Maui Xaphoon The Pocket Sax User manual

Xaphoon
“The Pocket Sax”
Xaphoon
“The Pocket Sax”

Page ii
Table of Contents
About the Xaphoon.............................................................................................. 1
A tour of the Instrument....................................................................................... 2
Finger Placement ............................................................................................. 2
Mouthpiece ...................................................................................................... 2
How Reed Instruments Produce Sound............................................................ 3
Vibrato, Lip Control and Fine Tuning ................................................................. 5
Learning to Play................................................................................................... 6
Instant Gratification ......................................................................................... 6
The Upper Register .......................................................................................... 8
Fingering Chart .................................................................................................... 9
Instrument’s History .......................................................................................... 12
Brian’s Story.................................................................................................. 12
Plastic Xaphoon ............................................................................................. 14
Care for the Instrument ...................................................................................... 15
Troubleshooting Tips ......................................................................................... 16
Do you enjoy your Xaphoon? ............................................................................ 18

Maui Xaphoon •PO Box 1163 •Paia, HI 96779
Page 1
About the Xaphoon
Congratulations on your purchase of a Maui Xaphoon! Your Xaphoon
(pronounced “za foon”) is a very unique instrument, which produces the deep,
rich sounds of a saxophone or clarinet, yet is lightweight and extremely portable.
Ideal for beginners and experienced players alike, the Xaphoon is designed to be
taken everywhere, allowing the user to play and spread joy wherever they go.
Using the expressive power of a tenor sax reed, the Xaphoon boasts a fully
chromatic, 2-octave range; providing an awesome sound with tremendous
versatility. The experienced player will find the Xaphoon capable of all the
subtle shadings and vibrant power of a saxophone. The beginner will find it fun
and easy, and good practice for other reed instruments.
The Xaphoon is a brand new instrument; it is neither a sax nor a clarinet nor a
recorder. Because it is different, all things are possible. Feel free to experiment
– there are no rules!

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A tour of the Instrument
The Xaphoon is comprised of only four pieces: the main body, a tenor sax reed,
a brass ligature to hold the reed in place, and a plastic cap to protect the delicate
reed when not being played.
Finger Placement
The Xaphoon has a total of 9 holes, and the fingers are
placed as in the illustration at the right. The left hand goes
on top, and the thumb of the left hand closes the hole in the
back (not visible in the illustration). This left-thumb hole is
NOT an octave hole (as it would be if this were a recorder);
instead think of it simply as the 2nd hole from the top. It
was placed there because, well, that’s where your thumb is.
This is the 2nd hole you will close on your descending scale.
Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece of the Xaphoon is actually built
right into the instrument; there is no mouthpiece to
adjust or replace.
To play properly, your lower lip should be curled
over your lower teeth. Your upper teeth should rest
directly on top of the plastic mouthpiece. Place the
mouthpiece far enough into your mouth to allow the

Maui Xaphoon •PO Box 1163 •Paia, HI 96779
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reed to vibrate freely. Your tongue should be out of the way and not touching
any part of the instrument.
Your lower lip should come into contact with the reed
approximately where the line is at the right. Everything
above the line should be free of obstruction.
As you become experienced, you will find that moving
your lower lip above and below this line as you play
will enable easier playing of the lower and higher
registers, respectively.
How Reed Instruments Produce
Sound
If you examine the Xaphoon’s mouthpiece from the side carefully, you’ll find
that there is a small gap between the tip of the reed and the mouthpiece. This
gap gives room for the reed to vibrate when you blow through it. As it vibrates,
it will alternately bend toward the mouthpiece (forming a perfect seal and
stopping all air) and then move away from the mouthpiece (allowing your breath
to flow once more). If this open-close-open-close activity happens 440 times
per second, the Xaphoon will produce a frequency corresponding to the note
“A”. This is how all reed instruments work; vibrating at the desired frequency,
all the while alternately allowing and blocking the wind from entering the
instrument. It is very important, then, that the reed be positioned to allow it to
form a perfect seal when it bends; it is also important that the instrument be
placed far enough in the mouth to allow the tip of the reed to vibrate freely
without touching the lips, teeth, tongue, or any other part of the mouth; but not
so far in the mouth that it prevents you from producing the lower notes.

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The Xaphoon uses a standard Tenor Sax reed, which is available in any music
store. The unit comes with a #2½ strength reed, which is a good general-
purpose strength. Experienced jazz sax musicians might want to use the harder
reeds like a #3 or #4 to get a stronger, more powerful sound. People who are
used to playing recorders might feel more comfortable using a #1½ or 2 which is
softer and easier to play.
Placement of the reed relative to the opening of the mouthpiece is critical to the
quality of the sound produced. As pictured in the left image below, the edges of
the reed should be even with the edges of the mouthpiece opening. If the reed is
placed too low, a “fuzzy” sound results. If placed too high, it can require more
breath to get the reed to start vibrating, plus it could break more easily.
Just Right Too High Too Low

Maui Xaphoon •PO Box 1163 •Paia, HI 96779
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For best results, the reed should be moist (this will happen automatically as you
play); many musicians moisten the reed in their mouths prior to playing. Reeds
can last for thousands of hours of playing, but in the real world most reeds will
end up becoming chipped, broken, or slightly warped before they actually die of
old age. Should this happen, a new reed will always bring you a fresh and bright
sound; and any tenor sax reed will do. Choose one whose strength matches your
type of playing.
Vibrato, Lip Control and Fine Tuning
Vibrato is a common technique used by all reed instrument players. It's easy to
learn and uses the same lip motion that fine tunes the pitch, so it's good to learn
this right away.
While holding any long note, make a slight regular “chewing” motion with your
lower jaw, and you will hear the pitch going up and down with the amount of
lower lip pressure on the reed. Try playing like a singer...First establish the exact
pitch of the note...Next, apply a very subtle vibrato with a steady rhythm toward
the end of the note...Then, finish the note with the exact pitch again. Also try
some exagerated lip motion, which will make very expressive pitch bends.
Every motion in your lip will come out in the sound.
Lip tuning is also necessary while playing, much like steering when you drive a
car. Even on a straightaway, you have to pay attention and make adjustments.

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Learning to Play
Instant Gratification
If you’ve never played a reed instrument before, this section can help you to
quickly learn how to get a sound out of it. If you are an experienced sax or
clarinet player, you may wish to skip the next two sections and go right to the
fingering chart that follows.
As mentioned in the previous section, your lower lip should be curled over your
lower teeth to provide a cushion for the reed. Your upper teeth should rest
directly on top of the plastic mouthpiece.
The easiest way to get your first sound is to
keep all the holes open, put the instrument’s
mouthpiece in your mouth so your lower lip
rests approx. halfway down the reed’s
length, seal your lips tightly around the
mouthpiece and blow as hard as you can.
You should hear a very loud, high-pitched
squeal. Congratulations! You’ve just made
your first sound! (With some practice and
control, you’ll be able to get this note to
sound more pure, and will become a high
“F” on the 2-octave scale.)

Maui Xaphoon •PO Box 1163 •Paia, HI 96779
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If you couldn’t get a sound, try moving the mouthpiece further into your mouth
and try again. An adjustment of lip pressure on the reed may also help produce
a note.
Now that you’ve made your first sound, the next thing to try is a descending
scale. Starting with all the holes open, start playing your high note, and while
you continue to blow close the holes one by one starting from the top and listen
to the descending scale. (Don’t forget to close the thumb hole in the back as the
3rd note in your descending scale!)
Continue closing the holes from top to bottom until all the holes are closed. The
final note should be the instrument’s lowest sound, the low “C”.
If you experience some notes sounding kind of fuzzy, then most likely one or
more holes are not sealed tightly with your fingers. Make sure you feel for the
holes as your fingers close them. If you are having trouble descending all the
way down to the lowest notes, try putting less pressure on the reed (i.e., allow it
to vibrate more freely) as you descend.
Some beginners who have only played recorders in the past get surprised when
they learn how much breath is required to get a note to sound. Because the
Xaphoon uses reeds instead of a whistle mechanism (the sound source used in
recorders), more wind pressure is required. Worry not; for just as horseback
riding becomes more natural over time, with practice you will find the amount
of breath required to make music flow freely will appear to be dramatically
reduced.

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The Upper Register
If you were successful in following the above procedure, you will find you can
play the first 1½ octaves (C to F) of the Xaphoon’s 2-octave range. By
changing the lip position on the reed and repositioning the instrument in your
mouth slightly, you can also attain the high register (High G to High C).
The high register is usually the sound the beginner makes unintentionally when
making their first notes. To get the upper register, you may need to reposition
your lip slightly, moving it further below the green line as depicted in an earlier
section, while at the same time applying a little more lip pressure.
(You may have noticed that F# is kind of left out of the above range. You can
get it; just play a high F and apply greater lip pressure to bend the note upward.
Alternatively, some people play the high G using lower lip pressure to achieve
the same results.)
With some practice, you’ll be able to play a complete 2-octave “C” scale while
you seamlessly transition between the lower and higher registers. Many
Xaphoon beginners, though, are perfectly happy playing the hundreds of
millions of songs that require only the first 1.5 octaves of the lower register.