Soprano Saxophone?

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Lol the dream happened but true enough I can't prove your post caused it.

If you've never played sax before, you might want to start with an alto or a tenor. I've never played soprano, but I've played alto, tenor and baritone and the soprano is supposed be more difficult, especially for a beginner, since having a smaller reed/mouthpiece it tends to amplify mistakes and requires more precision in your ligature. Generally, alto's are also the least expensive member of the sax family so its another good reason to start learning there first. In any case, you might find this site useful - this guy is a sax repairman and player in the UK, so he gets the chance to try out a lot of horns that come through his shop - he's reviewed about 10 different sopranos here:

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Sax ... eviews.htm

On the other hand, the above site recommends playing soprano exclusively if you're going to play it, so shows you how much I know

I don't know how far this will get me but I played electric guitar from 5th grade till 11th or 12th, played viola for a year, played recorder, have made electronic music for 15 years or so (albeit the last part is much more thought than manual dexterity) - ie. I have a musical history and tend not to be intimidated much by different instruments. I'm not saying it would be that much easier for me, just that I agree - I come to the idea of playing with a great degree of doubt that I'll pick it up and sound anything like a pro.

I think for me its that I like the sound of the soprano more - ie. brighter, more range, etc.. More of a raw jazz than smooth jazz thing. A love for UK drum and bass and by extension older jazzstep (Roni Size, Krust, Die, Suv) sort of pushed me into exploring Miles Davis and some other stuff of which I think there's a lot of character and content. I figure also, should we ever have our power grids get blown by flares - I'd rather have at least something to play than say "Yeah well... I was an electronic musician... looks like I've got nothing now. ". I'd also love to get together and jam with people again, do something even if it's dive bar or coffee shop old-man business but so what. Point is having fun and doing something creative. Jazz seems analogous to a lot of what I like so I figure if I can teach myself to eventually sound alright on it and make something social of it if I so desire.

In that case I'd echo the advice above to rent first, and then buy a student model to start with. It was once explained to me that student models of saxophones are rather like bicycles with training wheels - they tend to help you avoid big mistakes, make things easier, but those same attributes tend to limit what you can do. But they also cost way less than pro horns so can save you some money to start with, especially if it doesn't pan out. Also eventually you'll want to get a better mouthpiece, which has at least as much to do with how you'll sound than the horn itself will.

Also, be sure to listen to a lot of different artists on the Soprano and other horns to make sure that's really what you're after. I once heard a Kenny G recording of a song that I knew to be a cover of a famous Stan Getz recording on the tenor sax. It completely had the usual Kenny G sound. I was like "Oh, Kenny G's trying to imitate Getz with the soprano" Then I saw a video of Mr. G performing the song - on a tenor sax. Goes to show that mouthpiece, technique and just in general the sound you're trying to achieve have a lot more to do with it than which type of sax you're playing. I'd never have guessed that the tenor sax could sound like that (and never would have guessed that anyone would want to make it sound like that, but that's another story...)

I think past music experience is great and will help you with reading music, basic rhythm etc. The harder part will be building up your technique on the sax. Learning the fingerings, the alternate fingerings, and also learning proper technique with the mouthpiece and the reed - the correct pressure, where to position lips, teeth, breathing technique, etc. When I first started it took me a while before I could reliably get a good seal on the mouthpiece without air leaking out of the corners of my mouth, though I wasn't able to practice as much as I'd have liked to in retrospect.