The Saxophone

Saxophone

Commonly referred as “sax”

Conical-bore transposing instrument

From the woodwind family

Made usually with brass

Played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to the clarinet

Foreign Names

Italian

German

French

Sassofono

Saxophon

Saxophone

Created by Antoine Sax from Belgium in 1934; it was a bass clarinet design

-An instrument-maker

-flautist

-clarinetist

Reasons why he made the Saxophone

He wanted an instrument that would be the most powerful and vocal in all the woodwinds

Most adaptive of the brass

Which would overblow at the octave

To fill the vacant middle between the two sections

In 1846, Sax granted patent for saxophone

He received a 15 year patent

It encompassed of 14 versions of the fundamental design into 2 groups, which has 7 instruments each.

Sax’s patent ended in 1866

Various modifications were made, improvement, design and facility

Description

The saxophone consists of an approximately conical tube of thin metal

Most commonly plated with gold, silver, and nickel flared at the tip to form a bell.

At intervals along the tube are between 20 and 23 tone holes of varying size, including two very small 'speaker' holes to assist the playing of the upper register.

These holes are covered by keys (also known as pad cups), containing soft leather pads, which are closed to produce an airtight seal; at rest some of the holes stand open and others are closed. 

The keys are controlled by buttons pressed by the fingers, while the right thumb sits under a thumb rest to help keep the saxophone balanced.

The fingering for the saxophone is a combination of that of the oboe with the Boehm system, and is very similar to the flute or the upper register of the clarinet. 

Neck - Also called the "gooseneck", it is a metal tube that is attached to the body of the saxophone. It is removable except for a soprano saxophone

Octave Vent and Key - The octave vent is a single hole and key located on the neck of the saxophone. Next to that is a flat metal key called the octave key

Mouthpiece - Is found on the neck of the saxophone. A cork is needed so that the mouthpiece can slide in. As you may already know, this is where the musician places his lips and blows air into the instrument to produce sound.

Body - It is a conically shaped brass tube that has plates attached to it and holds the rods, keys and other parts of the saxophone. The straight part of the body is called the tube. The u-shaped bottom of the sax is called the bow. The flared part of the sax is called the bell. The keys on the bell are called bell keys. The body usually has a high-gloss brass lacquer or clear-coat lacquer finish. Some saxophones are either nickel, silver or gold plated.

Thumb Rest - It is a hook-shaped piece of plastic or metal where you place your right thumb to support the sax.

Keys - May either be made of brass or nickel and often some or all of the keys are covered with mother-of-pearls. The keys on the middle and lower part of the bow are called spatula keys. The keys on the bottom right side are called side keys

Rods - This is one of the most important part of the saxophone in terms of its' performance. So it is very important that the rods be strong and well maintained.

Pads - It covers the holes of the saxophone enabling it to produce different sounds. The pads must completely cover the tone holes. They also have a resonator to help in sound projection.

Sound is produced by the vibration of the reed

The length of the conical bore or the amount of space between the mouthpiece and the bell determine how low the sound will be

Soprano Sax Alto Sax Tenor Sax Baritone Sax Rarer Saxophones

› Bass, Conn-O-Sax, F-Baritone, C Melody› F Mezzo Soprano, C Soprano

Soprano Sax› The soprano is in the key of B flat, sounds

down a M2 and one full octave higher than the tenor.

› not recommended for beginning players› Can have a straight neck or curved neck

Alto Sax› The alto saxophone is an E-flat instrument

and sounds down a M6› medium sized saxophone and is the most

commonly played size› most recommended horn for those just

starting on the saxophone› curved in a backwards "J" shape but can

sometimes come in a straight model with a slightly tipped bell

Tenor Sax› The tenor is in the key of B flat and sounds

down a M9› The tenor saxophone is slightly larger than

the alto with a small bend in the neck› the relatively large mouthpiece allows a

great range of timbers or variations in tone quality

› personified as a jazz saxophone

Baritone Saxophone› The baritone is in the key of e flat and

sounds down a M6 + 8va› baritone saxophone is the largest of the

"regular" saxophone family

Primarily made up of brass but can be coated by gold, silver, nickel, and lacquer. Some are made of Silver or possible plastic which was popular in the 1950s

body is effectively conical, giving it properties more similar to the oboe than to the clarinet

combination of four conical sections

Rarer Saxophones Bass Saxophone - second largest member

of the  saxophone family - Similar to the baritone

sax with a loop of tubing near the mouthpiece

- -the first type of saxophone that was presented to the public

- -a transposing instrument pitched in Bflat, an octave below the tenor saxophone.

Very rare Very expensive A straight conical

bore instrument (one step above the E-flat alto) with a slightly curved neck and spherical bell

Conn-o-sax

C Melody Pitched in the Key of

C, one whole step above the tenor sax

Was part of the series of saxophones pitched in C and F, intended for orchestral use

Larger than an alto but smaller than a tenor

F Mezzo Soprano

Sometimes called the F-Alto saxophone

In the key of F, pitched a whole step above the alto saxophone

C Soprano Closely related to the

Bflat soprano saxophone, whose shape it resembles

Marketed to those who wished to perform the oboe parts in military band, vaudeville, etc.

Easily confused with the Bflat soprano sax because of their striking similarity, size and shape and only 3 cm of length difference, however, a C soprano sax would have usually a stamped mark of “C” near the serial numbers.

Sopranissimo Or soprillo is the

smallest of the saxophone family

It is pitched in B♭, one octave above the soprano saxophone.

Because of the difficulties in building such a small instrument—the soprillo is 12 inches long, 13 inches with the mouthpiece—. The keywork only extends to a written high E♭(rather than F like most saxophones) and the upper octave key has to be placed in the mouthpiece.

Contrabass Saxophone Lowest-pitched extant of

the saxophone family It is extremely large

(twice the length of tubing of the baritone saxophone, with a bore twice as wide, standing 1.9 meters tall, or 6 feet four inches) and heavy (approximately 20 kilograms, or 45 pounds), and is pitched in the key of E♭, one octave below the baritone.

Subcontrabass Saxophone

A type of saxophone that Adolphe Sax patented and planned to build but never constructed

Was called saxophone bourdon (named after the lowest stop on the pipe organ)

Could have been a transposing instrument pitched in Bflat, one octave below the bass saxophone and two octaves below the tenor saxophone

Tubax

A modified saxophone developed in 1999 by

the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim. It is available in both E♭contrabass and B♭ or C subcontrabass sizes. Its name is a portmanteau of the words "tuba" and "sax".

How saxophone is made - Background, History, Raw materials, Design, The manufacturing process of saxophone, Quality control

Saxophone History Timeline Saxophone Sound & Tone

Sax on the Web - The Saxophone Information Site

Types of Saxophone YouTube - How to Play the Saxophone Saxophone Basics Introduction to saxophone acoustics Parts of the Saxophone