There are a few shots of the recording studio on the Coltrane Home site: https://www.thecoltranehome.org/about-the-home/saving-the-home/

Would love to visit some day.
 
That Eddie Harris video is great. Thanks for sharing.


Seeker_UK said:
WRT Coltrane and the Selmer Varitone, as far as I can tell from a bit of an interweb mooch, he made some recordings at home testing it out, but nothing commerical and nothing released.

Eddie Harris used one, I think he also went for a Maestro unit later (probably keeping the Varitone pickup). Interestingly, he later had something custom designed and built by Bob Moog - https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/moog/eddieharris.php

He also used an echoplex.

Click to expand...
 
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