The Maui Xaphoon Pocket Sax

I don't really have much to add to what other 4 and 5 star raters have said, primarily i just wanted to contribute my star rating to add to the overall average and help counteract those who have inappropriately downrated this because of shipping or other issues not related to the instrument.Reviewers seem kind of evenly split as to whether this instrument is loud or soft. Some say that it is quiet enough to play while people are sleeping. My opinion is that it is loud. My cats hate it, they run when they see me reach for it. They do not mind my accordion, in fact they will sit right next to me while i play accordion but they head for the hills when either this or the bagpipe comes out. Thus, i am thinking that the volume of this is comparable to that of a bagpipe chanter.My main issue with this has just been intonation. When i play it in what seems to me to be the most natural way, it is basically a full half step flat from what it is supposed to be. I.e. the bottom note, C, sounds like B instead. I can bend it up to somewhere around a C using mouth and air pressure, but it makes it harder for me to play, and the note isn't very stable then, because it doesn't seem like the note that the instrument really "wants" to play but rather is being forced to play. I have had my pocket sax for nearly a month now and play it some almost every day, and still i continue to have this issue after this time. Another minor complaint that i have is just the sound of the B note. This is obtained using a cross fingering, fingering a C and then lowering it by leaving a hole open and closing the one below that. To me, this sounds like it just bends the C note down a hair, and not like it is its own separate true note. I like to hear a clear break in the sound when going from one note to another. On any other non-accidental note throughout the fundamental register you can hear this--even if it's just a half step. When you open or close a hole crisply and cleanly, there is a disruption in the wave generated as it suddenly changes wavelength and you can actually hear that little crack in the sound. This does not happen between the B and C, it doesn't sound like you are playing two distinct notes but rather just varying the pitch of one note a little bit. This is likely true on other cross-fingered accidentals as well, though i have not advanced to the point where i am playing things that need accidentals outside of the "natural" scale of the instrument, other than B, so i can't attest to that for sure. (I call B an accidental because of the cross-fingering, whereas the note that comes naturally by lifting fingers in succession is B flat. For this reason the instrument, although nominally in "C", actually plays more easily and naturally in keys of F, natural D minor, and Dorian G minor. These keys also have an advantage over playing in C because you can go below the tonic, whereas in C, that's the bottom note of the instrument, which for many or most melodies--beyond Mary Had a Little Lamb--just isn't adequate.)As other reviewers have noted, this instrument is unlike any other, and you will have to devote time and effort into playing it decently. The embouchure is different from other reed instruments (my professional clarinetist friend couldn't make a sound when he first put it to his mouth) and the fingering is different from other woodwinds. Other reviewers seemed to find the fingering system to be flawed and marked it down because of that, but i don't see where this should be an issue. All instruments have their own fingering. This would be like downrating a mandolin because it is fingered differently from a guitar. There are people who play both instruments well, you just learn and use the fingering of each different instrument as it is. I play Irish whistle with six fingers and diatonic note spacing, and i play Bulgarian kaval with eight fingers and quasi-chromatic note spacing, and it's not a problem. I can play many tunes on either instrument and knowing how to finger it on one doesn't interfere in any way with playing it on the other. I don't even think about it, my fingers know what to do when they feel what instrument they are lying on. Now, i have yet another fingering system to become familiar with, i'm not concerned in the least.

Update: I've had my Xaphoon for 2 months now. Still love it. Just finished my quest for the perfect reed. I started with 2 1/2 strength cane reeds. The good ones sounded great, but...2 out of 4 were not so so good. I think a lot of the fun of this instrument is being able to just pick it up and play. With the cane reeds, there is a lot of taking the reed of and on to wet it to play and dry it after playing. Plus they don't last very long and you have to buy a bunch to find some good ones. So I thought a synthetic read would be the ticket. I got a Fibercell 1 1/2 strength. I went to the 1 1/2 since the 2 1/2 takes work and some facial muscles to play I thought why not go softer ? That turned out to be a mistake. The sound became very kazoo like and it was impossible to get the high notes. So then I ordered a Fibercell 2 1/2. They sent an Alto reed, I returned it and they replaced it with...another Alto reed. After the second try Amazon gave me a credit and I bought a Bari soft.reed. Turns out this is the end of my quest. The Bari plays great. I think it is a little easier to play than a 2 1/2 cane reed, sounds really good, and it's very easy to get the highest notes. And I can leave it in place. And it will last a long time. I am now one happy Xaphoonist.I love my Xaphoon. I have had it a little more than 2 weeks and was able to play a scale (with help from the book) the first time I picked it up. Since then I have been learning the fingering for flats and sharps, which is odd in places, and have also made strides in getting a good tone. I played clarinet long ago so knew how the reed works but it probably helped that I haven't played lately so I did not try to use the mouthpiece the way you would with a clarinet or sax. It is definitely different. The sound is amazing for the size of the thing which I attribute to the big reed and the shape of the mouthpiece. DO NOT leave the reed in place between sessions. I started out doing that so that I could just pick it up and play. When I did take it off there was stuff starting to grow on the back of the reed. Ewww. After looking up some information on how to take care of the reed I have started taking it off and dipping it in a small jar of 50% peroxide and water after playing. I also play guitar and figured out that I can clip my "Snark" at the bottom of the barrel to check the pitch when I am playing so that I get used to playing in key. The pitch can change pretty easily by mouth and air pressure which is great for vibrato and bending notes but playing with others will require I can stay on pitch most of the time. This is definitely a real musical instrument that requires patience and practice like any other instrument. I think the negative reviews come from folks who thought they would be able to just pick it up and jam and are disappointed that there is work involved.