Saxophone

The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube.^[1] The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist.^[2]

Woodwind instrument

Single-reed

422.212-71
(Single-reed aerophone with keys)

Adolphe Sax

1840s

The saxophone is used in a wide range of musical styles including classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and occasionally orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (such as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in some styles of rock and roll and popular music.

The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s^[3] and was patented on 28 June 1846. Sax invented two groups of seven instruments each—one group contained instruments in C and F, and the other group contained instruments in B♭ and E♭. The B♭ and E♭ instruments soon became dominant, and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the series pitched in C and F never gained a foothold and constituted only a small fraction of instruments made by Sax. High-pitch (also marked "H" or "HP") saxophones tuned sharper than the (concert) A = 440 Hz standard were produced into the early twentieth century for sonic qualities suited for outdoor use, but are not playable to modern tuning and are considered obsolete. Low-pitch (also marked "L" or "LP") saxophones are equivalent in tuning to modern instruments. C soprano and C melody saxophones were produced for the casual market as parlor instruments during the early twentieth century, and saxophones in F were introduced during the late 1920s but never gained acceptance.

The modern saxophone family consists entirely of B♭ and E♭ instruments. The saxophones in widest use are the B♭ soprano, E♭ alto, B♭ tenor, and E♭ baritone. The E♭ sopranino and B♭ bass saxophone are typically used in larger saxophone choir settings, when available.

In the table below, consecutive members of each family are pitched an octave apart.

Description

Construction

The pitch of a saxophone is controlled by opening or closing the tone holes along the body of the instrument to change the length of the vibrating air column. The tone holes are closed by leather pads connected to keys—most are operated by the player's fingers, but some are operated using the palm or the side of a finger. There is an octave key, which raises the pitch of the lower notes by one octave. The lowest possible note, with all of the pads closed, is the (written) B♭ below middle C. Modern baritone saxophones are commonly constructed to play a low A, and a small number of altos keyed to low A have also been manufactured. The highest keyed note has traditionally been the F two and a half octaves above the low B♭, but higher-quality instruments now have an extra key for a high F♯, and a high G key can be found on some modern soprano saxophones. Notes above the keyed range are part of the altissimo register of the saxophone and can be produced using advanced embouchure techniques and fingering combinations. Saxophone music is written in treble clef (appropriately transposed for each different type of instrument) and all saxophones use the same key arrangement and fingerings, enabling players to switch between different types of saxophones fairly easily.

Soprano and sopranino saxophones are usually constructed with a straight tube with a flared bell at the end, although some are made in the curved shape of the other saxophones. Alto and larger saxophones have a detachable curved neck and a U-shaped bend (the bow) that directs the tubing upward as it approaches the bell. There are rare examples of alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones with mostly straight bodies.^[4] The baritone, bass, and contrabass saxophones accommodate the length of the bore with extra bends in the tube. The fingering system for the saxophone is similar to the systems used for the oboe, the Boehm-system clarinet,^[5] and the flute.

Materials

From the earliest days of the saxophone the body and key cups have been made from sheet brass stock, which can be worked into complex shapes. The keywork is manufactured from other types of brass stock. King made saxophones with necks and bells of sterling silver from the 1930s into the early 1960s. Yanagisawa revived this idea in the 1980s and later introduced instruments entirely made of sterling silver.^[6] Keilwerth and P. Mauriat have used nickel silver, a copper-nickel-zinc alloy more commonly used for flutes, for the bodies of some saxophone models.^[7] For visual and tonal effect, higher copper variants of brass are sometimes substituted for the more common "yellow brass" and "cartridge brass." Yanagisawa made its 902 and 992 series saxophones with the high copper alloy phosphor bronze to achieve a darker, more "vintage" tone than the brass 901 and 991 models.^[8]

Other materials are used for some mechanical parts and keywork. Buttons where the fingers contact the keys are usually made from plastic or mother of pearl. Rods, screw pins, and springs are usually made of blued or stainless steel. Mechanical buffers of felt, cork, leather, and various synthetic materials are used to minimize mechanical noise from key movement and to optimize the action of the keywork. Nickel silver is sometimes used for hinges for its advantages of mechanical durability, although the most common material for such applications has remained brass.

Manufacturers usually apply a finish to the surface of the instrument's body and keywork. The most common finish is a thin coating of clear or colored acrylic lacquer to protect the brass from oxidation and maintain a shiny appearance. Silver or gold plating are offered as options on some models. Some silver plated saxophones are also lacquered. Plating saxophones with gold is an expensive process because an underplating of silver is required for the gold to adhere to.^[9] Nickel plating has been used on the bodies of early budget model saxophones and is commonly used on keywork when a more durable finish is desired, mostly with student model saxophones. Chemical surface treatment of the base metal has come into use as an alternative to the lacquer and plating finishes in recent years.

Related instruments

Inexpensive keyless folk versions of the saxophone made of bamboo (recalling a chalumeau) were developed in the 20th century by instrument makers in Hawaii, Jamaica, Thailand, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Argentina. The Hawaiian instrument, called a xaphoon, was invented during the 1970s and is also marketed as a "bamboo sax", although its cylindrical bore more closely resembles that of a clarinet, and its lack of any keywork makes it more akin to a recorder. Jamaica's best known exponent of a similar type of homemade bamboo "saxophone" was the mento musician and instrument maker 'Sugar Belly' (William Walker).^[49] In the Minahasa region of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, there exist entire bands made up of bamboo "saxophones"^[50] and "brass" instruments of various sizes. These instruments are imitations of European instruments, made using local materials. Similar instruments are produced in Thailand.^[51]

In Argentina, Ángel Sampedro del Río and Mariana García have produced bamboo saxophones of various sizes since 1985.^[52] Many synthesizer wind controllers are played and fingered like a saxophone, such as the Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI). A double reed instrument known as the rothphone and a brass instrument known as the jazzophone are both shaped similarly to an alto or tenor saxophone.

From left to right, an E♭ alto saxophone, a curved B♭ soprano saxophone, and a B♭ tenor saxophone

A straight-necked Conn C melody saxophone (Conn New Wonder Series 1)^[53] with a serial number that dates manufacture to 1922

Vintage silver-plated 'Pennsylvania Special' alto saxophone, manufactured by Kohlert & Sons for Selmer^[54] in Czechoslovakia, circa 1930

Conn 6M "Lady Face"^[55] brass alto saxophone (dated 1935) in its original case

1950s Grafton alto made of plastic

Yamaha YAS-25 alto saxophone. Circa 1990s

Yanagisawa A9932J alto saxophone: has a solid silver bell and neck with solid phosphor bronze body. The bell, neck and key-cups are extensively engraved. Manufactured in 2008