Saxophone

The saxophone[2] (also referred to as the sax) is a family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet.[2] The saxophone family was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1840.[2][3] Adolphe Sax wanted to create a group or series of instruments that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass instruments, that would fill the vacant middle ground between the two sections. He patented the saxophone on June 28, 1846, in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, have proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the so-called "orchestral" series, pitched in C and F, never gained a foothold, and the B♭ and E♭ instruments have now replaced the C and F instruments when the saxophone is used in the orchestra.

The saxophone is used in classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, and solo repertoire), military bands (such as military concert bands, marching bands, etc.), marching bands, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, etc.). Saxophone players are called saxophonists.[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Uses 2.1 Uses in military bands and classical music 2.1.1 Selected works of the repertoire 2.1.2 Selected saxophone quartets 2.1.3 Selected orchestral pieces that include saxophone(s) 2.2 Uses in jazz and popular music 3 The saxophone family 4 Description 4.1 Materials 4.2 Mouthpiece and reed 5 Unusual saxophone variants 6 Related instruments 7 Composition 8 Gallery 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

History
The saxophone was developed in 1846 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist, and clarinetist born in Dinant and originally based in Brussels, he moved to Paris in 1842 to establish his musical instrument business. Prior to his work on the saxophone, he had made several improvements to the bass clarinet by improving its keywork and acoustics and extending its lower range. Sax was also a maker of the then-popular ophicleide, a large conical brass instrument in the bass register with keys similar to a woodwind instrument. His experience with these two instruments allowed him to develop the skills and technologies needed to make the first saxophones. As an outgrowth of his work improving the bass clarinet, Sax began developing an instrument with the projection of a brass instrument and the agility of a woodwind. He wanted it to overblow at the octave, unlike the clarinet, which rises in pitch by a twelfth when overblown. An instrument that overblew at the octave, would have identical fingering for both registers.

Sax created an instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece like a clarinet, conical brass body like an ophicleide, and some acoustic properties of both the horn and the clarinet.

Having constructed saxophones in several sizes in the early 1840s, Sax applied for, and received, a 15-year patent for the instrument on June 28, 1846.[4] The patent encompassed 14 versions of the fundamental design, split into two categories of seven instruments each, and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. Although the instruments transposed at either F or C have been considered "orchestral", there is no evidence that Sax intended this. As only 3 percent of Sax's surviving production were pitched in F and C, and as contemporary composers used the E♭ alto and B♭ bass saxophone freely in orchestral music, it is almost certain that Sax experimented to find the most suitable keys for these instruments, settling upon instruments alternating between E♭ and B♭ rather than those pitched in F or C, for reasons of tone and economy (the saxophones were the most expensive wind instruments of their day). The C soprano saxophone was the only instrument to sound at concert pitch. All the instruments were given an initial written range from the B below the treble staff to the F, one space above the three ledger lines above staff, giving each saxophone a range of two and a half octaves.

Sax's patent expired in 1866;[5] thereafter, numerous saxophonists and instrument manufacturers implemented their own improvements to the design and keywork. The first substantial modification was by a French manufacturer who extended the bell slightly and added an extra key to extend the range downwards by one semitone to B♭. It is suspected that Sax himself may have attempted this modification. This extension is now commonplace in almost all modern designs, along with other minor changes such as added keys for alternate fingerings. Using alternate fingerings will allow the player to play easily and as fast as they can. The player may also use alternate fingerings to bend the pitch. Some of the alternate fingerings are good for trilling, scales, and big interval jumps.[6]

Sax's original keywork, which was based on the Triebert system 3 oboe for the left hand and the Boehm clarinet for the right, was very simplistic and made playing some legato passages and wide intervals extremely difficult to finger, so numerous developers added extra keys and alternate fingerings to make chromatic playing less difficult. While the early saxophone had two separate octave vents to assist in the playing of the upper registers just as modern instruments do, players of Sax's original design had to operate these via two separate octave keys operated by the left thumb. A substantial advancement in saxophone keywork was the development of a method by which the left thumb operates both tone holes with a single octave key, which is now universal on modern saxophones. Further developments were made by Selmer in the 1930s and 40s, including offsetting tone holes and revamping the octave key mechanism, beginning with their balanced action instruments and continuing through their celebrated Mark VI line.[citation needed] One of the most radical, however temporary, revisions of saxophone keywork was made in the 1950s by M. Houvenaghel of Paris, who completely redeveloped the mechanics of the system to allow a number of notes (C♯, B, A, G, F and E♭) to be flattened by a semitone simply by pressing the right middle finger. This enables a chromatic scale to be played over two octaves simply by playing the diatonic scale combined with alternately raising and lowering this one digit.[7] However, this keywork never gained much popularity, and is no longer in use.

Uses
A military band saxophonist holding baritone saxophone

A military band saxophonist holding a baritone saxophone

Uses in military bands and classical music

The saxophone first gained popularity in one of the uses it was designed for: the military band. Although the instrument was studiously ignored in Germany at first, French and Belgian military bands took full advantage of the instrument that Sax had designed. Most French and Belgian military bands incorporate at least a quartet of saxophones comprising at least the E♭ baritone, B♭ tenor, E♭ alto and B♭ soprano. These four instruments have proved the most popular of all of Sax's creations, with the E♭ contrabass and B♭ bass usually considered impractically large and the E♭ sopranino insufficiently powerful. British military bands tend to include at minimum two saxophonists on the alto and tenor. Today, the saxophone is used in military bands all around the world.

The saxophone was subsequently introduced into the concert band, which generally calls for the E♭ alto saxophone, the B♭ tenor saxophone, and the E♭ baritone saxophone. The typical high-level concert band includes two altos, one tenor, and one baritone. The B♭ soprano saxophone is also occasionally used, in which case it is normally played by the first alto saxophonist. The bass saxophone in B♭ is called for in some concert band music (especially music by Percy Grainger).

The saxophone is used in chamber music, such as the saxophone quartet, reed quintet, and other chamber combinations of instruments.

The classical saxophone quartet consists of the soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and baritone saxophone. There is a repertoire of classical compositions and arrangements for the SATB instrumentation dating back to the nineteenth century, particularly by French composers who knew Adolphe Sax. Classical saxophone quartets include Quatuor Habanera, the h2 quartet, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, the New Century Saxophone Quartet, and others. Historically, the quartets led by Marcel Mule and Daniel Deffayet, saxophone professors at the Conservatoire de Paris, were started in 1928 and 1953, respectively, and were highly regarded. The Mule quartet is often considered the prototype for future quartets, due the level of virtuosity demonstrated by its members and its central role in the development of the quartet repertoire. However, organised quartets did exist before Mule's ensemble, the prime example being the quartet headed by Eduard Lefebre (1834–1911), former soloist with the Sousa band, in the United States c. 1904–1911. Other ensembles most likely existed at this time as part of the saxophone sections of the many touring professional bands that existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The saxophone is a member of the reed quintet. The reed quintet consists of an oboe, a clarinet, a saxophone, a bass clarinet, and a bassoon.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, the saxophone has found increased popularity in the symphony orchestra. In one or other size, the instrument has also been found as a useful accompaniment to genres as wide-ranging as opera and choral music. Many musical theatre scores include parts for the saxophone, sometimes doubling another woodwind or brass instrument. In this way, the sax serves as a middle point between other woodwinds and the brass section, helping to blend the two sections.

Selected works of the repertoire

Main article: List of concert works for saxophone

Fantasie sur un thème original (1860)—Jules Demersseman Rapsodie pour orchestre et saxophone [Rhapsody for orchestra and saxophone] (1901)—Claude Debussy Choral varié, Op.55 (1903)—Vincent d'Indy Légende, Op.66 (1918)—Florent Schmitt Saxophone Concerto (1934)—Lars-Erik Larsson Concerto in E♭ major for alto saxophone and orchestra (1934)—Alexander Glazunov Concertino da camera (1935)—Jacques Ibert Aria pour saxophone alto (1936)—Eugène Bozza Sonata for alto saxophone and piano(1937)—Bernhard Heiden Scaramouche for alto saxophone and piano (1937)—Darius Milhaud Ballade for Alto Saxophone (1938)—Henri Tomasi Sonata for alto saxophone and piano, Op. 19 (1939)—Paul Creston Sonata for alto saxophone and piano (1943)—Paul Hindemith Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra, Op. 26 (1944)—Paul Creston Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (1948)—Ingolf Dahl Fantasia for soprano saxophone, three horns, and strings (1948)—Heitor Villa-Lobos Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (1949)—Henri Tomasi Tableaux de Provence (1955)—Paule Maurice Prélude, cadence et finale (1956)—Alfred Desenclos Saxophone Concerto (1958)—Erland von Koch Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (1959)—Pierre Max Dubois Élégie et rondeau pour saxophone alto et orchestre (1961)—Karel Husa Sonata for alto saxophone (1970)—Edison Denisov Sonata for alto saxophone and piano, Op. 29 (1970)—Robert Muczynski Concerto for Saxophone Quartet (1995)—Philip Glass[8][9] Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2013)—John Adams

Selected saxophone quartets

Premier Quatuor [Quartet No. 1], Op. 53 (1857)—Jean-Baptiste Singelée Quartette [Quartet] (1879)—Caryl Florio Saxophone Quartet in B♭, Op.109 (1932)—Alexander Glazunov Introduction et variations sur une ronde populaire (1934)—Gabriel Pierné Andante et Scherzo for saxophone quartet (1938)—Eugène Bozza Quatuor pour Saxophones [Quartet for Saxophones], Op. 102 (1939)—Florent Schmitt Quatuor pour Saxophones (1956)—Pierre Max Dubois Quatuor [Quartet] (1962)—Alfred Desenclos Suite for Saxophone Quartet (1979)—Paul Creston XAS (1987)—Iannis Xenakis

Selected orchestral pieces that include saxophone(s)

Boléro - Maurice Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky/Maurice Ravel L'Arlésienne - Georges Bizet Romeo and Juliet - Sergei Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé - Sergei Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky - Sergei Prokofiev Symphonic Dances - Sergei Rachmaninoff La création du monde - Darius Milhaud Symphony No. 6 - Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 9 - Ralph Vaughan Williams Job: A Masque for Dancing - Ralph Vaughan Williams Suite for Variety Orchestra - Dmitri Shostakovich Suite No. 1 - Dmitri Shostakovich Suite No. 2 - Dmitri Shostakovich The Golden Age - Dmitri Shostakovich Symphonia Domestica - Richard Strauss Neues vom Tage - Paul Hindemith Háry János - Zoltán Kodály Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin An American in Paris - George Gershwin Sinfonia da Requiem - Benjamin Britten Billy Budd - Benjamin Britten The Prince of the Pagodas - Benjamin Britten Violin Concerto - Alban Berg Lulu - Alban Berg Der Wein - Alban Berg Symphony No. 4 - Charles Ives Belshazzar's Feast - William Walton The Wooden Prince - Béla Bartók City Noir - John Adams West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein On the Waterfront - Leonard Bernstein Sylvia - Léo Delibes Werther - Jules Massenet Hérodiade - Jules Massenet Symphony No. 1 - Aaron Copland Piano Concerto - Aaron Copland Turandot - Giacomo Puccini

Uses in jazz and popular music

The saxophone is also commonly used in jazz music, where the saxophone is one of the signature sounds. Beginning in the early 20th century, the saxophone became popular in dance orchestras, which were not jazz ensembles but influenced the format of the big swing era bands that were soon to follow. The arrival of the saxophone as a jazz instrument is attributed to tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins' stint with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra starting in 1923. The saxophone was soon embraced by Chicago style musicians who added it, along with chordal instruments such as a piano, banjo, or guitar, to the trumpet-clarinet-trombone-bass-drums ensemble format inherited from New Orleans jazz. The Duke Ellington Orchestra of the late 1920s featured saxophone-based ensemble sounds and solos by saxophonists Otto Hardwick, Johnny Hodges, and Harry Carney. The swing bands of the 1930s utilized arrangements of saxophone and brass sections playing off each other in call-response patterns. The influence of tenor saxophonist Lester Young with the Count Basie Orchestra in the late 1930s and the tremendous popularity of Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of Body and Soul marked the saxophone as an influence on jazz equal to that of the trumpet, which had been the defining instrument of jazz since its beginnings in New Orleans. But the greatest influence of the saxophone on jazz was to occur just a few years later, as alto saxophonist Charlie Parker became an icon of the bebop revolution that influenced generations of jazz musicians. The small group format of bebop and post-bebop jazz ensembles, typically with one to three lead instruments(usually including a saxophone), a chordal instrument, bass, and drums, gained ascendancy in the 1940s as musicians emphasized extended exploration utilizing the new harmonic and melodic freedoms that bebop provided, thanks to Charlie Parker and a few other pioneers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Bud Powell.

In addition to the colossal brilliance and virtuosity of Parker, the alto sax was also popularized in the 1950s by top saxophonists such as Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Criss and Paul Desmond (latter of the Dave Brubeck Quartet). The tenor sax, which some consider to be the more popular form of saxophone as a solo instrument in jazz, was popularized by jazz greats such as Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Zoot Sims. The baritone sax, featured more in big bands (notably by Harry Carney in the Duke Ellington Orchestra) and larger ensembles than as a solo instrument, was popularized in jazz as a solo instrument within small groups by musicians such as Serge Chaloff, Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams and Leo Parker. The soprano saxophone was popularized by Sidney Bechet in early jazz, but then largely fell out of favor on the jazz scene until John Coltrane began to feature the instrument.[citation needed] Popular smooth jazz/contemporary pop musician Kenny G also features the soprano sax as his principal instrument.

Saxophone players such as John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers and Pharoah Sanders again defined the forefront of creative exploration with the avant-garde movement of the 1960s. Modal, harmolodic, and free jazz again removed boundaries and the new space was explored with every device that saxophone players could conceive of. Sheets of sound, tonal exploration, upper harmonics, and multiphonics were hallmarks of the creative possibilities that saxophones offered in the new realm. One lasting influence of the avant-garde movement has been the exploration of non-western ethnic sounds on the saxophone, for example, the Africanized sounds used by Pharoah Sanders. The devices of the avant-garde movement have continued to be influential in music that challenges the boundaries between avant-garde and other categories of jazz, such as that of alto saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby.

The jazz saxophone quartet is usually made up of one B♭ soprano, one E♭ alto, one B♭ tenor and one E♭ baritone (SATB). On occasion, the soprano is replaced with a second alto sax (AATB); a few professional saxophone quartets have featured non-standard instrumentation, such as James Fei's Alto Quartet[10] (four altos) and Hamiet Bluiett's Bluiett Baritone Nation (four baritones). Recently, the World Saxophone Quartet has become known as the preeminent jazz saxophone quartet.

The saxophone, as a solo instrument or as part of a horn section, may also be heard in blues, soul music, rhythm and blues, reggae, ska, funk, rock and roll and other forms of popular music. Some players of these genres include King Curtis, Maceo Parker, Bobby Keys, Clarence Clemons, the Memphis Horns, and the Phenix Horns.

The saxophone family
The primary (military band) saxophone family alternates instruments in B♭ and E♭. The other (orchestral) family patented by Sax, alternating instruments in C and F, has always been marginal, although some manufacturers tried to popularise the soprano in C (or C soprano saxophone), the alto in F (or mezzo-soprano saxophone), and the tenor in C (or C melody saxophone) early in the twentieth century. The C melody enjoyed some success in the late 1920s and early 1930s as a parlor instrument. One company has recently revived production of the C soprano and C melody.[11] Instruments in F are rare.



Saxophone

Key

Sounds an octave lower than

Sounds an octave higher than

1 Sopranissimo B♭ ## Soprano 2 Sopranino E♭ ## Alto 3 Soprano B♭ Sopranissimo Tenor 4 Alto E♭ Sopranino Baritone 5 Tenor B♭ Soprano Bass 6 Baritone E♭ Alto Contrabass 7 Bass B♭ Tenor Subcontrabass 8 Contrabass E♭ Baritone ## 9 Subcontrabass B♭ Bass ##

Description
The saxophone consists of an approximately conical tube, usually of thin brass, flared at the tip to form a bell. At intervals along the tube are between 20 and 23 tone holes of varying size and two very small vent 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 activated by keytouches pressed by the fingers, either directly on the pad cup or connected to it with levers, either directly or with joints called "linkages." The right thumb sits under a thumb rest to stabilize and balance the saxophone, while the weight of most saxophones is supported by a neckstrap attached to a strap ring on the rear of the body of the instrument. 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. Instruments that play to low A have a left thumb key for that note.

The simplest design of saxophone is a straight conical tube, and the sopranino and soprano saxophones are usually of this straight design. However, as the lower-pitched instruments would be unacceptably long if straight, for ergonomic reasons, the larger instruments usually incorporate a U-bend ("bow") at, or slightly above, the third-lowest tone hole. As this would cause the bell of the instrument to point almost directly upward, the end of the instrument is either beveled or tilted slightly forward. This U-shape has become a distinctive feature of the saxophone family, to the extent that soprano and even sopranino saxes are sometimes made in the curved style, even though not strictly necessary. By contrast, tenors and even baritones have occasionally been made in the straight style.[12][13] Most commonly, however, the alto and tenor saxophones incorporate a detachable, curved "neck" above the highest tone hole, directing the mouthpiece to the player's mouth while the instrument is held in a playing stance. The baritone, bass and contrabass saxophones accommodate the length of the bore with extra bows and right angle bends between the main body and the mouthpiece.

File:Saxophone-practice-yoyogipark.ogv Play media

(video) A man practices the saxophone in Yoyogi park. Materials

Most saxophones, both past and present, are made from brass. Despite this, they are categorized as woodwind instruments rather than brass, as the sound waves are produced by an oscillating wood reed, not the player's lips against a mouthpiece as in a brass instrument, and because different pitches are produced by breath wind passing opening and closing keys. The screw pins that connect the rods to the posts, as well as the needle and leaf springs that cause the keys to return to their rest position after being released, are generally made of blued or stainless steel. Since 1920, most saxophones have 'key touches' (smooth replaceable pieces placed where the fingers touch the instrument) made from either plastic or mother of pearl. Recently, some saxophones are offered with abalone or stone keytouches.

Other materials have been tried with varying degrees of success, such as the 1950s Grafton plastic alto saxophone and its recent successor, the polycarbonate saxophone, VibratoSax. There is also the wooden Sawat saxophone created in Thailand on a small scale. Recent years have seen use higher copper alloys substituted for the "yellow brass" or "cartridge brass" that are most common, for visual and tonal effect. Yanagisawa's 902 and 992 series saxophones are made with phosphor bronze, which is claimed to offer slightly different, more "vintage" tonal qualities from the brass 901 and 991 models of identical design.[14] Other saxophones made of high copper alloys are sold under the brands Chateau, Kessler, Saxgourmet, and Bauhaus Walstein. Yanagisawa and other manufacturers, starting with the King Super 20 around 1950, have made saxophone necks, bells, or entire instruments from sterling silver.[15] Keilwerth and P. Mauriat have made saxes with a nickel silver body.[16][17] Opinions vary on the significance of body materials to sound. With the exception of the identical brass and phosphor bronze Yanagisawa models, opportunities to isolate body materials from other variables in design and construction are lacking.

Prior to final assembly, the manufacturers usually apply a thin coating of clear or colored acrylic lacquer, or silver plate, over the bare brass. The lacquer or plating serves to protect the brass from oxidation, and maintains its shiny appearance. Several different types and colors of surface finish have been used over the years.[18] It is also possible to plate the instrument with nickel or gold, and a number of gold-plated saxophones have been produced.[18] Plating saxophones with gold is an expensive process because gold does not adhere directly to brass. As a result, the brass is first plated with silver, then gold.

Some players, sellers, and repair technicians argue that the type of lacquer or plating, or absence thereof,[19] may enhance an instrument's tone quality. The possible effects of different finishes on tone are difficult to isolate from the other variables that affect an instrument's tone colors. In any case, what constitutes a pleasing tone is a matter of personal preference.

Mouthpiece and reed

Main articles: Mouthpiece (woodwind), Reed (instrument), Reed clipper and ligature (musical instrument)

The saxophone uses a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. Most saxophonists use reeds made from Arundo donax cane, but since the 20th century some have also been made of fiberglass and other composite materials. Saxophone reeds are proportioned slightly differently from clarinet reeds, being wider for the same length, although some soprano saxophonists use clarinet reeds on the soprano saxophone. Each size of saxophone (alto, tenor, etc.) uses a different size of reed. Reeds are commercially available in a vast array of brands, styles, and strengths. Players experiment with reeds of different strength (hardnesses) and material to find which strength and cut suits their mouthpiece, embouchure, physiology, and playing style.

The saxophone mouthpiece is larger than that of the clarinet, has a wider inner chamber, and lacks the cork-covered tenon of a clarinet mouthpiece because the saxophone neck inserts into the mouthpiece whereas the clarinet mouthpiece piece is inserted into the barrel. Saxophone and clarinet embouchures differ from each other in firmness, position of the lower lip, and range of entry angles. The "long tones" exercise is used to develop embouchure, along with airstream and breath control.[20]

Mouthpieces come in a wide variety of materials, including vulcanized rubber (sometimes called hard rubber or ebonite), plastic, and metals such as bronze or surgical steel. Less common materials that have been used include wood, glass, crystal, porcelain, and even bone. According to Larry Teal, the mouthpiece material has little, if any, effect on the sound, and the physical dimensions give a mouthpiece its tone colour.[21] There are examples of "dark" sounding metal pieces and "bright" sounding hard rubber pieces – Marcel Mule, for example, used a metal mouthpiece to perform classical music.[22] Some[who?] contend that instability at the mouthpiece/neck connection moves harmonic frequencies off series with the fundamental frequency and each other, resulting in a "spread" sound, and that the weight of a metal mouthpiece counteracts that instability, increasing tonal "focus." Mouthpiece design has a profound impact on tone.

Early mouthpieces were designed to produce a warm and round sound for classical playing. Among classical mouthpieces, those with a concave ("excavated") chamber are more true to Adolphe Sax's original design; these provide a softer or less piercing tone favored by some saxophonists, including students of Sigurd Raschèr, for classical playing. Saxophonists who follow the French school of classical saxophone playing, influenced by Marcel Mule, generally use mouthpieces with smaller chambers than Rascher style mouthpieces. The use of the saxophone in dance orchestras and jazz ensembles put a premium on dynamic range, projection, and tonal richness, leading to rapid innovation in chamber shape and tip design, and metal construction. At the opposite extreme from the classical mouthpieces are those with a small chamber and a low clearance above the reed between the tip and the chamber, called high baffle. These produce a bright sound with maximum projection, suitable for having a sound stand out among amplified instruments and typical of modern pop and smooth jazz. Most saxophonists who play different styles have a mouthpiece suited for each style.

Unusual saxophone variants
Straight saxophones, including common fully straight types and unusual variants with slightly curved bell. Clockwise from top left: an E♭ baritone, a B♭ tenor, a C soprano, a B♭ soprano, and a B♭ soprillo A number of saxes and saxophone-related instruments have appeared since Sax's original work, most with no significant success. These include the saxello, essentially a straight B♭ soprano, but with a slightly curved neck and tipped bell; the straight alto; and the straight B♭ tenor.[23] Since a straight-bore tenor is approximately five feet long, the cumbersome size of such a design makes it almost impossible to either play or transport. "King" Saxellos, made by the H. N. White Company in the 1920s, now command prices up to US$4,000. A number of companies, including Keilwerth, Rampone & Cazzani (altello model), L.A. Sax and Sax Dakota USA, are marketing straight-bore, tipped-bell soprano saxophones as saxellos (or "saxello sopranos").

The "contralto" saxophone, similar in size to the orchestral soprano, was developed in the late 20th century by California instrument maker Jim Schmidt.[24] This instrument has a larger bore and a new fingering system, and does not resemble the C melody instrument except for its key and register. Another new arrival to the sax scene is the soprillo sax, a piccolo-sized straight instrument with the upper speaker hole built into the mouthpiece. The instrument, which extends Sax's original family, as it is pitched a full octave higher than the B♭ soprano sax, is manufactured by Benedikt Eppelsheim, of Munich, Germany. There is a rare prototype slide tenor saxophone, but few were ever made. One company that produced a slide soprano saxophone was Reiffel & Husted, Chicago, ca. 1922 (catalog NMM 5385).[25][26][27]

Two of these variants were championed by jazz musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who called his straight Buescher alto a stritch and his modified saxello a manzello; the latter featured a larger-than-usual bell and modified key work. Among some saxophonists,[weasel words] Kirk's terms have taken on a life of their own in that it is believed that these were "special" or "new" saxophones that might still be available. Though rare, the Buescher straight alto was a production item instrument while the manzello was indeed a saxello with a custom-made bell.

Another unusual variant of the saxophone was the Conn-O-Sax, a straight-conical bore instrument in F (one step above the E♭ alto) with a slightly curved neck and spherical bell. The instrument, which combined a saxophone bore and keys with a bell shaped similar to that of a heckelphone, was intended to imitate the timbre of the English horn and was produced only in 1929 and 1930. The instrument had a key range from low A to high G. Fewer than 100 Conn-O-Saxes are in existence, and they are eagerly sought by collectors.

The tubax, developed in 1999 by the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim,[28] plays the same range, and with the same fingering, as the E♭ contrabass saxophone; its bore, however, is narrower than that of a contrabass saxophone, making for a more compact instrument with a "reedier" tone (akin to the double-reed contrabass sarrusophone). It can be played with the smaller (and more commonly available) baritone saxophone mouthpiece and reeds. Eppelsheim has also produced subcontrabass tubaxes in C and B♭, the latter being the lowest saxophone ever made. Among the most recent developments is the aulochrome, a double soprano saxophone invented by Belgian instrument maker François Louis in 2001.

The fingering scheme of the saxophone, which has had only minor changes since the instrument's original invention, has presented inherent acoustic problems related to closed keys below the first open tonehole that affect response of, and slightly muffle, some notes. There is also a lack of tactile consistency moving between key centers. In other words, extra effort is required from the player to adjust modes of muscle memory when moving between key centers. Two efforts to remedy the acoustic problems and awkward aspects of the original fingering system are noteworthy.

The Leblanc Rationale and System[29] saxophones had key mechanics designed to remedy the acoustic problems associated with closed keys below the first open tonehole. They also enabled the player to make half-step shifts of scales by depressing one key while keeping the rest of the fingering consistent with that of the fingering a half step away (which could also trip up players used to certain alternate fingerings on a regular saxophone). Some Leblanc System features were built into the Vito Model 35 saxophones of the 1950s and 1960s. The acceptance of what was arguably a superior system was impaired by the adjustment required of players switching between System and non-System horns, and the added costs associated with the added complexity of certain key mechanisms.

The chromatic, or linear fingering, saxophone is a project of instrument designer and builder Jim Schmidt, developing a horn maximizing tactile and logical consistency between every interval on the horn regardless of key, and avoiding the acoustic problems associated closed keys below the first open tone hole.[30] Several working prototypes have been built and presented at trade shows.[31] Production of this fascinating and expensive saxophone is on an individual order basis according to the designer's website referenced above.

Related instruments
Saxos de Bambú by Ángel Sampedro del Río, Argentina Although not true saxophones, inexpensive keyless folk versions of the saxophone made of bamboo (recalls 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).[32] In the Minahasa region of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, there exist entire bands made up of bamboo "saxophones"[33] and "brass" instruments of various sizes. These instruments are imitations of European instruments, made using local materials. Very similar instruments are produced in Thailand.[34][35] In Argentina, Ángel Sampedro del Río and Mariana García have produced bamboo saxophones of various sizes since 1985, the larger of which have bamboo keys to allow for the playing of lower notes.[36]

Composition
Soprano Extension in C.svg Alto Extension in C.svg Tenor Extension in C.svg Baritone Extension in C.svg

The extension in C major of the military soprano, alto, tenor and baritone when playing a B♭ major scale.

Music for most saxophones is usually notated using treble clef. The standard written range extends from a B♭ below the staff to an F or F♯ three ledger lines above the staff. Most, if not all, intermediate and professional saxophones made today are built with F♯ keys, with F♯ included on even student instruments.

There are many models of soprano saxophone that have a key for high G, and most modern models of baritone saxophone have an extended bore and key to produce low A; it is also possible to play a low A on any saxophone by blocking the end of the bell, usually with the foot or inside of the left thigh. Low A keys however were not limited to just the baritone saxophone. For a short time Selmer Paris produced mark VI alto saxophones with the low A key. Notes above F are considered part of the altissimo register of any sax, and can be produced using advanced embouchure techniques and fingering combinations. Sax himself had mastered these techniques; he demonstrated the instrument as having a range of just beyond three octaves up to a (written) high B4. Modern saxophone players have extended this range to over 4 octaves on tenor and alto.

Because all saxophones use the same key arrangement and fingering to produce a given notated pitch, it is not difficult for a competent player to switch among the various sizes when the music has been suitably transposed, and many do so. Since the baritone and alto are pitched in E♭, players can read concert pitch music notated in the bass clef by reading it as if it were treble clef and adding three sharps to the key signature. This process, referred to as clef substitution, makes it possible for the Eb instruments to play from parts written for bassoon, tuba, trombone, or string bass. This can be useful if a band or orchestra lacks one of those instruments.

Gallery
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)[37] with a serial number that dates manufacture to 1922

Vintage silver-plated 'Pennsylvania Special' alto saxophone, manufactured by Kohlert & Sons for Selmer[38] in Czechoslovakia, circa 1930

Conn 6M "Lady Face"[39] 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

Bauhaus Walstein tenor saxophone manufactured in 2008 from phosphor bronze

The lower portion of a P. Mauriat alto saxophone, showing the mother of pearl key touches and engraved brass pad cups

A Yamaha baritone saxophone

Two mouthpieces for tenor saxophone: the one on the left is ebonite; the one on the right is metal.

Ochres Music "No.5" hand-made professional alto saxophone with 24 carat gold seal on bell.