It’s fascinating how consistently the saxophone enriches the music scene. More than 170 years ago, Adolphe Sax wanted to build a warm sounding instrument because he lacked a strong sounding woodwind instrument in the low register. 🎷
In 1929, a certain Henri Selmer took over the patents, including the workshop, made some adjustments and perfected the saxophone as we know it today. The saxophone’s worldwide triumphal march began with jazz at the forefront. The instrument got into some very good hands and the rest is history. Here are 7 reasons why the saxophone is such a timeless fascination and an undeniably cool piece of brass…
Profile: Saxophone
Year of birth: 1840
Length of the sound tube: 64 to 293 cm
Construction of the sound tube: conical
Range: two and a half octaves, overblowing into the octave
Special feature: named after its inventor, Adolphe Sax
Tunings: bBb, Eb, C, F
Designs: 12 variants in different pitches and tunings
Most common variants: Alto, Tenor, Soprano, Baritone
Family: Woodwind instruments, single reed
Related key system: Oboe
1. The saxophone is and remains a piece of soul
Anyone who listens to the sax player automatically has the feeling that what they hear is not only a nicely-shaped piece of sheet metal, that it MUST be an outward extension of the player’s soul. The melodies, phrases and tones it produces seem to come from deep within. When the saxophonist starts, first very gently and then – in the truest sense of the word – “full throttle”, he pulls everyone into his spell, even if the notes do not come with one hundred percent virtuosity. A subtle squeak, a touch too much air in the tube, a slightly overdrawn timbre? Not the slightest problem: This instrument is simply honest, perhaps even the wordless translation of the human voice.
2. Multi-talented in all musical styles
The good old “plumbing horn” is incomparably versatile; there is hardly a style of music it would not add brilliant moments to. From folk music to blues to rock’n’roll, funk, and soul; from hard rock to punk, hip-hop to nu-metal – not to mention jazz and swing. The saxophone is everywhere, no single instrument is more present in all the genres mentioned. Not to mention it’s role in the songs: it’s rarely a sound that is ignored in a mix, it is simply unique and pleasantly characteristic.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
3. The saxophone: a stable rock in an ever-changing sea
The truth is that music changes continuously over the decades and centuries – and this is a good phenomenon. Bands normally experiment against the background of their respective times, searching for their very own rebellion and find it again and again with new creative cross-over developments. There was never a standstill; just like the world itself, music changes as generations do. What about the saxophone? It has gone through all the currents and has remained more or less how it always was. Of course there are exceptions: think of combining newer technologies such as effect pedals, loopers and samplers with the sax, but the essential tones and methods of playing remain classic for many players. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
4. A rollercoaster ride of emotions
It can cry and laugh; sometimes it is melancholically dreamy and a moment later cheerful again and almost humorous. The sax can sound as smoky as the fifteenth whiskey and then suddenly bright, clear and powerful. No one wants to be sad or to grin all day long until the smile lines form. The secret of the sax is its effortless ability to float between crying the blues and sky-high cheering. The sax has a magical ability to take the listener through a varied emotional landscape and make them feel alive. Presumably, the immense dynamism is one of the saxophone’s most appealing features. But, of course, this also depends on the player’s abilities and sensibilities.
5. The saxophone: an instrument far from “trendy”
There are undoubtedly interesting and technically creative possibilities to supply the saxophone with other sounds than the known ones. But despite the possibilities, the saxophone’s sound is often preferred unaltered (some reverb excepted) and remains one of the last real natural instruments par excellence on rock and funk stages – and even in pop or crossover genres and in times of samples and sequencers. Have you ever heard the sax sound on a keyboard? It NEVER does this brass beauty any justice!
6. Team player, leader and soloist: the saxophone
With its very special sound, the sax is the frequency link between the trumpets, trombones and the other floaters like the clarinet. Extremely harmonious, it knows how to fit into a composition, unobtrusively, phrase by phrase. And as soon as the band is ready to relax a bit, the sax can become the confident leader and lone wolf (solo time!). It sounds as good mixed into an ensemble as it does alone. Amongst the metallic Jericho sounds of the other protagonists it stands out with its warmth and is always ready to blow!
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
7. Sax solo memory trigger
And let’s be honest: Isn’t it true that we remember some songs by the hooky sax solo rather than the vocal melody? Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” is now 40 years old, almost everyone can recognise the alto sax solo right away. But if asked to sing the vocal melody many people would be stumped. ? In “Urgent” by Foreigner you intuitively wait for Junior Walker’s sax part (a first take, by the way). “Young Americans” by David Bowie would be inconceivable without the howling sax sounds, same with George Michael’s “Careless Whisper”. And so it goes through the entire history of music. This instrument has left an unforgettable mark and an end is very far from view.
Instrument buying info & advice
Are you interested in a (new) saxophone? Our experts in the specialist departments will be happy to advise you without obligation, even on other wind instruments:
Find more information and contact details here.
👉 Check out the saxophones on thomann.de
👉 Check out all wind instruments on thomann.de
Your feedback: the saxophone
Do you play the saxophone yourself? Do you like the sound or would you like to learn to play the saxophone? Share your thoughts with us in a comment below.
Comments 14