TYPES OF SAXOPHONE Soprillo -the smallest member of the saxophone family. It is pitched in B♭, one octave above the soprano saxophone. Because of the difficulties in building such a small instrument—the soprillo is 12 inches long, 13 inches with the mouthpiece—it is only recently that a true soprillo saxophone been produced. The keywork only extends to abwritten high E♭ (rather than F like most saxophones) and the upper octave key has to be placed in the mouthpiece. Sopranino -one of the smallest members of the saxophone family. A sopranino saxophone is tuned in the key of E♭, and sounds an octave above the alto. This saxophone has a sweet sound and although the sopranino is one of the least common of the saxophones in regular use today, it is still being produced by several of the major musical manufacturing companies. Due to their small size, sopraninos are not usually curved like other saxes. Soprano -invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass, and tubax. It is in the B♭ key. Alto -a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions. The alto and tenor are the most common types of saxophone.The range of the alto saxophone is from concert D♭ to concert A♭ (or A on altos with a high F♯ key). As with most types of saxophones, the standard written range is B♭ to F (or F♯ ). Above that, the altissimo register begins at F♯ and extends upwards. The saxophone’s altissimo register is more difficult to control than that of other woodwinds and is usually only expected from advanced players. Tenor -medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolohe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding a major ninth lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F# key have a range from B♭2 to E5 and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. Baritone -often called “ bari sax ” (to avoid confusion with the baritone horn, which is often referred to simply as “baritone”), is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece; this helps to keep the instrument at a practical height (the rarer bass saxophone has a similar, but larger loop). It is the lowest pitched saxophone in common use. Bass -second largest existing member of the saxophone family (not counting the subcontrabass tubax). It is similar in design to a baritone saxophone, but it is larger, with a longer loop near the mouthpiece. Unlike the baritone, the bass saxophone is not commonly used. While some composers did write parts for the instrument through the early twentieth century (such as Percy Gainger in Lincolnshire Posy), the bass sax part in today’s wind ensemble is usually handled by the tuba, or in jazz and other popular-music bands by the double bass or electric bass, all of which have a lower range. In the 1920s, the bass saxophone was often used in early jazz recordings, since it was at that time much easier to record than the tuba or double bass. Contrabass -the lowest-pitched extant member of the saxophone family proper. It is extremely large (twice the length of tubing of the baritone saxophone, with a bore twice as wide, standing 1.9 meters tall, or 6 feet four inches) and heavy (approximately 20 kilograms, or 45 pounds), and is pitched in the key of E♭, one octave below the baritone. Approximately 25 examples of this instrument exist in the world today including recently made instruments and a handful of surviving examples by Evette-Schaeffer and Kohlert from the saxophone craze of the 1920s. Tubax -The tubax is a modified saxophone developed in 1999 by the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim. It is available in both E♭contrabass and B♭ or C subcontrabass sizes.
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 20:17:31 +0000
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