Testing: Selmer Paris Adolphe Sax Limited Edition

2014 is the celebration year of Adolphe Sax's 200th Birthday. Selmer Paris bought the Adolphe Sax company and continue the tradition in making saxophone. This special edition is probably the best present for this celebration. I am very excited and honored to be the first person in the world to try the product, here is some sharing and observation:
2014年是薩克斯管之父阿道夫·薩克斯誕辰200週年，世界各地都有舉辦不同的慶祝活動。法國Selmer Paris早年收購了阿道夫·薩克斯的公司，並繼承製作薩克斯管的傳統。他們推出的這款特別版可能是最好的慶祝禮物。我感到非常高興和榮幸地成為全世界的第一個試吹產品的樂手，這裡是一些觀察和分享：

Time 時間: 28 June 2014
Event 事件: Singapore Woodwind Festival
Location 地點: National University of Singapore 新加坡國立大學
My own set-up 我的配置: Selmer Paris Series II/ 吹嘴 Lars Mlekusch LM2 / 簧片 D'addario Classic Reserve 3.5 / 束圈 Air music ligature from Taiwan 

I tried with both my own mouthpiece and the limited edition mouthpiece. It does make a big difference, BUT you cannot buy the mouthpiece alone!!
我分別使用了我自己的吹嘴+束圈和限量版的吹嘴+束圈，得出來的效果差別非常大。可是，你沒有辦法只買限量版的吹嘴+束圈！！

Touching: 9/10
Similarity to original Adolphe Sax: 8/10
The limited edition tries to reproduce all the little details from the original Adolphe Sax. It is very different from any modern saxophones. The touching is fresh at the first second from modern experience. The keys are much smaller includes the octave key; the pearl rollers make a much different touching too. 

手感：9/10
跟元祖薩克斯管的相似度：8/10
限量版試圖重現原型阿道夫·薩克斯管的所有細節。它跟任何現代薩克斯管都有很大的分別。第一次拿上手的手感很新鮮。按鍵都比現代薩克斯管小得多，包括八度鍵;珍珠滑輪做出的手感也有很大分別。

Sound: 9/10
Similarity to original Adolphe Sax: 7.5/10
This horn have a very good even and expressive sound, starting from low Bb to high F# (Yes there is a F# key) to altissimo (Mr. Sax don't expect this range!). When I use my own mouthpiece, it sounds "older" than a Mark VI but I can still produce a modern sense of timbre, even playing well to contemporary music :) ; When I switch to the limited edition mouthpiece and ligature, world came back to years ago, very special sound but maybe not the sounds of Mr.Sax (Who knows?). Maybe an Adolphe Sax reed 3.0 is needed :)

聲音：9/10
跟元祖薩克斯管的相似度：7.5/10
這把樂器有非常好的聲音，表現力也很強。從低音Bb到高音F＃（是的，有高音F＃鍵）到altissimo（薩克斯先生應該沒有吹過或聽過！）都很好。當我用我自己的吹嘴+束圈時，它的聲音比Mark VI“舊”，但我仍然可以吹出現代的音色，甚至演奏當代音樂都表現得很好 :);當我換上到限量版的吹嘴+束圈，世界立即回到了古代，很特別的聲音，但也許不是薩克斯先生想要的聲音（誰知道？），也許我需要阿道夫·薩克斯簧片3.0:)

Response: 8/10
Similarity to original Adolphe Sax: 3/10
It may not have the same response as Mark VI, Series II, III or Reference. It makes sense, because we are used to modern saxophones. It would be perfect to play any kind of music, If you are not playing A LOT of crazy running, altissimos, multiphonics, be-bops...etc. Why the similarity is so low? the limited edition is an imitation of the original Adolphe Sax but it is still way better than the original one if you have ever tried one!! 

反應：8/10
跟元祖薩克斯管的相似度：3/10
相比起Mark VI，Series II，III或Reference，它可能比不上它們的反應，這是有道理的，因為我們已經習慣了現代的薩克斯管。它依然可以完美地演奏任何類型的音樂，如果你不是在瘋狂的吹極快的音階，altissimos，multiphonics，Bebops等等。你可能會問，為什麼相似性如此之低？因為限量版雖然是以原型阿道夫·薩克斯管作籃本，但它仍然比原型要優良很多，如果你曾經試吹過原型阿道夫·薩克斯管！！

Intonation: 7/10
Similarity to original Adolphe Sax: 5/10
The intonation is not the main purpose and issue for this horn. Th series III still have the best intonation in Selmer catalog. It doesn't mean that the horn is BAD in intonation. In fact, as you can guess from the similarity, it is actually a very good one compare to the Adolphe Sax over 100 years ago. The limited edition have an intonation accuracy between Mark VI and Series II.

音準：7/10
跟元祖薩克斯管的相似度：5/10
音準並不是製作限量版的主要目的，series III仍然是Selmer Paris目錄中的擁有最佳音準的型號。這並不代表限量版的音準不好。事實上，你可以從相似度猜測，如果跟100多年前生產的原型阿道夫·薩克斯管相比，它實際上是一把非常好的樂器。這款限量版的音準準確度大概在Mark VI 和Series II之間。

Design: 10/10
Similarity to original Adolphe Sax: 9/10
Design, FULL MARK, FOR SURE. It is the nicest horn (model) I ever saw, except some special-made/ customer-made products. Its beautiful and meaningful, form the outlook, plating, keys, key guards, materials, brace, sounds, mouthpiece.....etc. It's a totally different horn, you can't tell all the details without playing it.

設計：10/10
跟元祖薩克斯管的相似度：9/10
設計，肯定是，滿分！！除了一些特別訂製的產品，這是我見過最好的薩克斯管型號。它非常漂亮和有意義，從外觀，電鍍，按鍵，材料，護具，聲音，吹嘴.....等等。這是一把完全不同的樂器，如果不親身演奏，根本無法講出所有的細節。

On the whole, I love this horn. I won't say it is a copy of original Adolphe Sax but a perfect balance between the 
original and the modern technology. I can tell if Adolphe Sax is still alive, he would make the saxophone like this with the technology of 21st century. I won't say everyone should buy/ own it, but you MUST try it!!!
整體而言，我非常喜歡這個產品。這不是原型阿道夫·薩克斯管的重現或複製品，但它取得了原型與現代技術之間的完美平衡點。我可以說，如果阿道夫·薩克斯還活著，他一定會以21世紀的技術製做出像這樣的薩克斯管。我不會說每個人都應該購買/擁有它，但你一定要試！

Hope you like it
希望你喜歡我的分享！


Tak Chiu Wong 
Selmer Paris Artist