 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 ] Next Last |
The majority of saxophones produced today are made from brass. However, several manufacturers offer additional coatings that can be applied over the brass, such as silver, gold, nickel and lacquer. These are typically designed to enhance sound quality and/or give the saxophone an interesting visual appearance. There are also a small number of saxophones being commercially produced from materials other than brass. Silver is a notable example. Other materials have been tried with varying degrees of success. Ornette Coleman famously played a plastic sax.
Mouthpieces, on the other hand, come in a wide variety of materials, both metal and non-metal. Non-metal mouthpieces are typically either plastic or hard rubber, sometimes wood, and rarely glass. Metal mouthpieces have a distinctive sound, often described as 'harder' than non-metal. Beginning saxophone players typically use a plastic mouthpiece, both because it is significantly cheaper and because metal mouthpieces tend to be more difficult to play. Today there are but a few makers of mouthpieces that hold true to Sax's design. They are unfortunately not easily available, though in some cases they do in fact cost less than some other designs.
Like clarinets, saxophones use a single reed. Sax reeds, though, are generally broader and shorter than clarinet reeds. They are also softer. Hardness is usually (but not always) measured using a numeric scale that ranges from 1 to 6 (though one rarely sees a reed at either end of this spectrum). Unfortunately, this scale is far from standardized, and a Rico 3 is decidedly softer than a Vandoren 3, for example. Of course, you can also make your own reeds, or shave down manufactured reeds to suit your tastes. Reeds are exceedingly inconsistent, and most saxophonists deem only about half of the reeds in a given box of ten suitable for play, and will go through many boxes to find the perfect reed for a performance. A reed can last anywhere from one note to months, though they tend to last a week or perhaps two. The more they have been played, the easier they are to play, but, the softer and worse-sounding they get. New out-of-the-box reeds are notoriously squeaky, and are usually played for an hour or so before a performance. Advanced students and professional saxophonists spend years perfecting their methods of reed selection, storage, and adjustment. Though recently introduced plastic reeds posess great promise in their extrordinary longevity and consistency, they have failed so far to break into the mainstream reed market. These more expensive reeds last much longer and are virtually unbreakable. They have a unique tone, not as warm or mellow as cane reeds, which are suited to rock or jazz, but have a brighter, though not as high-quality tone, more suited to a marching band. One synthetic reed bought at ten dollars can last a saxophone player for years. Some players are beginning to switch to synthetic reeds, as they are a good money-saver, and are more consistent. Most any synthetic reed will work, but for the average cane reed player, a box of ten reeds would be considered great to have four or five good performance-quality reeds.
The saxophone was originally patented as two families, each of seven instruments. The "orchestral" family consisted of instruments in the keys of C and F, and the "band" family in Eb and Bb. 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 subcontra).
Of these the orchestral family are now rarely found, and of the band 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 C-melody saxophone, a non-transposing instrument, was popular in the 1920s and could be played from sheet music for guitar and piano. The soprano has regained a degree of popularity over recent decades, and the bass, sopranino and even contrabass are still manufactured. Sopranino, bass and contrabass are rarely used except in large saxophone ensembles and saxophone orchestras.
The wide bore of the saxophone means that the larger saxes are extremely large and heavy, and recently (1999) an alternative contrabass, the "tubax," has been developed with a narrower bore. Although not a true saxophone, its bore leads to a more reasonable size and weight.
At the other end of the spectrum, construction difficulties mean that only recently has a true sopranissimo saxophone been produced. Nicknamed the "soprillo," this piccolo-sized saxophone is an octave above the soprano, and its diminutive size necessitates an octave key on the mouthpiece.
Cat Newton plays New Orleans jazz and blues on the sax — but not likely classical because the inventor alienated instrument manufacturers and composers in its formative years.
Music for the saxophone is written on the treble clef, where the playable range extends over two octaves, from Bb below the staff to F above. Intermediate and professional grade saxes typically have an extra side key that extends the range to include high F#. Some also have a key that allows for high G. Higher notes -- those in the altissimo range -- can also be played, though there is no standardized fingering for these notes. Sax's original design held a slightly smaller range from B below the staff to Eb above it. Even with this more limited design; however, Sax himself demonstrated the instrument with over three octaves. There have been efforts by several individuals to standardize a method for studying the extended range of the instrument as well as provide a working system of fingerings.
The saxophone is a transposing instrument. This method makes it easy for a player to switch between instruments of different sizes without having to relearn the fingering for each note on the staff. When a saxophonist plays a C on the staff on an Eb alto saxophone, the note sounds as Eb a sixth below the written note; on a Bb tenor saxophone, the note sounds as Bb a ninth below. The baritone is an octave below the alto, and the soprano an octave above the tenor. The following discussion refers entirely to the notes as written, and therefore applies equally to all members of the saxophone family.
Composers writing for the saxophone should consider the two-octave range from low D to high D as the normal, comfortable range of the instrument.
Notes below low D require the use of the right-hand pinkie, which is weak, so the lowest part of the range is not appropriate for fast passages, and one should avoid writing parts that stay in that range for a long time. Notes below low D are out of tune on many instruments unless corrected with the embouchure. Late-model baritone saxophones have a low A-natural, but other members of the family do not, and composers who write this note for baritone should be aware that it may not actually be played if the saxophonist uses an older instrument. On an instrument that has not been perfectly maintained, it may be difficult to get the lowest notes to speak, especially when the player is inexperienced, or is asked to leap down to them. It is safest to approach these notes by a step, or to write them in a context in which they can be tongued. (Baritone players are used to playing "oompah" parts, however.)
In the middle of the range, there is a break between C# and D, with a marked change in tone color. (Skilled players may be able to use alternate fingerings to mask the break when it might otherwise be objectionable, as in slow passages.)
The top of the range, from high Eb to high F, forces the left hand out of position, and may also be difficult for amateur players to play in tune. The intonation of these notes can be especially flat when the player uses a soft reed, or a small-volume mouthpiece rather than a classically-oriented one.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|