Adolphe Sax, Inventor of the Saxophone

Also, note that technically a Saxophone is a <i>woodwind</i>, not brass. I played the saxophone for half my life and it is still my favorite instrument sound wise, even though I can no longer play it due to a lung issue. Also, it is quite close to the human voice which makes it very nice to interact with singing voices. Fantastic invention, and modern music really would not be the same without it. Try the solos in Baker Street and Year of the Cat, then try the same songs with that same solo on a different instrument and see for yourself.<p>What I love about this article is that it shows how much work used to go into &#x27;designing a sound&#x27;, something that we do today with synthesizers by the tweak of some buttons. That used to require a ton of craftsmanship and knowledge as well as the collaboration with others such as composers.

Fun fact: a cone open on one end (saxophone) supports all harmonics, as does a cylinder open on both ends (flute).<p>A cylinder open on one end (clarinet) only supports odd harmonics, which is why a clarinet sounds &quot;rounded&quot; and overblows into a twelfth, rather than an octave (as on former two).

I played clarinet, piano, and guitar growing up, but before reading this I had no idea about the story of the relatively modern (i.e. post industrial revolution) invention of the saxophone. I never played jazz, but certainly appreciate it and this quote from the article really struck a chord with me, &quot;Without jazz, what would music be? But without the sax, what would jazz be?&quot;

If anyone is curious about some modern fusion of EDM and the saxophone, check out Big Gigantic (Dominic Lalli, tenor sax) and GRiZ (mostly alto sax). Seeing either of these guys live is more fun than I can describe. Also, Lalli put out a jazz album recently with a few other musicians, &quot;A Blind Man&#x27;s Blue&quot;.

I played alto and tenor sax in high school&#x2F;college. What a great instrument. It still gives me chills when I hear a great sax tune.

Dinant is beautiful city, famous for Sax, but well worth the visit. Adolphe&#x27;s house is a small museum, well organized.

I always assumed the Sousaphone getting that name was almost a self-indulgent joke, but it&#x27;s in better company than I realized.

I grew up learning the alto sax (also occasionally subbed for tenor or even bari in my small school) in the late 80s and 90s. It was impossible to not have been influenced by Kenny G, somewhat unfortunately, as a tangible path to commercial success. Still SMH... I mean, talented guy, but complete Muzak, really.<p>I still have my 1987 Yamaha alto with Vandoren mouthpiece and pull it out every couple years. Remarkable piece of technology, really.