Category: Reviews

Review: Kraftgeek / Capsule Music Stand

Every musician should own a music stand. Probably a fold-able one that can travel. Its shocking to me that after 20 years of being a musician in New York City I still show up to gigs where ‘professional’ musicians didn’t bring a music stand or think about it. There’s no excuse and certainly even less of an excuse as exciting new music stands come out. Which brings me to the point of this article.

Folding music stands are ubiquitous, and terrible. Fortunately they are cheap, but if you are a serious musician and you finally want to get something that won’t wear out and break in a year there is finally a new portable option. Here I am going to discuss the new Capsule music stand (formerly known as the Kraftgeek music stand).

To be transparent and up front – I was sent one of these stands for free to review it. That being said, I am happy to tell you the things I love about it and the things I think can be improved. The good news is that I have seen and used this stand before and the one I was sent is actually updated and improved, which is always a great sign. This stand has a very modern design aesthetic and was clearly very thought through and well manufactured. This stand has become my new go-to music stand for gigs.

And yes, if you like this stand, I have a discount code for you. Get it for %15 off (and help support this page, affiliate fees go towards hosting costs).

https://kraftgeek.com/products/bravo-music-stand-209?ref=jazzbarisax
Use code jazzbarisax for the discount.

What is it.

Its a portable music stand with modern design, which means its light enough to carry to a performance but with a lot of features. As a baritone saxophonist, weight and space is unfortunately a major consideration, otherwise I’d bring a double wide extra shelf Manhasset stand to every gig!

Everyone has probably used the cheap ‘wire’ music stands with the three flimsy legs and metal tubing that just seems to bend if you look at it wrong. This is a more substantial stand (just over 2.5 pounds), and there is a lot of intention and design that has gone into this one. Its not as light as the cheap wire stands, but lighter than some of the heavier duty fold-able or collapsible options currently out there. This one is a thoughtful mix of plastic and metal that feels substantial and decently constructed. There are some other novel features on this stand. But let’s talk about how the Capsule stand works.

First you unfold the top portion of the stand – it has a twistable lock though I haven’t found it necessary since I usually unfold the top stand portion all the way and it rests there. You then twist the bottom to ‘unlock’ the three tripod legs – a neat feature that will keep them folded up nicely when stored in the case. Next you grab the the portion just above the lefts and pull the stand out to its desired length/height. After that its just about adjusting the top portion that will hold the music. This stand differs quite a bit from other stands here. Instead a complex interlock of metal strips that have to unfolded in a very specific delicate way, this stand has rotating arms. The two main arms fold down (that the music will rest at bottom on) then you unfold the top two arms. In the middle you can then rotate the central arms out that support the music in the middle. And the last step is key, one that I didn’t quite grasp at first. You then can slide the top arms down towards the middle to better support the music, especially if you are using sheet music or anything 11 inches tall. You can leave it slid at the top if you are using a taller book or something. The middle arms can also be extended to the sides, very helpful if you are playing multi-page music. They also have sprung clips that can help hold the music in place. The bottom arms are also topped with an anti-slip rubber which is a nice change from most music stands where things go flying off.

The stand itself has add-ons (a phone/tablet holder and a stand light… more below) and they attach to the stand using very standard 1/4″ screw holes. I love that this gives you the option to easily attach other standard mountings, like those with any camera or GoPro.

Height wise the range is excellent. It can go short enough that sitting is no problem, and it telescopes quite long! It can get more than tall enough for I think just about everyone. And not having tighteners/screws or levers to adjust when changing the height is magnificent. Its all pressure fit so you just pull up or push down to raise or lower. And after quite a bit of use there is no sign so far of it getting looser or wearing.

Packaging

I wouldn’t normally comment on packaging, but its so well thought out on this product and nicely done. There are plenty of instructions, and information on all of the packaging. I find a lot of things in the music industry often skimp on packaging so its really nice to see here.

Even the protective foam inside the boxes is nice enough to repurpose if you are so inclined. The carry case even comes in a draw string bag itself which is also decent enough that I’ll find another use for that too!

 

Carrying Case

While black is handy for musicians especially when we’re on stages and need everything to not be conspicuous, I actually appreciate that they went with a non black carrying case. The one they offer is the Portable Tripod Bag. I think it looks smart, and its very well made. Every other bag that came with a music stand I’ve ever had has worn out or broken – I often find myself adding velcro or snap buttons, or sewing rips shut. The fabric on this carrying case is much more substantial, I don’t expect to have to do that anytime soon. They also opted for a zipper instead of a cheap velcro or button enclosure. And the carrying straps are adjustable and made of good quality vinyl strapping. Its clear an actual designer tackled this product and it wasn’t just shoved in a cheap bag as an after thought.

Inside the case there are actual velcro adjusted dividers – brilliant! Especially handy if you get the full package including the stand light, phone/tablet holder etc. Even with those things inside there is PLENTY of room, maybe too much in fact. I assume this is a bag they use for other products and have re-used, they even call it a tripod bag. But you can easily store a clip for wind, some pencils or whatever else you’d want in there with room to spare.

Phone/Tablet Holder

Its an optional add on, and there is absolutely no shortage of these out there already, but one thing you can get with this stand is a phone/tablet holder that attaches to the stand. Theirs is called the FlexyMount. You might be thinking – ‘If I have a music stand, why would I need a phone or tablet holder, why wouldn’t I just put the phone/table on the stand?’. Well, on some gigs you need both sheet music and a tablet, or maybe you want hands free access to your phone, or maybe you want to record some video while playing. Basically – its a handy option to have. And the Capsule stand has included a 1/4 inch screw hole as the attachment method. This is amazing as that’s a very standard size for camera mounts and what not. So if you have a GoPro setup or some camera tripod setup it would be very easy to adapt it for use with this stand too. And the phone/tablet holder is actually good enough I use it for filming videos now even without the Capsule stand!

The holder itself is kind of brilliant. It hold a phone with very simple sprung retractable holders. But then each side has a subtle button to release it and lengthen the arm. With both arms extended it can hold a table (at least my medium sized iPad). It also has an adjustable screws and angle/arms that can be tightened so you can get the tablet or phone oriented whatever way works best for you. The hardware it comes with will look familiar to anyone who uses camera gear or a GoPro, so its nice to have non-proprietary fittings.

The stand has a 1/4 inch screw hole at the very top as well so you can put a tablet or phone (or GoPro) up there too!

Stand Light

Another optional add-on is their stand light. They call it the Lumi Light. Its well designed and smart looking, but honestly maybe my least favorite part of this stand. Its good, you won’t be displeased if you get it but there are many stand lights out there now. When LED lights finally became ubiquitous the music stand light market exploded. The prevalence of cheap rechargeable batteries was also a game changer.

This light does make use of LED lights, and has a slick two arm lighting setup up. You screw the light into the top of the stand and swing the arms out. There is a slide switch on the light with three settings – off, on, and extra bright. The brightest setting is pretty bright though it will likely eat through batteries quickly. The light can either be powered by 3 AA batteries, or you can plug it in. Its great to have both options! It doesn’t include the plug but its a standard USB C plug. A built in rechargeable battery would have been nice, but I have my own rechargeable AA batteries that I use. I have found that while in the case or a bag the stand light can accidentally turn on (just like every other stand light I own) so to be safe you might want to flip one of the batteries around when not in use.

An odd thing about this light, is that the battery compartment has a little tab you push to open, but also is closed with a screw. And they include a TINY little screw driver. This seems… unnecessary? Like the screw is probably overkill and I’m sure if it wasn’t there is some other mechanism they could use?

I have found that the brightest setting uses quite a lot of battery. So if you need that brightness maybe plan to have it plugged in. Alternately you can use the less bright setting to make it farther between battery changes.

My main complaint about the light is the way it attaches. I find the screw cumbersome to attach every gig and it doesn’t fold up with it attached so you have to remove it every time. A light that can stay on and fold up with it would have been slick. Or at the very least a more quick attachment/detachment method. Magnets? Clips? Don’t know, but it could be slicker. Though I do appreciate having another 1/4″ screw slot that can be used for other things (tripods, cameras, ring lights etc).

You also can’t really adjust where the light hits on the music. You can swing the light arms in and out but that doesn’t do much to help. It can’t really be rotated or moved easily like some of the stand lights with bendable arms and adjustments. This light also can’t be used on any other music stand, so its sort of proprietary in that respect.

I use this light with the stand, but in my baritone case I won’t stop carrying my trusty bendable portable music stand light just yet.

Pricing

At $80 I think this thing is a pretty great deal given the build quality and function. Even cheaper if you use the links here and get a 15% discount. Of course that price is just for the stand, and I think the add-ons are great too. $150 gets you the whole shebang  with bag, phone/tablet holder, and light (a $25 discount). It is quite a step up from the plethora of junk stands you can get for $20-40 but if you’re a professional or a serious student and are going to be using this on like every gig – its worth the step up. And frankly, good design is worth paying for. If companies find that people are worth paying for products that are thought out and a little more expensive they’ll be more likely to produce something that isn’t just for the cheap student market. Also I hope this stand lasts a long time and reduces the waste of buying and constantly throwing out the cheaper ones when they inevitably give out.

Things That Could Be Better

I have one major complaint and dislike about this stand. Everything else is a minor suggestion. Like I think the case could be smaller and more compact – its almost twice as deep as it needs to be. I wish the stand light were more adjustable and easier to put on or take off – or at the very least could stay on when the stand is folded. I also of course would love a lighter stand (though I now notice there is a lightweight version of the stand!). Another small suggestion is a built in pencil holder. Every music stand is going to have a pencil on it sooner or later, why not build that in? And of course like any lightweight stand, this one won’t hold up to strong winds outside. It has some good features like the music clips and extra wide arms, and non-slip rubber strips, and you can add a plexiglass sheet to help in windy gigs, but no lightweight stand will hold up to a strong gust as well as a heavy old fashioned stand.

But those are all minor things I think could be easily fixed or ignored.

The one thing that really bums me about this otherwise incredible stand is the viewing angle.

When you unfold the stand the top part folds back into place and stops at about 30 degrees. That’s probably enough if you are sitting down or have the stand high enough that its not too far below tour eye-line. But after using this stand on a number of gigs, I just really want it to tilt back farther. Especially when I have the stand a bit lower  and am looking down at the music. I think i’d want maybe even twice as much tilt! It has a beautiful locking mechanism on the hinge that I never use because I always have it folded back and maxed out. If it went a full 90 degrees you could even consider putting a laptop on it (not recommended, but hey, people do it). This is the one thing where many of the cheap folding stands have got it beat. This feature reminds me of the even older metal tube based stands where the top portion just slotted into the stand and couldn’t be adjusted forward or back at all.

I can’t fully see the mechanism in the hinge and I don’t want to take it apart, so I have no idea how easy or hard this would be to adjust and improve, but that’s my only serious grudge against this otherwise incredibly well thought out piece of gear.

Summing it up

Obviously I like this stand and recommend it. Its become my go to stand for gigs. I am even probably going to buy the lightweight model to see how that one works (every ounce matters when also carrying a baritone saxophone and a bass clarinet!). I also love good design and supporting companies that make nice things for musicians.

Again, if you like this stand, I have a discount code for you. Get it for %15 off (and help support this page, affiliate fees go towards hosting costs).

https://kraftgeek.com/products/bravo-music-stand-209?ref=jazzbarisax
Use code jazzbarisax for the discount.

New Baritone sax specific product from Key Leaves!

Key Leaves, the company whose handy little silicon wedges I already highly recommend has come out with a new product, just for us baritonists! Its a new way to keep the crook of the bari sax clean. Check out the video below for my thoughts on it and a demonstration (spoiler, its great).

Its $40 over at Key Leaves, head over and get one yourself!

Finally a case to recommend! and updates

The most common question I get is about flying with a baritone.. the next most common and also somewhat related question is a recommendation for a case. I finally have a case that is readily available that I feel good recommending, and also have some specific advice on how to make it better. I made a quite long video comparing 4 different baritone saxophone cases, since there was a rare occasion where I had 4 different cases in my apartment at the same time. Check out the video below – I cover the Protec Micro Zip (spoiler alert, this is my recommendation), the new Marco Magi case, and two Mike Manning Custom cases. I’ve also updated the ‘Cases for baritone saxophone‘ page here with updated prices, information, and some new additions.

Boss Baritones w/ Gary Smulyan & Frank Basile out tomorrow!

A new exciting album drops tomorrow, Friday June 7th. Two of my favorite baritonists will be releasing their album finally. I’ve seen the group play live a couple times and its tremendous. Gary Smulyan, and Frank Basile are both solidly in the Pepper Adams school of baritone playing, but each have their own take on it.

This group they have together is somewhat a throwback to the notable groups that had two tenor saxophones as the front men (Think Sonny Stitt & Gene Ammons, or Johnny Griffin & Lockjaw Davis etc)

I’ve pre-ordered my copy, if you’d like to grab yours the link is here.

New Review: ErgoBrass new ErgoSax support system (Bari/Bass)

The folks at ErgoBrass recently sent me their newest product to check out. Its a support system for baritone (and bass!) saxophone. It is made to replace or even work in tandem with your neck strap or harness. I was really impressed with this product. I reviewed a similar product some time ago called SaxSupport and this is somewhat of a similar idea, but I think better executed and more flexible.

Any baritonist with back or neck problems, or anyone with a bass saxophone could definitely benefit from this product. I have made an in depth video explaining how it works, demonstrating it, and trying it with various instruments (baritone sax, both low A and low Bb, bass sax, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet and more). Check out the video for my full review:

Here’s the video from the company on the product:

If you’re interested you can purchase it directly from their website (sold and shipped from Europe):
https://store.ergobrass.com/product/ergosax-baribass-support/

Gary Smulyan releases new album

Gary Smulyan has continued his recent streak of releasing albums with interesting and niche concepts. His most recent release “Tadd’s All Folks” contains all Tadd Dameron compositions. Interpreted by vocalist Anais Reno, and supported by Gary’s excellent blowing and a great band (Pete Malinverni – piano, David Wong – bass, and Matt Wilson – drums).

While this album is very straight ahead, Gary has still managed to avoid over saturating the recording world with more common standards. A lot of the songs here are very unfamiliar, continuing his trend of bringing to light lesser known compositions. His last few albums featured a lot of obscure contra-facts over more common chord changes.

The playing and recording quality are very well done here, if you’re a fan of Gary’s playing (who isn’t?) you should have a listen.

Brian Landrus releases new album, “Red List”

Brian Landrus is a modern baritonist, amongst all the many other woodwinds he plays – often focusing on the low range. In addition to recently joining the composition faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Brian has released a new album. This album is called Red List, and refers to a list of critically endangered animals – Brian is hoping to raise awareness about this important issue.

The album sounds great, and Brian has assembled an incredible list of musicians to play on it. It has a lot of room for improvisation but is clearly showcasing Brian’s composition skills and also leaning into more of a modern rock/electric sound that is refreshing to hear.

Have a listen below, and head over to Brian’s website to pick up a copy.

2 Recordings from Josh Sinton

The baritone saxophone is not nearly as prevalent as the alto or tenor, so it is inherently somewhat niche. Josh Sinton is a long time practitioner of the baritone and is exploring the edges of what the already somewhat undiscovered baritone saxophone can do. He has two new recordings out and they are worth listening to.

“b.” is a solo baritone saxophone recording. Recording an instrument acoustically while playing solo is incredibly daunting and ambitious. Adding digital effect, pedals, loops etc can really assist the endeavor. But Josh has spent a lot of time developing a repertoire of sounds and approaches to the saxophone such that he can now present an entire album’s length of music and sound with just him and a saxophone in a room. When listening to a solo instrumental recording I like to try to keep in the foreground the physical reality of the music. This is a large brass tube with holes in it, and the variety of sounds that can be produced with it is astonishing and worth listening to.

The other recording, “Adumbrations” is a trio recording with Josh, Jed Wilson, and Tony Falco. While still not striking down the middle of main-stream jazz this recording might be more familiar sounding to some listeners. The interaction between the musicians is really what’s special here. I especially enjoyed hearing Josh play some excellent flute.

I encourage you to expand your palate for baritone and go to Josh’s band camp page and have a listen. You make like it, love it, or just be interested to know what’s possible.

A new album from Preston Cummins & Co

There is a new album from a group called Mr. PC out of Dallas, TX featuring some classic swinging music. The group is a sextet (baritone, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass drums) and while the tunes are all originals they have a timeless jazz feel about them. The writing is nice, the playing is tasteful, especially from the young baritonist, Preston Cummins. 

The album is called Sessions, and I recommend you have a listen. Check the links below:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/sessions/1624430148

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjqDZ7EeK-7y83BqbbZMPoA

New Mulligan Transcription – Straight No Chaser

A new transcription has just been added to the transcription repository – and its a bit of a strange one. This transcription comes to us from Erik Robisch, thank you!

Gerry Mulligan fans will probably know of the album that features him and Thelonious Monk. Two seemingly very different players with different approaches, and boy does that show on this album. Monk being famously fond of dissonance and jagged lines and Mulligan opting for linear consonant melodies. I think its a safe assumption that this was a record company’s idea of ‘put two big names together and profit’ and thus I’m not sure the music was at the forefront of the intention here.

There’s a quote from mulligan that goes something like ‘playing with Monk’s comping is like falling down an elevator shaft’ or something to that effect. I think this is probably true in the best of circumstances, but listening to this album I can’t help but think that Monk is just intentionally messing with and vibing Mulligan. For example on the track where this transcription comes from, Monk plays a chorus of the head (Mulligan noodles) plays the head again with Mulligan, comps for 2 choruses then just lays out for the rest of Mulligan’s solo and the bass solo to boot. Mulligan did very little to interact or acknowledge Monk’s comping. After the bass solo, Mulligan tries to noodle a bit behind the piano solo but seems to give up and they just take the head out. An odd album – but if you’re interested in hearing what Mulligan does over the blues, head to the transcription repository and download yourself a copy. Have a listen down below.