HOW MANY SAXES ARE THERE?

By: Steve Candidus (Steve C.)

That’s Saxes, as in saxophones.

Overview:

Invented by Adolphe Sax and patented in 1846 they are classified as a single reed mouthpiece instrument usually made of brass. They fall into the woodwind family of musical instruments and there are more of them than you might think.

There are nine types in modern day classifications:

1) Sopranissimo – a straight sax keyed in Bᵇ – one octave higher than the                                           soprano sax
2) Sopranino – a straight sax keyed in Eᵇ – one octave higher than the alto                                     sax
3) Soprano – both straight and curved sax configurations keyed in Bᵇ – one                               octave higher than the tenor sax
4) Alto – a curved sax (although a very few straight altos were made)                                    keyed in Eᵇ – one octave higher than the baritone sax
5) Tenor – a curved sax keyed in Bᵇ – one octave higher than the bass sax
6) Baritone – a curved sax keyed in Eᵇ – one octave higher than the                                  contrabass sax
7) Bass – a curved sax keyed in Bᵇ – one octave higher than the                                               subcontrabass
8) Contrabass – a curved sax keyed in Eᵇ – N/A
9) Subcontrabass – a curved sax keyed in Bᵇ – N/A

Why these keys:

There actually is a method to the madness of it. These keys were selected to best match up to military and marching bands. The player typically would never be required to transpose the music him or herself and other band instruments were also so keyed.

Saxophones were also designed specifically for use in concert orchestras and these were keyed in C. You rarely see a saxophone used in symphony orchestras although it’s probably more of a snob thing than any flaw of the sax or sound. The early masters didn’t write their music for saxophones, so the only time you see a sax used in concert orchestra they are brought out specifically for the piece being played and then sent back to the dungeons where such upstarts are kept chained and away from the tuxedo crowd. (Full disclosure here. Yes, I love classical music too).

Going out on a limb here, but I suspect that a large part of the reason that the great masters didn’t write music for the saxophone is because it hadn’t been invented yet.

Take that saxophone symphony snobs…

C-Soprano and C-Melody Saxophones:

In addition to the nine modern saxophones, there are also two that are keyed in C and are usually referred to as C-Soprano and C- Melody saxophones.

The C-Soprano came in both straight and curved configurations and was pitched one tone higher than the slightly larger Bᵇ soprano sax.

The C-Melody was a curved sax that was piched one whole step above the Bᵇ tenor sax. It came in both curved neck configurations like the Bᵇ tenor and also with a straight neck like an Eᵇ alto. This sax was between the alto and the tenor sax in size.

Although out of mass production for almost a century and not often found in professional use, saxophones keyed in C are enjoying a resurgence of popularity in local bands that are attracted by their advantage of not having to transpose from either Eᵇ or Bᵇ to play along with guitars, pianos, etc that are all keyed in C. They are often found in church ‘worship’ bands and because they made so many of them, they are easy to find in the used market.

I personally played a Conn straight neck C-Melody sax for years in rock bands where I was primarily the rhythym guitarist (I was never a very good guitarist) and I used a small mic connected to a pre-amp into my guitar pedal effects then into my guitar amp. It’s surprising the range of sounds that can produce. Not surprisingly the only leads I ever took in those bands were with the sax which I had played for decades and was far more comfortable with.

I had Buescher and Martin curved neck C-Melody saxophones, but I liked the Conn straight neck the best. I found it more comfortable to hold, and the sound was great.

Good heavens, is that twentysomething year old kid with the brown hair playing a lead on a Conn C-Melody sax at a band rehearsal actually me? Whatever became of that kid?

C-Soprano and C-Melody saxophones often get a bad rap for having poor intonation, but that’s really not true. Part of the reason they are citied for that is actually due to their not having been overhauled (set up) properly. Remember that they haven’t been manufactured in a long time so the expertise to do so is often lost. It’s also due to the scarce availability of original C-mouthpieces for them. Alto and tenor mouthpieces can be fashoned to use, but great care must be taken to ensure proper intonation.

Mine had perfect intonation with its original mouthpiece and it was the very last saxophone that I sold when I eventually stopped playing. Giving up that old Conn straight neck C-Melody was like losing a limb. I was in a tug-a-war with the buyer even after he paid me for it.

About ten years ago I discovered a fun Japanese made movie about a bunch of high school girls that learn to play in a jazz band and there is a scene where the character Sekiguchi has to turn her beloved trombone over to another girl and the tug-a-war that ensued with her just not wanting to part with it; made me think of my parting with that old Conn. I’ll speak more about that movie later in this essay.

The shy and sweet Sekiguchi fighting to keep her beloved trombone.

Material:

Saxophones have traditionally been made of brass. It’s an easy metal to form to the shape required and the material has been used on countless other musical instruments for ages so its qualities are well known.

Other metals such as copper, silver, and even gold have been used as a plating over the brass and lately some are even manufactured out of other metals like solid silver or bronze.

The intention is that by changing the materials that they are manufactured out of it effects the tone. I personally think it’s nonsense.

A string instrument like a guitar, a violin, or a piano have strings that vibrate OVER a wooden soundboard to create their tone so the types of wood will affect the tone. The sound of a saxophone emanates out of the bell of the horn, not from its sides. The solid silver Saxes produced by companies like Yanagisawa are beautiful instruments, albeit a bit heavier due to silvers higher density, but I don’t think that the sound is really effected much if at all.

If you want to alter or fine-tune the sound to your personal style or requirements for the type of music you intend to play with it, it’s much wiser in my opinion to match the neck and mouthpiece to your needs. They will affect the tone much more than the material the sax is made of. Someone even built a saxophone out of plastic a few years ago and it sounded like – guess what – a saxophone.

Straight versus curved sopranos:

I should start by saying that the soprano sax has never been a favorite with me. Its personal taste, but I just never warmed up to them. Both straight and curved are keyed in Bᵇ and should sound the same, but they don’t to my ears. I prefer the curved, but even though I have had both over the years, I never kept either for very long. Kenny G is probably the best-known player of straight soprano saxophones.

The neck:

The neck of a saxophone is one of the most critical parts for effecting the tone of the horn. The higher grade of professional horns like the aforementioned Yanagisawa offer a selection of slightly different types and configurations of necks. The neck and the mouthpiece will help to fine-tune or shape a saxophone to the player’s particular needs.

Personal favorites:

I played soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and C-Melody Saxes over the years, but mostly alto’s and tenors. The C-Melody sax was for use in the rock bands. It was just easier to use without having to transpose the keys and being sort of a tweener of the alto and tenor sax, it gave me a nice range for the application.

I have many fond memories with that old Conn C-Melody sax. We traveled some together…

Since I favor the old big band jazz music though, if I had to choose just one saxophone it would be the tenor. I have had Buescher’s and Martin’s, mostly of the 1940-1950’s vintage, and they were wonderful. I learned to play on an old Buescher True Tone circa 1925. They are an excellent choice for the beginner even now. I have also had Selmer’s of the 1960’s vintage. The best of the best for me though were the Buescher 400 Top Hat and Canes. They were designed in the late 1930’s specifically for big band jazz. Being design-specific, they were magnificent at it.

They lack the advances in ergonomics and computer-assisted design of modern horns, but they had some unique features of their own. Instead of on the side of horn, they placed the low Bᵇ tone holes (those big ones on the bottom) on the back in between the bell and the rest of the horn’s body. That balanced the horn when activated, but required them to make the bottom bow larger. That serendipitously resulted in a smoother and much louder sound coming out the bell. Buescher 400’s were loud horns! The production sweet spot was about 1946-1954 before they started cheapening them up. If you like big band jazz this is the saxophone designed for it, so stop being such a wuss about the ergonomics, suck it up, and play it.

The magnificent Buescher 400 Top Hat and Cane tenor saxophone with a gold plated finish. Note the low Bᵇ tone holes on the back of the bell not on the side.

So now we take a detour to a fun movie with some wonderful music. Well, OK, some not so wonderful music through the parts where they are still learning, but they nail it at the end.

“Swing Girls”

‘Swing Girls’ (and a boy) was made in Japan starting in 2001 and finished in 2003. It was released in 2004.

It’s a Japanese comedy and its lots of fun. It’s definitely rated ‘G’. You can watch it with your spouse, the kids, grandma, the dog, etc. It’s a story about 16 high school girls that are the misfits of their school and families that finally find their place in life by playing big band jazz.

This movie always makes me smile. These kids were actors, not musicians. The director (also a saxophone player – go figure) wanted them to actually learn how to play their instruments so that they would understand their roles in the movie. He started by handing each of them an instrument in 2001 and telling them to go and learn how to play it and that when they were ready they would film the movie.

The kids then spent two years at the Yamaha Music School (Yamaha was one of the sponsors of the movie) learning how to play them and it’s actually them playing in the movie.

They became sort of a Phenom in Japan after the release of this movie and went on tour playing to live audiences.

I usually don’t like watching films with subtitles, but this one is surprisingly easy to follow with them. It’s too bad that this movie was never released in the US and just dubbed in (maybe with their own voices), but it’s still very enjoyable. It has never been available on DVD, but you might still find it with English subtitles in Blu-ray.

Other than the aforementioned Sekiguchi’s tug-a-war with her trombone and the grand finale concert which is excellent, two of my favorite scenes are the one where the girls are practicing their breathing by inhaling on plastic bottles (yeah I know – my bad). It’s the funniest 17 seconds of the movie. And yes, that’s the shy and sweet Sekiguchi again achieving the feat.

And the scene with the wild boar. Who wouldn’t love Louis Armstrong singing “What a Wonderful World” to some very clever photography?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHnaP88VYS0

I had intended to close this essay with a link to the whole movie with English subtitles, but YouTube has once again yanked it. We all know the drill. It will probably be re-posted by someone in a few weeks or months.

In the meantime, I will just close with a song from their final concert playing as a traditional 17-piece big band jazz ensemble, and yes, it was recorded in a studio and then dubbed into the movie, but it’s really those high school kids playing. The director was insistent on it. No substitutions.

I love seeing some young blood flowing into big band jazz. I think these kids are great!

The closing credits. Various out-take scenes from the movie where they each lip-sink the words to the song L-O-V-E sung by Nat King Cole in 1965.

Well, that’s it for our tour of the world of saxophones and a detour to a fun movie with some good big band jazz at the end. I hope you enjoyed it.

My thanks to my friend and fellow writer and traveler Peter Underwood (Austrian Peter) for proof reading this essay for me.

Steve Candidus is a writer and history buff that works as a product and application specialist of large AC electric motors in Spring, Texas.

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