19th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS

19th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS
MADRID, 2-7 SEPTEMBER 2007
Acoustic measurements along the history of saxophone: from Adolphe
Sax to vintage instruments.
PACS: 43.75.
Vincent Gibiat1 Hamid Louaked2 Jerôme Selmer2
University Paul Sabatier PHASE 118 route de Narbonne 31062 TOULOUSE Cedex 9 France ;
gibiat@cict.fr
2
Henri Selmer Paris 18 rue de la fontaine au roi 75011 PARIS France; jselmer@selmer.fr
1
ABSTRACT
A complete collection of alto saxophones belonging to the successors of Adolphe Sax factory
(Henri Selmer Paris) beginning with Adolphe Sax instruments (1856) followed by all the different
models produced all along the twentieth century has been acoustically studied. Model 22, 26,
28, Radio improved, Balanced Action as well as the mythic Mark VI or unique instruments
based on a factory model and realised for a special event have been studied to follow the
evolution of what is both an historic instrument and a popular one. As these instruments are all
in playable conditions impedance measurements on all the possible fingerings have been
obtained. Sound recordings have also been realised on chromatic scales and short musical
excerpts. We present the synthetic results obtained that show the continuity between Adolphe
Sax production and the earlier Selmer Instruments, then the quality and homogeneity gap
between some different models. Through the evolution the musician demands on sound quality
appear clearly. These historic instruments have also been compared to the most recent models
showing an evolution and a preservation of the historic sound that is certainly not finished.
INTRODUCTION
Both ancient and popular the saxophone has a peculiar place in music history. Invented in the
middle of the nineteenth century (around 1840) by Adolphe Sax to replace bassoons in military
bands, it has been patented in 1846, four years after its first public presentation and two years
after the warmful report that Berlioz gave in “le journal des débats” about its sound quality in
1844. Designed as a military instrument (a whole family in B flat and E flat) and in addition as a
possible member of the classical orchestra with another complete family in C and F, it began its
musical history with great success ; for example Wagner suggested its use to replace horns in
Tannhauser or to use it in the scene orchestra in Tristan. It became also rapidly a very popular
instrument in jazz bands, essentially through the Eb and Bb family but also with the Tenor in C
only survivor of the “classic family”. Oscillating between classical orchestra with music from
Berg to Berio and popular bands, in around one and half century the instrument developed the
same mythology than older instruments. The end of the twentieth century have seen incredible
debates about the unbelievable sound of “vintage” saxophones, or about the incomparable
sound of mythic Mark VI or Balanced Action built by Selmer just before and after the second
world war.
As Henri Selmer Paris company is de facto the heir of Adolphe Sax factory they have bought in
1928, there is a continuity of fabrication from Adolphe Sax, Adolphe Sax fils and Henri Selmer
Paris, that asks for a complete study, acoustical, ergonomical and musical. The present work
deals only with an acoustical study of Alto saxophones as Henri Selmer Paris owns a complete
collection of playable instruments that begins with an Adolphe Sax instrument (1856) and
indeed ends with the newest factory models. As acoustic input impedance measurement is a
regular research tool of the company, it has been possible to have an objective characterisation
of the instrument, as well to record short musical excerpts played by musicians. This study
reports the preliminary work that has been done in the factory, it will go on with the tenor the
soprano and the other instruments of the collection. The whole collection of instruments is
visible on Henri Selmer web site [1]
In the first part of this paper the collection will be presented, then we briefly report some
particular impedance measurements extracted from the whole fingerings measured (around 40
fingerings for each saxophone) to do a comparison with the selected musical examples where it
is easy to detect some specific features. Finally we will compare the acoustical analysis on
some examples.
I THE SELMER ALTO COLLECTION
Beginning with an alto saxophone from Adolphe Sax factory (circa 1856) the alto collection also
comprise an instrument made by Adolphe Sax “fils”, a saxophone said as it is written on the bell
to have been assembled by Selmer. Some of the last instruments produced by Adolphe Sax
workshop were made by Henri Selmer who had commercial contacts with Sax family. A
saxophone Selmer model 22, the first produced by Selmer on his name, is followed by a model
26, the first Selmer “Sax Heritage” as it corresponds roughly to the date of acquisition of Sax
factory by Selmer. An alto model 28, said Cigar Cutter because of the particular design of the
octave key mechanism, a radio-improved (1934), a balanced action of 1936, are then some of
the first mythic instruments always searched for and played by many saxophonists for “their
sound”. The later (1936) has a design very near of what are known as modern instruments. The
super action of 1948 is one of the testimony of this heritage just after the second world war. It
has been rapidly replaced by the mythic Mark VI of 1954, a saxophone that is always widely
used all around the world and whose price is often higher than those of modern instruments.
With this instrument we are going from history to modern fabrication. The Mark VII, the super
action 80, the super action 80 série II the most recent serie III and the revival reference inspired
from the mark VI will end our set.
This incredible collection of historical instruments is only a selection from the complete
collection of saxophones that Henri Selmer Paris has constituted all along the years, with rare
instruments of all possible sizes from the bass in Bb to the sopranino in Eb, beginning with
exceptional instruments by Adolphe Sax himself.
As Alto saxophones in E flat collection presents all the models that have been built between
1856 and today, with at least one of each in playable conditions it has been decided to realised
both an objective exploration through impedance measurements for all the fingerings and a
subjective experiment with the recording of a chromatic scale and small musical excerpts played
by two musicians of different schools. The first was the assistant professor in Paris National
Superior Conservatory –CNSMDP- (Christophe Bois) who played excerpts from Bizet Opera
“l’Arlésienne” -1872- and from Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky “Pictures of an exhibition- il
viecho castello” -1922- both well known solo for alto saxophone. These short solos have the
advantage to have been at the saxophone repertoire all along the history of our sample
instruments. As the saxophone heritage and the vintage search for some of the instruments
under study are coming from jazz music, we also asked Pierrick Piedron who belongs to the
staff of musicians that help Henri Selmer Paris to define the future instruments and is a well
known jazz alto saxophonist playing “vintage” instruments to blow the instruments only
replacing the classic solos by a short ballad.
The question that arise immediately from such a confrontation is that of the sound, immediately
followed by that of the differences, in playability, pitch, homogeneity etc. In other word what is
making them so fascinating? With saxophone we are in a very different situation than that is
known for violins, where the instruments have been modified to follow the evolution of the
played music. We are also in a very different situation than that has aroused with barock revival
where original instruments are rare and often not playable, very different from modern ones
replaced by replicas and needing another kind of playing. During the short history of saxophone,
only a few has changed between the Adolphe Sax N°15511 instrument and the Mark VI of
figure 1. After a few minutes any trained saxophonist is able to played both “horns” as it has
been a modern instrument.
As we would like to study only the different saxophones and because mouthpiece replicas or
original mouthpieces (and reed) are not common, all the instruments have been blown with the
same “classic” mouthpiece. We are perfectly aware that it is a drawback of our study but as the
mouthpieces are replaced by a volume in impedance measurement it would have been very
difficult to extract information from the recorded sounds to correlate them with impedance. In the
other hand these instruments are played today, and have been played all along the years with
very different mouthpieces. As the present work is obviously a preliminary one where we are
trying to fix the methodology to study such a rich ensemble. We will focus here on some
particular features that are evident both on the sound of the instruments, on the visible
modifications and on the impedance curves giving us a set of results where objective and
subjective observations converges.
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Our first surprise has been the weight of the instruments; the older the lighter, but the most
important is that, excepted two octave keys and the absence of the low Bb (written note as it will
be the case all along the text for fingerings and keys) on the Adolphe Sax instrument, the others
are incredibly similar. The saxophone was only subjected to minor external changes during the
last 150 years, but as we will see later these minor external changes appear to have had
important consequences for its sound.
On figure 1 are presented three couples of instruments, the older ones, by Adolphe Sax and his
son, and the two models of Selmer factory before and after they bought Sax workshop, models
22 and 26 followed by a balanced action and a Mark VI. The model 26 is a special model
designed for an international exhibition in 1929. Its finition is particular and the keys are made of
amethyst. It is easy to follow the major changes, addition of the low Bb pad, change of the
lowest pads position, allowing to play with the saxophone along the thigh. The apparition of
additional keys (F sharp for example along the main part of the tube) is also visible . A smaller
change occurs with the position of the low C sharp key. On the first instruments this key is
clearly visible on the curved part of the instrument body. On the later (Mark VI and Balanced
Action) it has disappeared to be placed on the same line than the low B flat B and C keys. It
implicates a less easier construction and mechanism as the key is depressed by the little finger
of left hand.
Figure 1.- Three couples of historic saxophones, from left to right Adolphe Sax (1856) , Adolphe
Sax fils assembled by Selmer (1922) , Selmer Model 22 (1924) and 26 (1929), Selmer Balanced
Action (1938) and Mark VI (1954)
This more complex construction may be understand as some design will but it has its
importance on the sound.
II IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENT ON THE WHOLE COLLECTION.
Input Acoustical Impedance measurement is may be the most efficient and powerful objective
characterization possible for woodwinds. It has been used for years following the works of
Benade [2] Caussé et al [3] to characterize brass instruments. The problem of woodwinds with
their tenth of fingerings is more complex Backus [2,4],. It is not possible without a system
allowing a fast measurement with an instrument normally “played” but not blown. Such a device
has been developed by one of us for both a musical and an industrial use [5] and this set up is
now used as a normal help to conception by Henri Selmer Paris. The setup allows a complete
impedance measurement through a three calibration three microphone method in less than 10
seconds for each fingering. All the impedance curves are then numerically stored on a computer
and can be studied through any other computer aided software. With some experience it is
possible to obtain the whole set of fingerings possible on an instrument in less than half an
hour, included calibration and numerical transfer. It produces a huge amount of objective
numerical data that are not yet all exploited for the instruments of this study. The first to do
when comparing so different instruments is to choose a common pitch. It is certainly not the
good one for all the instruments but is a reference absolutely needed. It has been arbitrarily
decided to tune all the saxophones at A440 (written F sharp) played by the same musician with
their common mouthpiece and reed (Selmer S80 C* and Vandoren 3.5). The instruments tuned
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19th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS – ICA2007MADRID
have been impedance-measured replacing the mouthpiece by its equivalent volume [6]. This
procedure reveals many drawbacks. They are tuned with reference to a player a reed and a
mouthpiece. It is well known that another musician will lead to another pitch. Another possibility
is to tune the reference note (A4) to obtain the first impedance peak at the reference 440 Hz
leading to another equivalent volume. As we would like to compare the sounds with the help of
musician the first solution appear to be better. The measurement has been done the same day
at a controlled temperature of 25 °C. in the acoustic experiment room of Selmer factory in
Mantes. For each instrument a whole map of the positions of each peak has been done. The
comparison of these maps reveals the large discrepancies that appear not on the global shape
of the curves but on some note tuning, on some details. As an example we present on figure 2
three curves of the low E (written note). Two of these curves correspond to model 22 and 26
while the third one is the same fingering for the Balanced action where the C sharp key has
been displaced. It is worthwhile to point out that a common practice of classical saxophonists is
actually to depress the C sharp key while playing E and F written notes to adjust the tune of
these notes. Actually on figure 2 the three curves show clearly the effect of the key on the
regularity of the impedance with an increasing peak around 700 Hz.
Evolution of the E fingering from Model 22 to
Mark VI
Evolution of the low Bb fingering from Model 22
to Mark VI
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Figure 2 comparison of two fingerings for three vintage saxophones
A simple experiment has been done, measuring the input impedance for low E with the C sharp
key depressed, the fourth impedance peak disappear. The very small differences concern
essentially the strength of the individual resonances, showing that from model 22 to Mark VI the
lowest notes become more easy to play at low level and that the effect of the C sharp key is
visible more and more when the instrument becomes more modern. More interesting is the
evolution between Sax original and his son. We have chosen to present one example among all
the impedance curves ; the low B as Sax initially built alto saxophone without low B flat . It is
obvious that this lowest note of the instrument was not its better note, but it is also obvious that
a few years later it was a full note of the instrument as it is easy to see it on figure 3 where the
amplitude of the lowest peak is greater in the case of the Adolphe Sax fils instrument.
Figure 3 : the lowest notes of the oldest saxophones, left original Adolphe Sax and right Adolphe
Sax fils
III MUSICAL EXERPTS ANALYSIS.
Figure 4.- Spectrograms of the sounds recorded by C. Bois show clearly the formant zones
around particularly 3 kHz and 6 kHz as well as the continuity in the spectra for all the
instruments from mod. 22 to Mark VI
The musical recordings have been performed two days after the impedance measurements for
C. Bois and during another recording session for P. Piedron. The instruments have been tuned
as described previously. It is not possible to present the whole set of spectral analysis done on
these recordings. Each musician has played a chromatic scale on each saxophone, mezzo forte
legato and staccato, followed by one or two short examples. We summarize on figure 2 some of
these results. It is easy to identify the main formant zones around 3KHz and 6 Khz. The global
result is that of a continuous and small change from Adolphe Sax instruments to the mythic
Mark VI that has been built more than 20 years. It reveals that the less appreciated instruments
have lost some of the characteristics of the initial saxophone, and those that are more
appreciated are in terms of spectral components very different from the original instruments of
Sax. It is obvious that the instruments of Sax do not share all the improvements of a more
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modern instrument as the 1954’s Mark VI. The analysis of detailed parts show the heterogeneity
of some notes, particularly on the second register where E and F sound different. When hearing
all the examples it appears clearly that the main audible change between Sax instruments and
More recent ones concern essentially the homogeneity in timbre as well as the tuning of the
saxophone.
IV CONCLUSIONS
Measuring historic instruments as the 1856 Adolphe Sax model presented on figure 5 is very
rare as they very often belong to public collections where access to impedance measurement is
difficult and often impossible. When private collections exist it is also impossible to perform
reliable measures as the owners do not have the possibility to maintain the instruments in
playable conditions. The existence inside a company as Henri Selmer Paris of an important
collection that covers the complete history of saxophone is more than a chance: it is
exceptional. The “sampling” of the results presented here is obviously a very little part of what
has been done (around 40 impedance curves for each 16 instruments, sound recordings of
around 2 minutes for each of them) and a lot of information has to be extracted from these data
and will be presented later to musical acoustic researchers, and musicology researchers. It is
woth to point out that the acoustic, in a large meaning, of the saxophone is not a constant
progression to some ideal sound. On, the contrary it is obviously the preservation of some
miracle built by Adolphe Sax. The evolution of the instrument all along of what is the tradition of
Sax invention has been done to improve the ergonomic, the tuning, always preserving the
sound quality. As a matter of conclusion P. Piedron playing (figure 5) for the first time this
original saxophone Sax of 1856, said “what a sound, it is incredible, we had to wait the Mark VI
to find this quality again”, and playing just after the Adolphe Sax fils, “This instrument I could
play it in a session, in a club”, and finally playing the same model he is playing today, “I am at
home”.
Figure 5 detail and blowing experiment of a very old alto saxophone.
AKNOLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thanks L. Benlmoulden and P. Dufay for their efficiency in impedance
measurements, Christophe Boix and P. Piedron for having blown the saxophones and given us
their comments and the whole Selmer factory for their help in preparing the instruments.
References: [1] http://www.selmer.fr/html/french/sax/saxs/serie/serie.htm
[2] A.H. Benade Fundamental of Musical Acoustics p395 Oxford University Press New York 1976
[3] R. Caussé, J. Kergomard and X. Lurton “Input impedance of brass musical instruments- a comparisoan
between experiments and numerical models” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 75 pp 241-254 (1984)
[4] J. Backus,”Acoustic resonances of a clarinet”, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 43 pp1272-1281 (1968)
[5] V. Gibiat and F. Laloé, "Acoustical impedance measurements by the two microphone three calibration
(TMTC) method", J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 88 pp 2533-2545 (1990).
[6] X. Boutillon, V. Gibiat, "determination of the mechanical characteristics of a woodwind reed by means
of the reactive power balance concept" J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 100 pp. 1178-1191 (1996)
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