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Saxophones
Description and History
The saxophone--the most successful combination of a single reed instrument with a conical body--was patented by Adolphe Sax in 1846. Saxophones were developed from diverse sources: they have a single reed like a clarinet, a conical tube like an oboe, and a Boehme-type of key system. They have a fairly wide body of a conical tube made of metal; the open end of the tube is expanded, with a small flare at the end. There are usually 18 to 21 tone holes of graduated size, all controlled by keys. At the mouthpiece end, there are two "speaker" keys, which enable the instrument to be overblown at the octave. The mouthpiece is fitted with a single reed; it was originally made of wood, but is now made of ebonite or brass.
The "Family" of Saxophones
Saxophones were originally manufactured in 14 different sizes! However, today there are only six major members of the saxophone family. In order of increasing size (and decreasing pitch) they are: the sopranino, pitched in E-flat; the soprano, pitched in B-flat; the alto, pitched in E-flat; the tenor, pitched in B-flat; the baritone, pitched in E-flat; and the bass, pitched in B-flat. Larger saxophones have a "U-bend" and a bell that is slightly tilted forward. Baritone and bass saxophones have doubled tubing that is folded back on the upper end.
Here are some pictures of each of these types of saxophones. All of these instruments are Selmers, and the pictures were taken from the Selmer website, cropped, and enlarged to a standard size. (Note: Spirit Guide does not carry Selmer instruments, but we do carry several other brands of soprano, alto, and tenor saxes, and can get you any of the saxophone family of instruments made by Amati.)
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Sopranino Saxophone
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Soprano Sax |
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Alto Sax |
Tenor Sax |
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Baritone Sax |
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Bass Saxophone |
Popularity of Saxophones--They're Everywhere!
The alto saxophone was the original sax developed by Sax for use in military bands, to form a link between the clarinets and the tenor brasses. Since its introduction, saxes have become steadily more popular in military bands, in the symphony orchestra (Richard Strauss's 1902 Symphonia Domestica called for a quartet), and, since World War I, in all kinds of popular music.
The saxophone is considered fairly simple to play (compared with other reed instruments), and it is now one of the most commonly played wind instruments. Tenor and alto saxophones are commonly played in jazz bands, but saxophone consorts consisting of the four main types of saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone) have been extremely popular in Big Bands.
Information Sources
Information on this page was derived from the following sources:
Kruckenberg, Sven (1993): The Symphony Orchestra and its Instruments. Gothenburg, Sweden: AB Nordbok (Crescent Books edition distributed by Random House).
Wade-Matthews, Max (2000): The World Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments. London, UK and New York, NY: Lorenz Books.
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