Bit of a long story, but I'll try to keep it short.  Had a moment tonight that brought back many memories.  Spent the whole night cleaning out my old junk and looking for stuff to attempt to sell off.  Deep down, buried in one of the boxes I came across a CD that I thought I had lost.

Out of curiosity I popped it in the computer and started listening.  It contains several recordings that were made the end of my Freshman year at my old high school back in 2003.  All of our 70+ member concert band.  At the end of the year the band was taken to a local collages sound stage to make this recording of our best songs.  

Sadly this was my last true year of playing, we were one of the most prestigious high school bands in the area, which is surprising considering it was a school mostly made up of us farmers, we would spend a whole semester just practicing on 7 or 8 songs for one concert, we packed an auditorium to standing room only every time.  School didn't go cheap on anything, us guys went on stage in expensive tuxes and the girls had dresses.  Instructor was strict, everything had to be perfect, we didn't spend time looking at books or studying the scales...jumped right into the music and concentrated on nothing but the playing of said music.  We even had the honor of playing during a collage concert that year, we went first, after us it was their band, then we all combined for the final song. Which they had over 125 members, combine that with our 70+ and talk about a severely overcrowded mess of chairs, stands, and sardines...but we pulled it off somehow

Out of the 7-8 songs chosen during first semester none were easy, most were very complicated.  We did a lot of Robert W. Smith...which always had at least one, if not 2 very fast paced sections with tricky fingerings...and a couple James Swearingen.  We had our slow, easy going songs too for a nice mix.  There was 6 Alto Sax players in the band including me, 4 of us were Freshmen that year...I got placed in the group of 3 playing 1st chair.  We would take turns as to who got the solo's in different songs, though we all had each one down just in case someone was sick.  During the recording process each song that had a solo in it would be recorded as many times as needed, that way there was a recording of ourselves playing it for our CD.

But after I moved I joined the band at the new school and found it to be a complete waist of time.  The instructor was a fun guy, but way to relaxed, concentrated on the wrong things, like books, scales, everything but the music we should have been playing.  Due to being new I was stuck in 2nd chair group instead of first (1st chair vs 2nd chair...second chairs always get the easy, boring parts.) , the songs were not challenging at all because no one cared enough to even try to play them.  Sounded horrible.  Didn't even so much as tune before the concert.  Out of 4 of us I was the only one even playing with a decent reed...the other 3 were playing with grade 1.5s to 2's...I was playing with a 4.5...for anyone that knows difference, the scale of 1-5 5 being the hardest, and also the best.  The harder the reed, the better the sound, but also the harder to play with.

First concert came, I didn't even want to go, but sucked it up and did, the uniforms consisted of black slacks, cheap white shirts, and a very cheap little black vest that most of them had strings raveling off of, didn't even have to wear black shoes.  Concert started, there was 3 times as many of us up on the stage compared to the number in the audience  Half of them were asleep by the 3rd song...It was then I realized that no one even cared, not even the band director...so why bother, I packed up my Alto Sax that night and took it home, dropped to a study hall the next day.  

I was so disgusted that ever since that night it has been in its case, till tonight.  Listening to the recordings I came across the one of "As Summer Was Just Beginning" by Larry Daehn...nice and slow, started off with a sax solo.  Listening to myself start it off in the recording I couldn't resist, I knew a copy of that song was hiding in the case.  Finally blew off the dust, and found one unused reed...grade 4.  It didn't take but a few notes to realize I've lost it  I still can read the music, and finger the notes, but its like I'm starting all over again, can't do anything fast, my sax sounds like $hit thanks to the pads drying out to much, can't play anything under a low E without it squelching into an octave higher...and I was completely winded in about 10 minutes  I used to play 2 hour concerts strait through without a problem  Now I can even get through the first couple bars without taking a breath.  I used to play the entire 16 bar beginning of that song with only one quick breath in the middle...this time I barely made it to bar 3

But now I'm considering taking it up again...though until that sax gets an overhaul I wont be making it anywhere fast  Biggest problem is finding music to go off of.  I only have a couple of pieces that I forgot to return back in my high school days.  Neither are challenging enough to work my fingers back into shape.  Would really like to find some Alto Sax 1 parts to some of the old songs I have recordings too.  But I have no idea where to start, I've seen sites where I can get just the sax part for under $5 or the whole score for $75+ but don't know if I trust any of them enough to give out a credit card number.  Nor do I really have money to buy more then a couple.  Music shops are almost non existent here...the closest one to me that even carries sheet music...if it even still exists, is some 40 miles away.  Can't even find them in the phone book anymore though.  There's 2 songs in particular I'm after at the moment..."The Great Locomotive Chase" by Robert W. Smith...and also "Courtly Airs And Dances" by Ron Nelson.  Last one probably sounds odd, but I remember some of its sections being quite challenging and also different.  The most fast paced I can get is "Inchon" also by Smith but for the sax it was quite repetitive...and I know my fingers couldn't move that fast anymore if I tried.

So if anyone knows of an online music store with sheet music that is legit and worth spending the $5 or so to get the parts I want...I would love to have a link.