Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
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Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#2I played alto and tenor sax in high school/college. What a great instrument. It still gives me chills when I hear a great sax tune.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#3I played clarinet, piano, and guitar growing up, but before reading this I had no idea about the story of the relatively modern (i.e. post industrial revolution) invention of the saxophone. I never played jazz, but certainly appreciate it and this quote from the article really struck a chord with me, "Without jazz, what would music be? But without the sax, what would jazz be?"
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#4Fun fact: a cone open on one end (saxophone) supports all harmonics, as does a cylinder open on both ends (flute).
A cylinder open on one end (clarinet) only supports odd harmonics, which is why a clarinet sounds "rounded" and overblows into a twelfth, rather than an octave (as on former two).
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#5I always assumed the Sousaphone getting that name was almost a self-indulgent joke, but it's in better company than I realized.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#6Fun fact: a cone open on one end (saxophone) supports all harmonics, as does a cylinder open on both ends (flute). A cylinder open on one end (clarinet) only supports odd harmonics, which is why a clarinet sounds "rounded" and overblows into a twelfth, rather than an octave (as on former two).
Also makes it stupid difficult to do clean sounding smooth octave jumps on a clarinet.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#7Also, note that technically a Saxophone is a woodwind, not brass. I played the saxophone for half my life and it is still my favorite instrument sound wise, even though I can no longer play it due to a lung issue. Also, it is quite close to the human voice which makes it very nice to interact with singing voices. Fantastic invention, and modern music really would not be the same without it. Try the solos in Baker Street and Year of the Cat, then try the same songs with that same solo on a different instrument and see for yourself.
What I love about this article is that it shows how much work used to go into 'designing a sound', something that we do today with synthesizers by the tweak of some buttons. That used to require a ton of craftsmanship and knowledge as well as the collaboration with others such as composers.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#8Dinant is beautiful city, famous for Sax, but well worth the visit. Adolphe's house is a small museum, well organized.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#9Fun fact: a cone open on one end (saxophone) supports all harmonics, as does a cylinder open on both ends (flute). A cylinder open on one end (clarinet) only supports odd harmonics, which is why a clarinet sounds "rounded" and overblows into a twelfth, rather than an octave (as on former two).
Also makes it stupid difficult to do clean sounding smooth octave jumps on a clarinet.
On one hand, it seems harder to learn, on the other: clarinet is the king of large jumps. The shit the clarinet soloists that come to my orchestra squeak out would be impossible to do that cleanly on my instrument (bassoon), even though large jumps on bassoon is considered easy.
And it isn't just a Martin Fröst thing. I played recently with Christoffer Sundqvist, Emil jonasson and Harri Mäki (as well as with Fröst on several occasions) and they all did crazy big-jump-gymnastics that put every other instrument to shame.
My theory is that the sparse overtones makes it _easier_ once you have the kind of control these people have.
Re: Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone
#10Fun fact: a cone open on one end (saxophone) supports all harmonics, as does a cylinder open on both ends (flute). A cylinder open on one end (clarinet) only supports odd harmonics, which is why a clarinet sounds "rounded" and overblows into a twelfth, rather than an octave (as on former two).
Interesting observation is that sax having a conical bore and using a reed to induce the sound resembles an oboe. Indeed, the fingering is nearly the same. Yet, the brass resonates in a much brighter and louder way. The reed and the mouthpiece are of clarinet design, except of conical kind. A true hybrid, ingenious synthesis.
Oboe's sound is pliable, thanks to the double reed, player's embouchure, and the richer spectrum of the conical bore. On the other hand, clarinet's sound is more robust, but somewhat limited by the straight cylindrical bore. Marrying these two resulted in a robust yet richer sound. Let alone using brass for the body no need to worry so much about cracks and temperature swings. Perfect for outdoor performances!
Wish I've known these similarities back in the day ..., would've saved us lots of effort trying to blend in oboe sound into a 'cool' band - sax was all it needed! Oh, well, experimentation was fun still ...