Saxophones

Woodwinds

Musical Theory and Technique

This Side of Sanity

    The saxophone is a woodwind instrument played with a single reed. The varieites of saxophones include the straight-tube sopranino sax and soprano sax and the S-shaped bass sax, baritone sax, alto sax, and tenor sax. The most commonly played saxes are the B-flat tenor saxophone and the E-flat alto saxophone.

    The saxophone is a woodwind instrument having a single-reed mouthpiece, a usually curved conical metal bore, and finger keys, and made in a variety of sizes.

    Range: The B-flat tenor sax has a range of B2 to F5 (approximately 117 Hz to 725 Hz, with overtones to 8 KHz). The E-flat alto sax has a range of C3 to G5 (approximately 140 Hz to 784 Hz, with overtones to 8 KHz). Breath sounds can extend the overtones up to 13 KHz.

    General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set Program Channel Number:
        Soprano Sax: decimal 65 or hexadecimal 0x40.
        Alto Sax: decimal 66 or hexadecimal 0x41.
        Tenor Sax: decimal 67 or hexadecimal 0x42.
        Baritone Sax: decimal 68 or hexadecimal 0x43.
            (See General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set.)

    The word “saxophone” and the instrument were invented in 1846 by the Belgian musical instrument maker Adolphe Sax (1814-1894).