Xaphoon Maui C

It's a beautiful instrument with, in my opinion, its greatest potential in jazz and
jazz-like music where you can easily discover the greatness of its sound. Personally, I love improvising along with Django Reinhardt's music. Only your fantasy (and skills) will set the limits for you. Unfortunately, it has some weaknesses. The Low C# tone is really weak, at least on mine. I haven't compared to anyone else's. Furthermore, it's hard to properly hit the notes on the higher octave. If you prefer a little deeper sound, I'll recommend you to go for the Bb. However, it is a small instrument which should fit really small hands, even without exerting oneself. Practice alot and this instrument will perform magic!

A booklet will come along with the fingering charts and further information about the instrument, but unfortunately, it's just written in German. I advice you to consider its accuracy to hit the perfect pitch as this is what I found the most troublesome part of the instrument. Being a brass player might help you on your way. I am, since long, a woodwind player which I think made me experience the Xaphoon as a bit inconvinient. But I'm getting used to it! Also, make sure you keep the mouthpiece as clean as possible.
Good Luck!

Heads-up: I'm not a sax player, and have only played the Xaphoon for about 7 hours in total. So take my words with a grain of salt.

Overall it's a cool invention and is a lot of fun to play. It's very small, so I always have it in my rucksack and play in the park whenever I can. Learning to play simple melodies in C major was a breeze. Producing the first sounds took some practice but after a couple of 30-minute sessions, I could already play Happy Birthday and the Tetris melody.

The sound is very pleasing and not as squeaky as the recorder which is similar in size. Especially the lower register is surprisingly deep with a nice nasal character.

That said, I don't see myself dedicating a lot of time to this instrument. It's a fun companion with a few gripes.

Gripe #1: the lower C is difficult to get in tune. All the other notes are much more stable and easy to produce.

Gripe #2: anything above the high B requires complicated fingering, and the same for flat and sharp notes. I don't know if this is an issue with the saxophone of clarinet, and maybe I just need to take time to learn the finger positions.

Gripe #3: after about 30 minutes of playing, it becomes soggy and difficult to play.

I wanted this instrument to get in touch with the wood-wind family. What I found was a difficult first contact, although a funny one. The problem with this instrument is that you will not find everything you need to know about it, it is difficult to learn by yourself and even more if you've never played any wood-wind, and still more if your intention is in fact to get to know this family.

Although, the instrument is very well fabricated, is a nice instrument, its weight is a joke because even a baby can handle it.

Moreover, its sound is really deep, really difficult to reach though. It is not really sax alike at all, in between a clarinet and a sax maybe, but its name is really confusing.

Would I recommend it? Of course, but only if you really want to invest time on it by yourself and if you really love this instrument. Would I buy it if I had know how it really was? Maybe not in first instance, but once I got to know with its wood-wind cousins, probably.

Again, it is really beatiful. A handmade bamboo

This Xaphoon is an absolute joy

First of all being wood is just has a nice feel to the hands. Feels handmade and looks great.
It is surprisingly loud.
I acquired it as a practice instrument for my room but is has a bright loud sound for the outdoors.

Its great for jamming with other musicians pretty solid tuning

It might be the reed but it takes a bit of strength to create a solid sound

Conclusion:

Very portable, good for jamming and traveling.

It's loud enough so not for practicing in your room at night