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Hi Barry, thank you so much for writing pieces like yours, they are great!
I will play Ku Ku in Orléans (France) for an exam who’s called D.E.M in french.
….it’s funny because Ku Ku is the same age as me!
Merci Nicolas!
Je suis très heureux que ma musique est jouée en France.
Barry
Hi Barry,
I hope you’re doing very well!
I will play Beat Me tomorrow in Helsinki, at the Music Centre. Wish me luck! 🙂
Thank you for writing such fun pieces!
Greetings from Finland,
Annu
Hi Annu,
Fantastic – thanks for playing my music and I hope to see a recording!
regards,
Barry
Dear Barry,
I will play your “Melbourne Sonata” on august 22th during “Les Rencontres Musicales ” in Capvern (south of France).
http://lesrencontresmusicales.com/saison_en_cours
All the best,
Jérôme
Cher Jérôme,
Je suis très heureux d’avoir la première française réalisée par vous!
Barry
hi,
i will be playing slap me on the 6th of june with nathan hull for his masters recital at the royal northern college of music.
regards matt
Hi Matt,
Let me know how it goes and if you can post a video, that would be great.
regards,
Barry
Hi
I will be playing Slap Me the 1st of may at the open day of our LUCA School of Arts campus Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium).
4 days later we will play it again at our Master exam Chamber Music.
kind regards!
Jeroen
Dear Jeroen,
Fantastic! Best of luck with your exams and if you have a recording, I would love to watch it.
regards,
Barry
Hi Barry,
My friend Li-Chun and I are playing Slap Me on my Masters Recital at The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. The Recital is this Saturday, March 29. We’re playing on his recital too in April. We’re having a lot of fun playing it. If you’d like, I can post a video after the recital.
Cheers,
Ben
Dear Ben,
That is great news. Thanks for playing my music and I look forward to seeing the video – please post.
regards,
Barry
Hey Barry!
Well, I’m 15 turning 16 at the moment, and although a great deal of your music is something I aspire to be able to perform, your composition ‘Slap Me’ spikes a particular interest. Are there any tips or tricks to playing this piece? I know there are some fairly complex techniques, and It will be a while before I’ll be able to perform it (as not many people my age could). I can slap tongue but not quite fast enough, and I’m still in the early stages of altissimo. But nonetheless, I thought ‘well, who better to ask’? Or should I ask my saxophone teacher? (Aimee Sisley? Apparently you guys know each other?)
Anyway, hopefully hear from you soon!
Jared
Hi Jared,
Thanks for your interest in my music. It might be a good idea to start out with something else as a warm-up piece and when you think you are ready, Aimee is the expert, she will help you for sure!
regards,
Barry
Here’s me playing Kuku during a recital I gave in Trumpington, Cambridge (UK) on Friday 13th September 2013. I am a third year music undergraduate at the University of Cambridge. http://youtu.be/yJsSzKvMHrE Check out my quartet Saxual Healing on YouTube!
Hey Barry,
I’ll be playing Black & Blue for my end of year HSC performances. This piece is great, I’ve had so much fun learning it and I’m sure the audience is going to enjoy it too
Thanks for an awesome piece
Jordan
Thanks for working on my music Jordan and all the best with your exams!
Barry
Wisuwat Pruksavanich Saxophone Recital
Rock Me!
Thailand, Bangkok
Sunday, October 7, 2012
I just got a fantastic response to Rock Me on my senior recital last week! I used it as a closer after Tableaux and Billie (by JacobTV), and people couldn’t stop telling me how much they loved the piece. Thanks!
Thanks Ian for both playing my music and for playing it so well that the audience really enjoyed it!
regards, Barry
I will be playing Blue Tongue as the ending piece to my senior recital on April 28, 2013. I am a senior music education major at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. I think it will be a great way to end as I put my clarinet in it’s case and walk off the stage. I am working on memorizing it as well. It’s a great piece, and I’ve had a lot of fun working on it!
Also, is there somewhere I can actually download your performance of Blue Tongue so that I can put it on my iPod? Thanks!
It is on sound cloud cloud if that helps.
Fantastic Meghan and thanks for choosing my piece. If you happen to make a recording, I would love to hear it.
regards Barry
Hello Mr. Cockroft
I’m currently a year two student and playing your music is so much fun! This is a recording of mine playing your music – KUKU in Hong Kong Academy for performing arts last month, the audience loved it and gave me a long appluse.I especially like the contrast you wrote in KUKU.
As I like this piece so much I’m thinking of doing this again in my graduation recital next year.
Hope you’ll like my performance!
Charles
Dear Charles,
Thanks for playing my music and for sending me your excellent performance. Best of luck with your studies!
regards,
Barry
I’ll be performing “Beat Me” at the International Saxophone Symposium on January 4, 2013 and both “Beat Me” and “Gorge” on January 3, 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2_gnKt7fHc&feature=youtu.be
Fantastic Hart,
I look forward to hearing a recording!
regards, Barry
Hi,
My cousin first performed Ku Ku for her Yr 11 practical, and I absolutely loved it. This year I performed it for my yr 11. It’s now my favourite piece. I was hoping to perform Melbourne Sonata for my year 12 music practical. Do you know when it’ll be out?
Thanks,
Fergus Kelso
Hi Barry,
I am a 16 years old student at the Young Musicians Academy of the conservatory in Tilburg (the Netherlands).
Recently I played at a saxophone concert with my formal teacher Jean Pennings. We played all kinds of classical music, solo and duo, such as Bach, Schumann, Grimal Olmos and Noda. My performance of your GORGE was a great success!The audience (more than 200 people) loved it. While I was playing Gorge, the audience could read on a screen your notes of what inspired you writing this music. Though my circular breathing at the end was not perfect, I am proud it’s now on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1XaNm_gCBw
Thanks for composing Gorge!
Luuk Meeuwis
Hi Luuk,
Fantastic! Thank you for playing my music so well and congratulations on an excellent performance. You have achieved the ‘echo’ beautifully.
regards Barry
Hi Barry,
I played KuKu for my yr 11 solo performance and absolutely loved it. It is by far my favourite sax piece.
My cousin had also played the piece beforehand (everyone in the audience cried).
I was wondering when the Melbourne Sonata would be available (It would be great for my yr 12 Solo Performance).
Thanks
Fergus Kelso
That is great Fergus – well done. My Melbourne Sonata will be available very soon. Stay tuned.
regards, Barry
Dear Barry, I love your Music, especially Beat Me and Black and Blue. I play them a lot in my concerts and recently added a take of Beat Me on youtube. Take a look here. I hope, you like it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5LLHpXChD0&list=HL1339069275&feature=mh_lolz
I am from Frankfurt/Germany. Greetings, Susanne
(if the link doesnt work, you can watch it on my website http://www.susanneriedl.de – Vita)
Hi Susanne,
Thanks for your recording and keep up the great work!
regards,
Barry
Hello Barry.
My name is Pavel. I live in Ukraine. I watched the sax video in YouTube and happened to hear your music. It is very very interested for me, especially the “Kuku”. I’d really like to play this piece, but I can not find the score. Can you help me? Thanks in advance.
It is good that you write music for the saxophone solo. It is disclosing all the possibilities of saxophone as a technical and sound. I wish you further success.
Hi Pavel,
Thanks for the message. You can find all my pieces at Reed Music.
regards,
Barry
Hi Barry,
Once again I have played your music, and once again the audience absolutely loved your writing! I have put it up on youtube (http://youtu.be/__QsKPM31rc) and hope that you will enjoy the performance. My recital was held on Monday April 23rd at Université Laval, in Québec, Canada.
Thanks again for writing such fun and interesting music!
Marie
Merci Marie et bien joué! Bravo.
Hello, I am a saxophonist at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI and I performed your saxophone duet “Slap Me” with Mike Rambat, another saxophonist studying here at GVSU. We performed it at our saxophone studio recital on April 1st of this year at the Sherman Van Solkema Hall, and also featured it as the final selection on our shared recital we put on at the Cook-Dewitt Center at GVSU. The shared recital was on Thursday, April 12th. It’s a fun piece with some great effects for the saxophone, we both really enjoyed playing it!
-Cam
Thanks Cam and thanks for your recording! Keep up the good work.
regards Barry
Hi, Barry!
I am a graduate saxophone performance student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and I am going to be performing Gorge for my Graduate Recital April 20, @ 5:00, in the US, Carbondale, IL at OBF Recital Hall. I really enjoyed working on the piece and am excited to perform it for a live audience.
Gavin
Dear Gavin,
All the best with Gorge next week. Thanks for playing my music and I hope the audience love it! If you have a recording, please let me know.
regards,
Barry
Barry,
I will be performing your piece “Beat Me” on my graduate saxophone recital at West Texas A&M this Saturday, April 14th. Last year I performed “KuKu” for a number of public concerts and the response was incredible – I am so excited to hear the audience respond to your work this weekend. I would be happy to share a recording with you once I receive it.
James
Dear James,
Play well this weekend and I would love to hear the recording. All the best,
Barry
Dear Barry
I would want to play your music during my final exam at the conservatory.
I studied KU KU and Beat Me but I would want to play Black & Blue also.
I will try to record my performance so you can evaluate it.
Tanks
Vincenzo
Thanks Vincenzo,
Let me know when you have a recording – I would love to have a listen.
regards,
barry
Hi!
I organised a saxophone concert at the Royal Welsh College of Music in Drama on the 8th of December where we played a lot of your music in a two hour long saxophone-fest! Your pieces Rock Me and KuKu were played (by Max Goldberg and Gerard McChrystal) and I played Slap Me with Max. We had such a great time working on this piece, and even though it could’ve gone better at the concert, everyone absolutely loved it! I have posted it on Youtube, as we couldn’t find any full recorded versions of it!
Thanks for such fun and challenging music! I’ll make sure I bring it back to Québec with me in January and will perform some of your music there too!
Fantastic Marie-H.
Thanks for posting the recording – I enjoyed listening to it very much. Sax fest – sounds like fun!
regards,
Barry
Thanks for the reply! Your music has brought me good fortune again, as I took part in a competition last week in which I played Ku Ku and I won! As part of the prize, I will get to record it professionally in a studio! Thank you again!
I look forward to hearing the pro recording. Well done!
Barry
Barry!
I am performing Rock Me! for my senior recital at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches,Tx on December 3. I am doing a very diverse program and I just know the audience will love this piece. My professor played Beat Me! last year and the crowd went nuts after he finished. I think the contemporary music is spreading fast now in our studio because of that performance! I am having so much fun with this piece and I will be performing it by memory. That double tongue on low Bb is extremely difficult and I am glad to have that challenge. I love all of the techniques you have put into this piece and how constructed it as a whole. Great work and I thank you!
Respectfully,
Isaiah
Many thanks Ethan and all the best with your performances.
Send me a recording sometime!
regards,
Barry
Dear Mr. Cockcroft,
I performed Beat Me from memory as the closing number for my senior recital at Northwestern, this past January. It went over quite well.
I am currently a master’s student in musicology at the University of Miami, and I am hoping to research your music for an independent study this spring. I was wondering whether I could contact you about this?
Nessyah
Hi Nessyah,
Great news on your performance and thank you for your interest. Please drop me a line through the contact form and we can talk then. Perhaps you have some questions…
regards,
Barry
I’m so happy to see your response. Yes, I definitely have a lot of questions!
~Nessyah
Hi Barry,
I am in Year 11 and I am playing your piece Blue Tongue for my VCE.
I have been asked to perform it at the Peninsula Music Society’s Bursary Winners’ Concert in memory of John Tallis.
It is on the 20th August at 7.30 on the Peninsula Community Theatre, Melbourne.
Thank you for creating such a fantastic, quirky and exciting piece for Clarinet. It has been without a doubt one of my favourite pieces and whenever I perform it, people laugh and it’s a success!!!
Thank you
Maddy
Thanks Maddy,
Great to hear you are playing my piece for a big exam! All the best with your performances.
Barry
Hi Maddy!
I’m also playing this piece next year for the big exam, and i was just wondering if you had a recording of it? Perhaps on YouTube? I can’t find it anywhere!
Thanks!
Angus
Hi Barry, I’m a “late starter”, I started playing the alto in my 40’s. Today I did my eighth grade AMEB exam and played Black and Blue. I have loved learning it, and I love playing it. We’ve had a few practice concerts at home and it can’t possibly fail to make an impression – from wow to huh? I had to try several mouthpieces to find one that got all the multiphonics out, and settled on a Meyer 5G and soft reed (Vandoren 2). I just watched the Kenneth Tse video of Rock Me and it has had a profound effect on me. I’ve never heard anything like it, and I would dearly love to be able to do that. Will have to start working on it, it may be a long term project. Any advice on reeds and mouthpieces? Thanks very much for your wonderful compositions, you are an inspiration.
Kind regards, Dave
Hi Dave,
As always it is not when you start but how well you start! Thanks for playing what was I’m sure a great rendition of my music. Kenneth is of course an inspiration to anyone. As for the setup, for this kind of music, that requires stupendous control of the saxophone, is ‘easier’ to play with a more closed mouthpiece and a harder reed. Good luck with Rock Me!
All the best,
Barry
Hi Barry,
I heard you play a the Navy Band Symposium and really enjoyed your music. I ended up getting Beat Me and Black and Blue and played them both for my studio class (University of Minnesota). I also played Beat Me at my Junior recital, it turned out to be an audience favorite. Thanks for writing some awesome music. I’m looking forward to working on some of your other pieces in the future.
Lucas
Thanks Lucas and I’m pleased you make it to the Symposium – it is a great event. I look forward to writing some more pieces in the future and I hope that you will play everyone of them!
regards Barry
Hi Barry,
I recently played Ku Ku on a regional saxophone conference on a masterclass with Fred Hemke, and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it! I had many people come up to me after the concert and ask me all sorts of questions about the piece. I had a few even say that they were going to order it when they got home! I’m going to play it again on my recital coming up on April 4th, which will will take place at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Thanks for writing such a fun piece!
Jodi Slagel
Hi Jody,
Fantastic! Thanks for playing my piece and I’m sure that you played well of course! I am always pleased to have fine players performing my pieces.
All the best,
Barry
Hi Barry,
Just to let you know I’ve been playing your piece Ku ku recently and love it! I played it for a recital in St Catharine’s College Chapel, Cambridge University a couple of weeks back and had a lot of people asking about the piece! I’ve been invited back to do another recital there on 5th Novemeber and have been specifically asked to play Ku ku again! I’ve put a section of a recording I took of the piece in rehearsal up on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LJwc1ApZ9A if you’re at all interested in having a listen!
Many thanks for all the great compositions!
Alastair
Dear Alastair,
I had a listen to your rehearsal recording – great work. Really expressive phrasing with a slight ‘romantic’ twist. If you like, add in circular breathing to really make it flow. I originally conceived that this whole section to be performed without a break adding another ‘wow’ factor for the audience.
Best of luck with the performances. They will be great.
Barry
Hi Barry,
I like so much your music, especially Black & Blue and Beat Me, very inspiring.
Greetings from Italy, Roberto
Dear Roberto,
I am pleased that you find some inspiration in my music. I love Italy and look forward to visiting your great country again soon.
Barry
Hi Barry,
I played Beat Me at my Final Exam at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt Germany and I am happy to play it again on thursday at a concert in Jazzkeller Frankfurt 🙂 It´s a great piece and usually the people are impressed, what is possible at the saxophone. I also started using Black and Blue with my students and they love it. I also heard Rock Me, also a great piece.
Wish me luck on thursday, I´ll give all I have 🙂
Greetings from Germany, Susanne
Dear Susanne,
I always think it is best to play a piece more than once as we always understand the music better after playing in public. Well done!
regards, Barry
Hey Barry,
Thanks for the advice, I’ll tell Mr Searle you said hi, he’s the musical director at my school.
Thanks heaps, Adrian.
Hey Barry,
I’ve only been playing alto saxophone for a year and a half, but I’ve been playing piano for about 8 years. I am trying to find a song of yours that isn’t too difficult do you have any suggestions. I was also wondering if you had any advice playing multiphonics, are there any websites that might help me out?
Also, I was wondering if you remember another saxophonist named Aaron Searle?
Hi Adrian,
Great you are getting into the sax! Without exactly knowing your level, I would probably suggest that you have look at my 12 pieces in Zodiac, they go up to about grade 7. As for multiphonics, just choose a piece like Black and Blue, have a look at the special fingerings and have a go at getting them to speak. A lot of multiphonics on the saxophone work really easily and just take a little bit of work. Be gentle on the neighbours though! Say hi to Aaron for me – he is a great musician!
Barry
Hi,
In two weeks time i will be playing Black and Blue for one of my assessments for music. I love to play it, Though it takes a beating to my lungs. I love the story behind it. But i am also doing a viva voce on Black and Blue and i cant find when you were born ANYWHERE haha. And did someone influence you to compose within this genre? Because i have a feeling I will fail otherwise. Because my music teacher hates me. haha
I performed Black and Blue and i thought i did well and she didnt say one word. and My friends said i was good and it looked like it took alot out of me which it did. I have only been playing saxophone for four years and Black and Blue needs alot of gut behind it haha.
So if i could please get your birth date and whether you have someone who influenced you to compose in the genres you do.
Thanks
Jenna
Hi Jenna, Glad to hear that you are going well with my piece -thanks for playing it. If you really want to give a good impression, work hard but don’t let anyone know it! You will find my dates here.
All the best, Barry
Hello Barry Cockroft!
I`m from Germany and I`m doing my bachelorat the moment. I`m Playing together with a russian pianist and she showed me the piece black an blue.
I played it once at our concert in the “kleinen kirche” at the marketplace at karlsruhe. I like it and the audience was stunning. I was very glad to get the high notes, especially at the end ( the d).
My teacher also likes the piece very much, therefore I`m going to play it at my next test in june.
I get more and more interested in multiphonics through the piece and I have to say, that you have managed it with humor and knowledge.
Best wishes, Sabine Holzinger
Thanks Sabine for playing my piece. Good work getting the ending, a lot of people miss the high notes!
regards, Barry
Hi Barry,
I have performed Gorge at UNI for a concert and it went very well, it really helped me to work on my tone and it has stretched my dynamic range. I have really enjoyed playing it! I am thinking of using it in a classroom situation to teach and create a few composition activities from it. I am curious about what inspired this piece?
Belinda
Hi Belinda,
I am glad that it went well! This piece came to me while I was on a house boat a few years ago. I was sitting on the roof playing my saxophone as we went through a narrow gorge and I loved the different echoes that were bouncing around as I played. This inspired me to recreate the echos using just the dynamics of the saxophone.
regards,
Barry
Hi!
I am going to be playing Saggitarius for my Grade 6 AMEB Exam this year. I absolutely love it!
Keep up the good work!
~ryan
Play well Ryan! Thanks for choosing my piece.
For my certificate of performance i’m going to play your arrangement of Czardas and i was wondering if you any tips or tricks for the staccato semiquavers in the faster sections. For my 8th grade i got a B+ thanx for the encouragement with black and blue.
Hi Carl, Double tonguing would really help here, especially at this tempo. T-K-T-K works well but get started early as it can take some time to master!
All the best with your performance,
Barry
Hi Barry
I’m just learning Beat Me for my year 12 solo performance next year and I’m having trouble getting the mutiphonics to speak. I can get the first one that appears (A,B and F#) but the others just dont want to come out.
Is there any alternate fingerings that can be used?
Also, what does c1 on the fingering chart mean?
Lastly, with slap tounge is there any tips to get it sounding as good as you do it?
Beat Me has to be one of the coolest peices in the world and I cant wait to get all the slap tounge and mutiphonics happening. Thank you for writing it.
Regards
Matt
Hi Matt,
Thanks for playing my piece!
The fingerings should all work, so although there are alternatives, I would suggest a slight adjustment of your mouth first. Trying playing a little more relaxed, or tighter and see what happens. Try more or less mouthpiece, try louder or softer, keep trying things until you get the sound to speak to your satisfaction. Once you get it to sound, you will find that it will continue to work with your normal embouchure with a bit of practice.
C1, means Palm Key 1, ie the high D key. Each palm keys is numbered C1 – D, C2 Eb etc.
Slap tonguing can take some time. The easiest one to start with is the reverse slap the one that starts with air and ends with the tongue on the reed. Nearly everyone can do that straight off. The normal slap, try reverse slap backwards – this is the one that can take time. All the best with it.
regards,
Barry
Hi barry
Last year I played in the solo championships at bankstown, I gained a first with black and blue and was deemed the state champion!
With the altissimo, I could never get it happening during practice, but when it came to the day, I got it perfect for the first time! Nerves I guess settled me in.
I go to barker college in hornsby, and have recently discovered that Reed Music publishes music for Brendan Collins! My composition teacher in fact. Figures!
regards, Lachlan
Hi Lachlan,
The Black & Blue state champion – great work! Everyone should play better on the day – we must exceed our abilities when it really matters.
Brendan Collins has some great music and be sure to have a look at his sax quartets – they are very catchy.
regards,
Barry
Hello Barry.
I played Black and Blue for my VCE Music exam. I did really well. Alot better than when you heard it earlier on in the year. But one of my classmates gave me a cold. So I couldnt get out the Altissimo. But it sounded great otherwise. And Janine C will want me to say hello 🙂
Hi Andrew,
Good work on the exam, I’m sure that it went well. Don’t worry about the altissimo, we practise to perfection and hope for the best!
regards,
Barry
I am working up my Senior Recital for my Bachelors in Performance at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, USA. Date is TBD but will be around February. I am playing Ku Ku to contrast my program of the Larsson Concerto, the Heiden Sonata, the Hindemith Konzertstuck, and Holly Roller by Libby Larsen. It’s seems to be a great piece to change color with.
Hi Ben,
It is great to know my music is getting played with in such company as Larsson and co. It will certainly provide some extra contrast in your program and maybe even a laugh or two.
regards,
Barry
Hi Barry
I heard someone play your piece “Beat me” yesterday. It was awesome! I really love your piece and i am going to have a presentation about it tomorrow 😀 I am not ready to play that piece myself yet since there is a lot of tricky effects.
Now I am listening to your pieces all the time and… yeh…I LOVE THEM 😀
Thanks for being a great composer and a great saxophonist.
Jonni
Hi Jonni,
Glad you liked ‘Beat Me’. It is getting played very frequently now – which I am pleased about! If you are not up for this piece, perhaps you would like to try out one my others. Let me know.
All the best,
Barry
Hi Sophie,
I am pleased to hear that you are playing one of my pieces for your recital! This is a tough piece for year 11 – well done. This is one of my earliest works and I hope that the altissimo section has been fun to learn!
Barry
Hey
This year I’m playing foreign for my yr 11 recital. Its an awesome piece and I’m having a heap of fun playing it. At the end of last term I played it for a competition my school ran and got some really good feedback from my teachers.
Thanks for such an awesome piece
Sophie
Thanks for playing my piece Carl – you aren’t the first to miss the high G – I’m sure that you will get it tomorrow!
Barry
Hey
i recently played black and blue at the forbes eisteddfod and gained a first place. when i got up on the stage i was incredibly nervous because i had never performed it yet, but after the performance i was so exhilarated and pumped. it felt like i had just run a marathon. though i did stuff up the altissimo G in the second last linenot many people noticed. tomorrow is my 8th grade sax exam so wish me luck.
Carl
p.s. though some people i know dont really believe the piece is challenging i find it incredibly hard. Black and blue would have to be the funnest piece i have played for years. thanks for a brilliant piece.