Introduction
When a saxophone is
mentioned, it instinctively creates an imagination of a soothing sound commonly
associated with jazz music. It is a unique instrument that has played a vital
role in transforming the sound of music. The saxophone is also known as the sax
to music lovers. Those who play the saxophone are called saxophonists. It
belongs to the woodwind family among the numerous musical instruments. It is
played using a single reed mouthpiece that is commonly confused with the one
used in playing a clarinet. They are regularly made using brass (Jadassohn, 58).
This remarkable
instrument was invented by a renowned Belgian musician who was also talented in
making music instruments. He was called Adolphe Sax. Sax’s father was an
instrument maker by his own right and he is the reason why Sax got interested
in music. He invented the instrument in 1841
(Jadassohn, 60).
The idea behind his
invention was to come up with an instrument that could balance high power and
vocal sensation of the woodwinds and at the same time to be the most flexible
among the brass. This would fill the huge gap between the two parts. The string
based instruments would normally be overpowered by those instruments which used
wind. He obtained a two grouped patent
in 20TH March1846 that enclosed seven instruments each, with each
cluster consisting different instruments of different sizes in random
transposition (Jadassohn, 64).
Transition of the Saxophone
The Saxophone has a
unique history on how it transformed from a simple novelty instrument to become
one of the most recognized instruments in the world of music. As mentioned
earlier in the study, it dates back to 160 years ago. In 1841 just shortly
after its invention, a famous composer Hector Berlioz gave the C base a debut in a large stage filled
with music lovers in Belgium. It got huge recognition because of the distinct
tone it produced, its high flexibility, and an excellent control of dynamics.
This instrument was proving to be phenomenal and it literally became too big to
be restricted to Belgium alone. Sax decided to launch the instrument to other
parts of the world and in1842 he moved to Paris in France (Segell, 15).
After shifting to
the new country, he created an entire saxophone family comprising of 14
different saxophones. The distinction was on pitch and dimension. The family
consisted of: E flat sopranino, F sopranino, B flat soprano, C soprano, E flat
alto, F alto, B flat tenor, C tenor, E flat baritone, B flat bass, C bass, E
flat contrabass, and F contrabass. This was a large family and with time some
proved to be outmoded since they produced very similar sounds (Segell, 22).
By the year1845, the
saxophones had become so popular no band was considered to be complete if it
did not have a saxophone. Due to the Saxophone, 1845 became a famous year in
music history and it is quoted even in history books as the year of the famous
“battle of the bands” (Segell 35). During
this period, the French army had not embraced the new music phenomenon and was
still the more accustomed conventional instruments. Sax decided to take
advantage of this situation so that he can popularize his instrument. He
challenged the French army band to a contest where he would compete using a
band that will exclusively use his saxophones, against the army band which used
the old orchestral instruments (Segell, 88).
The army band
accepted the challenge and on the fateful day, Sax’s band comprising twenty eight
men overpowered the French army band which had thirty five men. The two bands
could not be compared at any level the soothing sound of the saxophones kept
the gathered crowd on their feet. After that contest, the saxophone was
authoritatively initiated in the French Army band. The use of the saxophone by
the French Army created a platform to popularize the instrument and its use gradually
stretched across Europe (Segell, 94).
For years a lot of
composers wrote music that would blend well with the saxophone. This trend
continued but around 1920, the trend changed and the instrument got a new role
and it steadily became popular with dance music. This revolution could not take
place without few alterations to the instrument. Since the instrument was invented
to create smooth and mellow sound that is balanced to a perfected tone, it had
to be altered so that it could be in the same league with strident drums and
raucous trumpets that were used simultaneously to produce dance music (Segell, 99).
The first thing that
was adjusted in the instrument was the mouth piece and it became smaller than
the original version. It was also made to be parallel. These changes caused an
overall transformation which resulted to loud and vile sound that was required
for dance music and Jazz. Ever since this transformation took place, the
saxophone has been regarded as a key Jazz instrument.
Nowadays, the
saxophone cannot be mentioned without someone associating it with smooth music.
The instrument is not only identified with Jazz but it is considered a key
instrument in nearly all manners of music. Its unique sound can be found in
different venues from huge baseball fields to classy night clubs. It is
virtually impossible to listen to music without hearing a sound that is connected
to the saxophone.
Conclusion
The saxophone has
transformed from 1841 up to date to become one of the most significant
instruments in music. Thanks to Adolphe Sax, the world will always have a
chance to listen to the most soothing sound that can ever be produced. The
saxophone will remain to be one of the greatest inventions in the world of
music. Personally I never got the chance to listen to the initial instrument
but based on my experience with the modern one, I believe it was a brilliant
invention.
Works Cited
Jadassohn, Salomon. A
Course of Instruction in Instrumentation. Chicago: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008.
Segell, Michael. The
Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool.
New York: Picador, 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment