I broke it....

Jefferson High school. The shittiest bleachers ever. He warned us. I took my sax off its strap. He told us not to. Someone bumped it. If fell 10 feet and slammed into the ground under the bleachers. It was his Sax. Watson’s sax.Shit.

This was yesterday. We have our first marching competititon TODAY. I have to march an unplayable saxophone, and they might have judges directly on the field listening to individual players. I could screw us.

Mr. Watson is my band director. I have to do everything perfectly today, or my marching band career could be ruined.

What should I do??

Well, how broken is it? If it’s snapped in half with lots of buttons broken off you may just need to quick rent another one to play out there. If it looks okay but doesn’t play at all, just pretend to play to the best of your ability. Blow in and chances are mostly no sound will come out, so you can still blow in and everything. If there are enough saxes in your marching band nobody’s going to hear that you’re not playing. Is your group doing a field show or just marching forward and turning occasionally? If the former, you’re fine, because judges are definitely not going to be on the field with you. If it’s the latter, then, are you marching in one giant line with lots of rows? Just stay in the middle, or don’t even go out and play if the group can manage losing one person.

No matter what you do, though, you absolutely have to tell Mr. Watson. And if you’re supposed to play a solo, well… Find another sax quickly <_<. Mr. Watson should have the best idea of what to do, though.

…you could rent a sax and use the mouth peace from the one you busted

Lol. Luckily for me, it’s barely damaged at all. Somehinges are badly bent, and there’s a small dent in the Sax, but other than that it’s fine. It’s not playable however. Pretending to play was an option, but He said that there was a possibility that there would be judges on the field. Im 1 of 4 tenor saxes, so there wouldnt be a killer difference, and I could march the Sax without playing it. Our marching is actually a field show, with different shapes, complex diagnols and follow the leaderish formations. Mr. Watson already knows though. He ALWAYS knows. He’s like a machine, a perfect contrast to my Texas band director. My old one was sensitive, and while he yelled alot, he was human. Mr. Watson is quite possibly the most indecipherable person i’ve ever met. I have absolutely no way of knowing what he’s thinking. While he’s very funny, apparently he holds grudges. The respect of my band director was everyting to me, and nothing is different here. I’ll probably have to pay for the sax damage, but if Watson dislikes me, that’ll truly hurt.

I know, it sounds kinda weird, bandnerdish, and obsesive, but it’s really that important to me.

I forgot to mention, I rented as new sax, even though the old one wasnt visibly damaged. Yes, it’s 45$ down the drain, but it’s really that important. We got 2nd place out of 13 bands, which is good, but watson wont be happy. He said that if we got last place, but did better than we ever have, he would be happy. As long as we’re better than before, he’s satisfied. Nonetheless, 2nd is still good, and I’m glad we did well. Now All I have to do is pray that I dont have to pay for that broken sax.

well good luck to you and…who cares how “band nerdish” it sounds…you generaly make alot of money if you can manage a career in the whole marching band thing

Lol. Marching band is just a hobby, regardless of whether i’m good or not. I just learned tenor sax just for marching band (but it’s really easy, so it didnt take long). I play bassoon for Wind ensemble. THat’s where my real skill is. Colledges PAY bassoon players to come and play for them.

oh that sucks big time…
people must be more carfull

Lol. It WAS my fault though. I shouldnt have taken it off my neckstrap.

best of luck to you, man. hope you’re able to fix it or get a rental. sounds like your in some sirious sh*t though…

Like I said, i did get a rental. It’s just about paying for the broken sax now though. They said it could be an easy fix, merely bending back some hinges. But if those hinges break while they’re being fixed, then i’m in for hell. As in, $2,000 down the drain kinda hell. The kinda hell that prevents you from getting a Wii until your birthday which is 5 months later.

NOOO… it just had to be a tenor didnt it… haha i play it too.

yeah i know that instruments are expensive as hell. hopefully you wont have to pay anything or at LEAST not the full repair or replacement price. but the opinion and respect the band director is probably a bigger problem.

Lol. Well I dont think he’s too angry. After all, I did spend the money to rent another tenor, just to play for the competition. Hopefully, the repair will go smoothly, and I might only have to pay about 200$.

Well, even if they broke, it wouldn’t be too hard for whoever’s repairing it to get replacement hinges… Yeah, they might not have the same finish, but it’s better than paying for a whole new sax.
Seriously, though… you’re lucky that it only has that much damage. Despite being bigger than an alto sax, that’s just more places for it to break…