Table of Contents
What is the structure of a saxophone?
Four large sections. The saxophone consists of four fundamental parts: the neck, the body, the U-shaped bow, and the round, flared bell. Along the length of the instrument, there are 25 tone holes.
Why is the saxophone shaped the way it is?
Soprano saxophones are straight, but the most recognizable shape for a saxophone is curved, with the bell facing upwards. That’s because of the physics of sound: the lower instruments would have to be awkwardly long to create the right pitch, and the curve simply allows the instrument to be a manageable size.
How would you describe a tenor saxophone?
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor saxophone uses a larger mouthpiece, reed and ligature than the alto and soprano saxophones.
What are the three parts of a saxophone?
The saxophone has three main components: the body, the neck, and the mouthpiece. The body of a saxophone is the most recognizable feature. It has the U-shaped curve, the bell, most of the pads, and all of the keys. The saxophone’s shape is critical to the instruments sound.
What is inside a saxophone?
The body of the saxophone is composed of the main conic tube in pierced brass. The holes are blocked by pads, activated by keys interconnected with a complex mechanism of rods. It is thanks to the reed (generally made of reed) that the saxophone is part of the woodwind family, and not brass!
What is the body of a saxophone?
The body of the saxophone is composed of the main conic tube in pierced brass. The holes are blocked by pads, activated by keys interconnected with a complex mechanism of rods. On the neck and the body, we find the octave key, which allows us to change register. The mouthpiece is equipped with a ligature and reed.
What is the sound that a saxophone makes?
The sound of the saxophone is a little like a sine wave when played softly, but successively less like it as it is played louder. To make a repeated or periodic wave that is not a simple sine wave, one can add sine waves from the harmonic series.
How did Pierre Schaeffer describe the sound object?
To perceive, to hear, to understand… but not so much to listen and truly care about the sound properties. What matters is to identify it (which has allowed us to survive for millions of years…). Pierre Schaeffer focused on what he named a sound object : the sound in itself – its essence – regardless of what creates it.
What kind of sound does a clarinet make?
When the 6 first sound partials are especially pronounced the sound is harmonic. When there are only odd harmonics (which is the case with the clarinet) Helmholtz says the sound is hollow. If the fundamental is sharp the sound is rich, if not it is poor, etc…
Which is the best way to describe a sound object?
Then there is the morphology which describes the sound object material according to 7 criteria : the weight, the granularity, the harmonic timbre, the dynamic, the gait, the melodic profile and the weight profile. Pierre Schaeffer’s book simply entitled « Treaty of musical objects » is full of this kind of table: