Teaching Sax: Custom Woodwind Studio Software
Custom studio management software built by a Woodwind teacher for Woodwind teachers, grounding pedagogy in daily workflows.
Project Tech Stack
What I Built
Teaching Sax is a custom SaaS application designed to manage a virtual-first saxophone studio. It acts as both a commercial teaching storefront and a tool for the teacher to track schedules, handle lesson payments via Stripe, store recordings, assign homework, and measure student progression over time.
The platform implements woodwind-specific progress metrics (e.g. scales, tone, embouchure, breathing exercises) rather than piano-centric frameworks. It also features a built-in virtual classroom using the Daily.co video SDK for low-latency audio sync.
Why I Built It & The Product Thesis
Traditional music studio software (like MyMusicStaff or Duet) is dated, web-first, and heavily piano-centric. Woodwind teaching requires a different pedagogical shape—breathing, embouchure position, reeds maintenance, and real-time audio analysis.
The product thesis is simple: "Build software for your own practice, then sell it." Grounded in my actual teaching practice, I built this to resolve daily friction points:
- Lesson-to-Practice Notes: The system captures comments during lessons and flows them directly into the student\'s practice assignment dashboard without double-typing.
- Audio Recording Archive: Students record their practice sessions directly within the app. Both the teacher and student can review recordings historically to hear audible tone improvements.
- Parent Visibility: Parents paying for premium lessons can view progress charts and hear audio snippets, providing full transparency without invading the student\'s personal practice area.
Core Technical Features
Low-Latency Video Lessons
Integrates the Daily.co WebRTC SDK configured with high-quality audio profiles specifically tuned for wind instruments, preventing default voice gates from cutting out saxophone notes.
Repertoire Progression Maps
Maps Woodwind exercises (e.g. Rubank methods, Ferling etudes) to a relational database, tracking student achievements and automatically proposing new sheet music tasks.
Stripe Late-Cancel Automations
Handles late cancellations and scheduling changes automatically via Stripe pre-authorizations, protecting the teacher\'s schedule without manual invoice chasing.
Playwright E2E Auditing
Uses Playwright browser automation tests to verify scheduling calendar updates and audio upload scripts on simulated mobile and desktop screens.