It was Christmas morning, 2006. I was eyeing out a present under the tree that looked just like the Xbox I had been begging my parents for all year long. It was my sister's turn to hand out presents that year and I almost jumped through the roof when the Xbox-shaped present landed on my lap. Upon unwrapping, I find a hard brownish case and in the case lay a golden curved-soprano saxophone.

I don't know if my parents realize that they gave me a career for Christmas.

The Saxophone

The Saxophone was invented in 1840 by Adolphe Sax from Belgium. Although the saxophone is usually made from brass, it is still part of the woodwind family as it is played with a single-reed mouthpiece. The sound is produced by the player blowing air through the mouthpiece, causing the reed to vibrate. This can only happen if the player has his lips in the correct position, this is known as embouchure and it applies to woodwind and brass players. The reed is a thin strip of cane, although in some cases you do get synthetic reeds.

Once sound is produced from the mouthpiece it resonates through the saxophone. A saxophone is like a piano, where it is chromatic, it has all the notes in a certain range. The pitch is controlled by the players fingers using a system of key mechanisms where pads are lifted up and down to close certain holes. The sound is then amplified from the bell of the saxophone.

There are 8 types of saxophones.

From left to right: Sopranino, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, C-Melody, Baritone, Bass and Contrabass.
Your most common saxophones are the Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Soprano. To be honest, I've never played or seen any of the others. The smaller the saxophone is, the higher it's range is.

One of my favourite things about the sax is that it's tone suits any genre. You could find saxophone in anything from classical to edm, hip hop to jazz.

Adolphe Sax

Antoine-Joseph Sax was born on November 6th, 1814. If you didn't know, November 6th has been dubbed as World Saxophone Day. His parents were both instrument designers themselves, subsequently Adolphe began to make his own instruments at an early age.

You can read more about Adolphe here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax

Thanks

I like to keep my posts short and interesting. For the next post, I'll get more into key saxophone players, their influence and their music.

Until next time.