Saxophone Woodwind Instruments

The saxophone or sax is a conical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece like the clarinet. It was invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The saxophone is most commonly associated with popular music, big band music, and jazz, but it was originally intended as both an orchestral and military band instrument. Saxophone players are appropriately called saxophonists.

The saxophone was originally patented as two families, each consisting of seven instruments. The "orchestral" family consisted of instruments in the keys of C and F, and the "military band" family in E-flat and B-flat. Each family consisted of sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and contrabass, although some of these were never made; Sax also planned--but never made--a subcontrabass (Bourdon) saxophone.

In the family, only the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone are in common use (these form the typical saxophone sections of both military and big bands). The bass saxophone is occasionally used in band music.

The saxophone was created in the early 1840s by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian-born instrument-maker, flautist, and clarinetist working in Paris.

The saxophone uses a single reed mouthpiece similar to that of a clarinet, but with a round or square evacuated inner chamber. The saxophone's body is effectively conical, giving it properties more similar to the oboe than to the clarinet. However, unlike the oboe, whose tube is a single cone, most saxophone has a distinctive curve at the bell. Straight soprano and sopranino saxophone is more common than curved ones, and a very few straight alto and tenor saxophone has been made, as novelties. Straight baritone and C melody saxophone has occasionally been made as custom instruments, but were never production items (reference [1], Jay Easton's custom Vito straight baritone [2] and Bennie Meroff's custom Buescher Straight Baritone [3]).There is some debate amongst players as to whether the curve affects the tone or not.

Other materials have been tried with varying degrees of success, as with the 1950s plastic saxophone made by the Grafton company, and the rare wooden saxophone. Prior to 1960, some instruments were plated with nickel as a cheaper alternative to silver; prior to 1930, it was common for instruments to be sold with a bare brass finish (without lacquer or plating). Certain companies, such as Yanagisawa, manufacture saxophone made from bronze, which is claimed to produce a warmer sound.

Nearly saxophone is made from brass. After completing the instrument, manufacturers usually apply either a coating of clear or colored lacquer, or plating of silver or gold, over the bare brass. The lacquer or plating serves to protect the brass from corrosion, to enhance sound quality, and/or (in the case of colored lacquers) to give the saxophone an interesting visual appearance. Different lacquers purportedly provide different tone qualities [citation needed] — darker lacquer is usually associated with deeper timbres, while lighter lacquers such as silver are associated with brighter, more vibrant ones.