Introduction
The saxophone was developed in 1846 by Adolphe Sax. The purpose of the saxophone’s development was to have an instrument with the projection of a brass and agility of a woodwind instrument. It is a closed ended instrument, with a reed which allows air to vibrate as it passes through the mouthpiece. It is very popular with military bands and is most well known for jazz and classical music, because of it’s unique sound and smooth solos. This report will explore the saxophone’s sound production including; frequency, resonance, notes, antinodes and harmonics explaining in depth how it occurs and their effect on the sound produced.
Sound
Sound is created by the air particles vibrating against each other. Sound can travel through all types of mediums, such as solids, liquids and gases. When going through these mediums, the sound travels in waves known as longitudinal(figure 3) and transverse(figure 2) mechanical waves. The variations in sound are caused by the different frequencies of vibrations. The difference in the two types of sound waves is; a transverse wave travels just like when you make a rope go up and down, the waves move along in a vertical direction, whereas a longitudinal wave moves in a horizontal direction pushing the waves along.
Sound is produced in a saxophone by the player providing a constant flow of air at a pressure above the atmosphere. The constant flow of air from the player is the source of energy, causing the air to oscillate creating vibrations in the air. The vibrating is created by the reed, which controls air flow through the mouthpiece. Also the vibrating is controlled by the resonance in the saxophone. The vibrating then radiates energy out of the open holes of the saxophone. The ...
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...ng before playing especially in bands so they play with the same timbre. the different types of reeds used also changes a saxophones timbre. Reeds are made out of cane and synthetic materials such as plastic. Reeds size vary in thickness, and stiffness. These differences affect the timbre and playability. A stiffer reed will allow less vibrations, therefore having a lower frequency and pitch. A more flexible reed will create more vibration, thus having a higher frequency and pitch.
Harmonics is the frequency that the saxophone plays at when playing different notes. When a player changes notes while playing, the frequency instantly changes to the natural frequency of that note. The change in frequency is what allows the saxophone to play different tunes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this report explores how sound production occurs in the saxophone.
The clarinet is a woodwind instrament consisting of a cylindrical wood, metal, or ebonite pipe with a bell-shaped opening at one end and a mouthpiece at the other end, to which a thin reed is attached. The clarinet has five different sections, the mouthpiece, the barrel, the upper section, the lower section, and the bell. The length of the entire instrument is 60 cm long. The mouthpiece section consists of a slotted cylinder, to which a reed is attached by a metal clamp called a ligature. The mouthpiece plugs into the next section which is a barrel. The barrel is simply a connecting cylinder to which the mouthpiece and the upper section plugs into. The upper section is a cylindrical pipe consisting of 4 holes and 9 keys placed in different locations along the pipe. On the back of the pipe there is a hole and a key that is used by the thumb. The lower section plugs into the upper section and is also connected via a special bridge key. This piece consists of 3 holes and 8 keys. On the inward facing side of the pipe, there is a protruding piece of metal called a thumb rest, which supports the entire clarinet. The bell plugs into the lower section. It consists of a cylinder that flares out into a bell shape and ends the clarinet.
It was proposed that if the length of the PVC pipes were to increase, then the sound produced will have a lower amplitude each time because the sound will lose energy as it continues in the pipe for a certain amount of time. However, the data actually showed that with every increase in pipe length, the amplitude got louder as well, thus refuting the hypothesis. These results made sense because what was created inside the PVC pipes was a standing still sound wave, or a resonance wave. These kinds of waves have certain locations on its wavelength in order for the change in sound to be heard, which it usually half a wavelength. With this, the tuning fork is 83.3Hz and a usual wavelength is about 300Hz, 300/83.3 = 3.6 meters, which is about 4 meters (half = 2 meters). So for the change in sound to be heard, the pipes had to be about 2 meters in change according to the frequency of the tuning
Although I have just embarked on the journey of learning to play the saxophone,I am very intrigued by it’s history and musical origin. The saxophone is simply an amazing instrument with so many different kinds and variations of it, and so many musical genres it is able to play. The saxophone can produce soft angelic tones, or hard hitting jazz numbers, basically anything you want to hear the saxophone, and it’s player are able to provide you with. Upon such a versatile instrument there are so many endless possibilities and I am here to share with you some of the most amazing and chalenging things about the Saxophone. I will inform you about the history of the saxophone and how it has influenced the musical world, and much more.
As a musician one of the most frequent questions that I receive is, “What instrument do you play?” When I answer, the look on the persons face is a face of confusion. “What’s a euphonium?” they ask. This occurs not only to me, but to every euphoniumist who is ever asked this very question. Although the word euphonium is foreign to most people, the instrument is not. The euphonium, with its beautiful rich tone is the chief tenor soloist in the military and concert band. The euphonium is a conical-bore, baritone voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Greek word euphonos. When separated, eu means well or good, and phonos means of good sound. Therefore euphonos means well sounding. In this paper I will discuss the history of the euphonium and its use in the world of music today.
The beginner or expertise will benefit from reading Evoking Sound by James Jordan; this book is the total package for any conductor that is wiling to expand their knowledge upon this subject. It goes beyond the basics, yet it expands the deeper relationship between the conductor and the ensemble. It gives examples of how to produce the sound you want from an ensemble or even create a program; it gives many other examples that are truly valuable and creative.
This remarkable instrument was invented by a renowned Belgian musician who was also talented in making musical instruments. He was called Adolphe Sax. Sax’s father was an instrument maker by his own right
peaks of a specific sound wave. The height of the wavelength measures loudness or amplitude.
While researching texts written about the Saxophone instrument, I found lots of interesting information about how the Saxophone was created, by whom it was created and how it is used. The saxophone is an amazing instrument with so many various kinds and variations of it and could be integrated into many musical genres. The saxophone produces soft tones, jazz melodies, basically any type of song can be played on the saxophone depending on the level of the player. This instrument is very versatile, I am going to share some of the most amazing and challenging qualities of the saxophone. I will inform you about the history of the saxophone and how it has influenced the musical world, and much more.
There are many different kinds of saxophones, but only a few are commonly used. The most common ones include the alto, baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones. Most tyros start on the alto saxophone. After learning the rudiments of the alto, players then can transition to a different kind of saxophone. One motif of the saxophone is that all of the finger positions are the same no matter which type of saxophone one is playing.
Physical science is the study of non-living matter which I will be talking about the physics of music, and how pitch and frequency play a role together in science. Physics is known to be the most fundamental science, based on the principle and concepts. It deals with matter, motion, force, and energy, (Shipman-Wilson Higgins, 2013). In this report I will be dealing with pitch, frequency sound and waves which are also dealing with physical science and how they our related.
Sounds are produced by the vibrations of material objects, and travel as a result of
The Alto Saxophone is a single-reed musical instrument that was invented in 1846 by Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax. Adolphe Sax was born on November 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgium. During his childhood, he studied the clarinet and flute at Brussel’s Conservatory. His father was a renowned maker of musical instruments during that time. Since Adolphe grew up with his father making instruments and studying the clarinet and the flute, it was obvious that he would end up following in his father’s footsteps. The first instrument that Adolphe decided to look at was the bass clarinet; he wanted to improve the tone of the instrument. He came up with a single-reed instrument constructed from metal that had a conical bore and overblew at the octave, which translates to the saxophone.
Physics is all around us, and yet we always overlook it. We see, hear or feel something happen but never stop to question why. Physics will tell us why. Music plays a part in everyone's lives. So much so that it is often overlooked and the technicalities of it are unappreciated. Sure there are times when we listen carefully to the music behind the songs we hear, we may focus on the rhythm or the harmonies, but we never think of what it took to make the sounds that we are hearing. In this paper, I will explain the physics musical instruments. I will describe and define sound in psychics terms and then describe how different instruments create their unique sounds.
Sound is essentially a wave produced by a vibrating source. This compression and rarefaction of matter will transfer to the surrounding particles, for instance air molecules. Rhythmic variations in air pressure are therefore created which are detected by the ear and perceived as sound. The frequency of a sound wave is the number of these oscillations that passes through a given point each second. It is the compression of the medium particles that actually constitute a sound wave, and which classifies it as longitudinal. As opposed to transverse waves (eg. light waves), in which case the particles move perpendicular to the direction of the wave movement, the medium particles are moving in the same or opposite direction as the wave (Russell, D. A., 1998).
Speaking of how the human ear receives music, sound is produced by vibrations that transmits energy into sound waves, a form of energy in which human ears can respond to and hear. Specifically, there are two different types of sound waves. The more common of the two are the transversal waves, which ...