Tag: saxophone

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History of the Saxophone

The History of the Saxophone

 

The saxophone is one of the most ubiquitous instruments in America and Europe today. From the jazz clubs to the concert hall to the band room, it seems as though the saxophone is and always has been a common fixture of the musical landscape in America. To the average american, the saxophone is much more familiar to their eyes and ears than say the oboe or viola. This certainly seemed to be the case for me growing up in New Jersey. In New Jersey most people have heard of Clarence Clemons of the East Street Band while almost no one has heard of Juilliard and Curtis educated Principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra John Mack. This is despite the fact the John Mack is a New Jersey Native while The Big Man (Clemmons) is actually from Virginia. Yet, this has not always been the case. The saxophone is a relatively new addition to the woodwind family and did not find its way into american popular music until approximately 1915.

 

Most instruments in evolve over long periods of time from one more primitive version to a successively more refined version. One may point to C. H. Denner1 who modernized the Chalumeau in the 1740’s as an example of someone “inventing” an instrument. While he did radically improve the instrument by adding the second upper register and addressing intonation issues, he was still building upon centuries of previous designs and methods in order to create his clarinetto. In contrast, the saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841 and officially patented in 19462. Sax was a born in Belgium in 1814 to master instrument maker Charles Joseph Sax. By the age of 16, Adolphe was an accomplished instrument maker in his own right3. He had made improvements on the clarinet and cornet and created high quality flutes and clarinets 3. He was also an accomplished musician and had studied at the Brussels conservatory. When Adolphe Sax was creating the saxophone, he was looking to create an instrument which would have the timbre of woodwind instrument but the power and volume of brass instrument. He originally intended for his creation to find its way into the orchestra. With elements from both brass and woodwind instrument families he envisioned it bridging the sonic gap between the two families. However this vision would never be realised.

 

The saxophone was largely rejected by most “serious” musicians and composers of the day with many regarding it as “unacceptable”. However, the Bb Tenor and Eb alto saxophones were officially adopted into the French military band and thus began the history of popular saxophone music. This is not to say the saxophone was totally out of the classical establishment. Sax himself was instructor of saxophone at the Paris Conservatory and romantic composers such as Jean-Baptiste Singelée5 wrote for the saxophone in the mid to late 1800’s. But most of the music played on the saxophone in the late 19th and early 20th century was military band music. However, around 1915 the saxophone was starting to show up in early recordings of jazz music6. In early jazz music the clarinet was the main woodwind instrument being utilized. However, with its superior projection and volume, the saxophone was a good replacement for the clarinet as jazz band began to play in loud dance halls. Given the saxophones gradual takeover of roles traditionally left to the clarinet, it isn’t surprising that the first jazz saxophone soloist was Sidney Bechet, originally a clarinetist. In the 1930’s the standard big bands grew to have five saxophones, two altos (Eb), two tenors (Bb) and a Baritone (Eb). As big band music matured, the role of the saxophonist as soloist did as well. These early luminaries include Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Don Byas just to name a few.  These early swing players really set the stage for the explosion of jazz saxophonists who revolutionised jazz and american music in the following decades. They inspired the likes of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and many others who further explored the technical and expressive range of the saxophone.

 

The saxophone maybe be as important an instrument as the violin when it comes to western (particularly american) music. However, it had its beginnings in unusual circumstances and was nearly doomed to obscurity. Yet through chance and circumstance was propelled to the forefront of musical exploration in the 20th century.

 

  1. http://www.the-clarinets.net/english/clarinet-history.html
  2. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-saxophone-2456519
  3. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Saxophone.html
  4. https://www.britannica.com/art/saxophone#ref138721
  5. http://www.dolmetsch.com/cdefss.htm
  6. http://teenjazz.com/the-development-of-the-saxophone/#sthash.HBgXPwhJ.dpbs
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Reed All About It

The bane of every saxophonist, such as myself, is a small, tan piece of wood—  the reed. According to esteemed saxophone pedagogue Larry Teal, “the principle task of the reed is its function as an air valve, which opens and closes on the mouthpiece at various speeds, [thus creating a tone].”1 Reeds are a technology I take for granted every day. My daily view of a reed begins with opening a blue, vacuum-sealed package, wetting the reed in my mouth, slapping it on my mouthpiece, and jumping right in to my practice session. Yet, reeds, in addition to being finicky at all the wrong times, possess a much more complex back story, and carry relatively unmentioned environmental implications.

The modern reed came about with the standardization of the clarinet in the late 17th century, 2 but the plant itself has been used for much longer. The reed species Arundo donax “has played an important role in the culture of the western world through its influence on the development of music, which can be traced back 5000 years.”3 The first musical use of Arundo donax was for making flutes, and only later was it used a reed. Nowadays, it is this species, grown in the Var region of France, that reed manufactures harvest, cut, and sell to customers.5

As simple as a reed may seem, the manufacturing process of cane is surprisingly complex, and the transformation to its use for musical instruments is a lengthy journey. As this video from the Rico reed company shows, the reed-making process takes many months to several years from planting the cane to harvesting and finishing the final product.

When I open a reed, I am actually opening up to two years worth of production time. The harvested plants must spend varying lengths of time drying naturally in the sun, depending on the manufacturer. The finished product is also a result of precise manufacturing tools and close inspection for reed imperfections. Yet, even the best reed will last no longer than a month of heavy use.

I have rarely heard anyone talk about the environmental impact of this technology, but, being a natural resource, reeds production does indeed carry environmental implications. Upon close inspection of the history and process of reed making, I found that there are significant environmental drawbacks, as there too often are with even the simplest of technologies. The first concern involves the plant itself; Arundo donax is considered in many regions, including the United States, an invasive species. Due to its musical and nonmusical uses alike, people have taken the plant out of its native region in the Mediterranean and cultivated it across the globe. Its ability to survive in many different conditions makes it a serious threat to indigenous plant species.4

Another negative environmental impact of this technology is its wasteful production. In a magazine published by one of the largest reed manufacturers, Vandoren, the company describes the complete process of making a reed. According to the company, up to 90% of cultivate plant material is discarded before it even enter the reed-making process, as high-quality reeds require very specific physical features of the original cane. Plants that are deemed usable also create significant waste products; out of the six-meter long stalk, only 20-30% is made into reeds.5

Due to more precise cutting and measuring equipment, reeds have become increasingly consistent over the last several decades. Some of the most dramatic developments have been in synthetic reeds, which have the same shape and function as traditional reeds, but are made from plastics.

Now, more than ever, synthetic reeds are reaching the ability to offer as great tone quality as cane reeds. Perhaps continuing to pursue the development of quality synthetic reeds will offer a better alternative to the wasteful use of cane.

The small piece of wood I use every single day is both a modern and ancient technology. Reeds have been used for thousands of years, but the last several decades have seen bounding progress in reed making and innovation. Yet, the complexity of the reed and its back story never fail to slip my mind, even though my ability to play the saxophone depends on a high quality piece of cane. This shows that the seemingly simple technology we use every day can have an immense, unseen history as well as a global impact.

  1. Teal, Larry. The Art of Saxophone Playing. U.S.: Summy-Birchard, 2000. p. 21
  2. Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Reed instrument.” Encyclopædia Britannica. July 20, 1998. Accessed September 18, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/art/reed-instrument.
  3. Rojas-Sandoval, Julissa, and Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez. “Arundo donax (giant reed).” Invasive Species Compendium. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/1940.
  4. Perdue, Robert E., Jr. “Arundo donax-Source of Musical Reeds and Industrial Cellulose .” Economic Botany 12, no. 4 (December 1958): 368-404. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4287997.
  5. Van Doren, Bernard. “SELECTION OF THE REED : FROM THE PLANT TO THE INSTRUMENT.” Edited by Jean-Marie Paul. Vandoren Magazine, 4-7.

Media:

https://www.reidys.com/images/products.large/vandoren_tenor_reed.jpg

 

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&q=parts+of+a+reed&oq=&gs_l=#imgrc=Tjj1rKWa0cnOxM:

http://www.bettermusic.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/e/legerereed_1_7_1.jpg