The
subcontrabass saxophone is a type of
saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841...
that
Adolphe SaxAntoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician , best known for inventing the saxophone.- Biography :...
patented and planned to build but never constructed. Sax called this imagined instrument
saxophone bourdon (named after the lowest stop on the
pipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and loudness throughout the keyboard compass...
). It would have been a
transposing instrumentA transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. On a transposing instrument, a concert C is written as a different note; the concert pitch that is played for a...
pitched in B, one
octaveIn music, an octave , is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon which has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music," the use of which is "common in most musical systems." It may be derived from the...
below the
bass saxophoneThe bass saxophone is the second largest existing member of the saxophone family . It is similar in design to a baritone saxophone, but it is larger, with a longer loop near the mouthpiece. Unlike the baritone, the bass saxophone is not commonly used...
and two octaves below the
tenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, is the most common type of saxophone. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef,...
.
History
Until 1999, no genuine, playable subcontrabass saxophones were made, though at least two gigantic saxophones seem to have been built solely for show. Although the smaller of the two (constructed in the mid-1960s) was able to produce musical tones, with assistants opening and closing its pads due to the instrument's lack of keywork, witnesses have stated that it was incapable of playing even a simple scale.
The B subcontrabass
Tubax, which was developed in 2000 by instrument manufacturer
Benedikt EppelsheimBenedikt Eppelsheim is a world-renowned German maker of high- and low-voiced saxophones, the soprillo and tubax , which are available exclusively from him...
of
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, is described by Eppelsheim as a "subcontrabass saxophone". This instrument is available in both C and B, with the B model providing the same pitch range as the
saxophone bourdon would have. A contrabass-range Tubax in E is also available.
The question of whether or not the Tubax is truly a saxophone is
debatableDebate or debating is a formal method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examine the consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examine what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is technique of...
: it has the same fingering as a
contrabass saxophoneThe contrabass saxophone is the lowest-pitched extant member of the saxophone family proper. It is extremely large and heavy , and is pitched in the key of E, one octave below the baritone...
, but its bore, though conical, is narrower (relative to its length) than that of a regular saxophone. This makes for a more compact instrument with a "reedier" and "fatter"
timbreNot to be confused with timber.In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that mediate the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope...
. While some argue that the Tubax is akin to the double-reed
sarrusophoneThe sarrusophone is a family of transposing musical instruments patented and placed into production by Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. It was named after the French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus who is credited with the concept of the instrument...
, the Tubax's bore is much larger than that of the corresponding size of sarrusophone, and its sound has a richer timbre and noticeably more acoustical presence.
External links
- MP3 sound recording of the first movement of "Duet for Basses" by Walter Hartley
Walter Sinclair Hartley is an American composer of contemporary music.-Biography and education:He was born in Washington, D.C., began composing at age five and became seriously dedicated to it at sixteen. All his college degrees are from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester....
, played as a B Tubax duet (one instrument, overdubbed), performed by Jay C. EastonDr. Jay C. Easton is an American multi-instrumentalist who plays all sizes of saxophone as well as a variety of other woodwind instruments from around the world. He is known as a specialist in very large saxophones...