My name is Jim Schmidt, the inventor of a new fingering system for the flute and saxophone.

I have spent most of my life inventing, designing and fabricating mechanical things - usually driven by the need for speed and power to win motorcycle road races. (go to Jim Schmidt's racing experience) Through the years I have occasionally immersed myself in music and it was only natural for me to try to improve my vehicles of expression (flute & sax) in the same way that a racer must constantly re-design his machine in order to keep up with the competition. The art of fabrication is one that must be taken very seriously when a motorcycle racer's own life depends on whether or not the item he designed either fulfills its purpose or fails and causes him to lose control. Then there is the matter of competition ... he wants to win. In order to win he needs a superior machine. Since anyone can just purchase a performance item, he must one up his competitors and design an improvement that no one else has. It may be the only thing of its kind. It may be that no one else has even thought of it. It is this attitude, this scientific approach, that has enabled me to re-design the sax and flute for the purpose of improving its "playability" and "performance."

I will not run through my entire instrument development except to mention that built my first silver flute over 30 years ago. Since then, I have developed and perfected the sax and flute as described. These wind instruments are more efficient and simpler, having fewer interlinkages and more straight forward key work.

So far only a few musicians have tried this new design. That should change as more instruments become available. At present, they are custom made to the highest standards. No student models are available. Each one is carefully hand made and prices are high. Starting from basic materials, I do all the fabricating and assembly myself, craftsmanship being the top priority, with a little bit of modern technology thrown in for good measure.

Since I have given up racing, I can now devote most of my time to the business of music. When not building instruments I am either practicing, performing jazz or hustling gigs. I intend to personally demonstrate the advantages of these new instruments in the years to come by honing my performance skills and displaying those skills on the jazz stage. I also give school presentations and exhibits at conventions whenever possible.

My band "Cloud 99" is where everything comes together and all of this creative endeavor bears musical fruit. We play around central Calif and buck the system with jazz/originals/Hendrix and the like in three piece jazz format.