YAMAHA Tenor Venova Wind Instrument With Case

I admit I succumbed to FB advertising and became interested in this due to an ad in my newsfeed. I am a middle-aged, former clarinetist who still occasionally “noddles around” and also makes a poor attempt at playing the tin whistle. I am becoming more interested in jazz, and was looking for a smaller instrument to mess around with downstairs and annoy people at Christmas with holiday jazz standards. I read every review and watched every youtube video concerning this product (which are sparse). I have had the instrument for 3 days now and my initial impression is that this is a very interesting alternative to a recorder that produces a sound with some semblance to a soprano sax and on which it is fun to play jazz standards.

Some have called this an “overpriced toy.” Tin whistles are children’s’ “toys” that take years to master but sound beautiful when in the hands of an accomplished artist. Recorders are often (mistakenly) considered “children’s toys” but have a long history as legitimate musical instruments. Hell, there is that dude on youtube who makes instruments from carrots and garden hoses that he records with. So what is the Venova? Well, its certainly not a “toy,” but it is not a symphonic wind instrument either. The construction of the instrument seems solid and it is apparent that a lot of sound engineering went into making it. I think it has great potential for what it is marketed as — a “casual” wind instrument–appropriate for jam sessions with friends, busking on the street, playing in church.

That said, contrary to Yamaha’s advertising, this is certainly NOT the musical equivalent of a Polaroid camera. Teh Venova is an instrument in its own right that while quirky, has the potential to sound great–but it is in no way a beginner’s instrument. After 15 years of serious clarinet study and another 15 of “noddling,” I can attest that the Venova is challenging. The embouchure is not as tight as a clarinet, but nowhere near as loose as most true saxophones. It is somewhere in between. The biggest difficultly is that the instrument is VERY sensitive to changes in embouchure. Once one finds the “sweet spot,” one has to maintain it or you wind up sounding like a goose with its balls being squeezed or a ill snake charmer. When played properly, the instrument sounds like a cross between an oboe and a soprano sax. Again, once one finds the “sweet spot,” the tone is very pleasant. The sensitivity to embouchure changes also means that the Venova can be played very expressively. That said, I am suffering through my fair share of inadvertent honks and squeaks.

Lots of people ask if the instrument is chromatic. Nominally, yes; in practice, not really. Accidentals are played through a variety of odd “forked” fingerings that while playable, do not really lend themselves easily to running 16th notes.

What about the tone? Well, again, the instrument is sensitive to embouchure changes. However, as others have reported, F#, G# & Bb are badly out of tune and require “lipping it” to play. To me, this is the biggest drawback to the instrument and something Yamaha needs to address if it expects this to be anything more than a one-off novelty item. Oh, and please ignore that vast majority of youtube videos using mic’d Venova’s with the reverb turned up. It is not going to sound like that in your basement.

Fingerings are a mix between a recorder/clarinet/sax. If you already play a woodwind, you will have a leg-up with the embouchure control, but will have to reprogram your brain on the fingerings, as they are just similar enough, that sometimes you hands go on autopilot. My only major complaints about fingerings are: 1) you have to “roll” C# and Eb, which is obviously a hassle if you need to return [there is a reason sax’s and clarinets have all those side keys!];2 ) The fingering chart for some reason is inexplicably written upside down!–contrary to every other fingering chart I have ever seen; and 3) The manual gives a number of alternative fingerings, which can be confusing at first, but are actually helpful depending upon the piece you are playing. For instance mid-C is supposed to be played with just the thumb hole covered. However, it can also be played like a “C” on a clarinet, using the register key and fully covering the remainder. This alternative doesn’t sound as “bright”, but is essential if you are running up and down b-c-d-e. I note that the primary fingering for mid-D is the middle top hole, which if played with the primary C fingering results in a flub-flub-flub front/back rocking motion.

Other thoughts: Please do yourself a favor and just through the stock plastic reed in the bin–it is unplayable, esp for anyone who is new to reed instruments.

Price: Meh…..Is this thing worth $100? Depends on how you intend to use it, how much spare cash you have laying around, if you like experimenting with new things, and if you like the novelty factor. I am not SHOCKED at the $100 price tag, given that it does come with a nice case, cleaning cloth and a rudimentary mouthpiece, but I would have felt better paying $70-$80 for it. Have I gotten $100 in enjoyment from it?–Probably. Would I have gotten the same enjoyment from a J-sax or Xaphoon? Probably.

All that being said, I have spent at least a good 1.5 hours the past three nights playing with this thing and having fun with it. I plan on getting a C fake book for Christmas tunes and taking this along on my holiday travels.

Like any other instrument, this will require a lot of practice to sound decent, but I can definitely see myself playing on the main street with the rest of the college hispters by the college and making some extra dough this summer if I keep at it.

In conclusion, my initial impressions are mixed. Its interesting, fun, portable, looks cool, and can be played with a little practice and patience. Are you going to be able to just pick it up with no musical background and start jamming with your hipster friends under a bridge with a picnic basket—No. Are you going to take the classical music scene by storm once you have mastered it? No. Is it a fun, interesting sounding instrument, that sorta sounds like a sax and can be used to noddle/jam with..absolutely. Can it be used with children as an alternative to a recorder and introduction to reed instruments? Absolutely, if one acknowledges its limitations.

Overall, I am generally happy with the purchase. I will update my review if my opinion changes in the next few months.

Edit 1: For shites and giggles I threw on a clarinet reed—very interesting change; more consistent tone (that could just be due to added thickness), but less spunky sound.

Edit 2: sounding low C consistently is somewhat difficult, as the instrument wants to hop into the upper register–although that could just be me playing with too tight an embochure.

First off, I’ve never played an instrument with a reed before, so this is a totally new experience for me… I have played flutes and fifes before. I am really enjoying the learning experience with the Venova. I am far from good, but I am learning and improving daily… and it’s fun.
I would recommend buying a pack of 2.0 cane reeds if you’re a beginner. It comes with a synthetic reed that is rated at 2.5… the first sound I was able to get out of the instrument was something like an insane Canadian goose honking… after a few tries I switched to the cane reed which I’d bought at the same time as the Venova and it made it a lot easier to get started.
Does it sound like a real sax? No, not when I play it… the musicians in the videos make it sound really good and maybe someday I’ll get there, but I don’t think it has the rich brass sound of a real sax. It has it’s own sound. For what it costs, in comparison to even a student sax, it’s worth the money to me since I’m playing it mainly for my own enjoyment, not to perform on stage. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll post a video on FB…

Excelente, muy facil de tocar, sin tanto esfuerzo, claro es cuestion de practicar para poder dominar cualquier instrumento, lo recomiendo

This is good instrument for transition from a recorder to a saxophone.

The fingering is similar to a recorder, the mouth piece and the sound is more like a saxophone.