Maui C : A beginner review

Heads-up: I'm not a sax player, and have only played the Xaphoon for about 7 hours in total. So take my words with a grain of salt.

Overall it's a cool invention and is a lot of fun to play. It's very small, so I always have it in my rucksack and play in the park whenever I can. Learning to play simple melodies in C major was a breeze. Producing the first sounds took some practice but after a couple of 30-minute sessions, I could already play Happy Birthday and the Tetris melody.

The sound is very pleasing and not as squeaky as the recorder which is similar in size. Especially the lower register is surprisingly deep with a nice nasal character.

That said, I don't see myself dedicating a lot of time to this instrument. It's a fun companion with a few gripes.

Gripe #1: the lower C is difficult to get in tune. All the other notes are much more stable and easy to produce.

Gripe #2: anything above the high B requires complicated fingering, and the same for flat and sharp notes. I don't know if this is an issue with the saxophone of clarinet, and maybe I just need to take time to learn the finger positions.

Gripe #3: after about 30 minutes of playing, it becomes soggy and difficult to play.