He invented three families of valved brasswind instruments: saxotromba, saxhorn, and saxtuba. Each familiy consisted of varying sizes in order to cover a wide range of pitches with the same timbre.
The eighteen different instruments in these three families are basically obsolete today, so most of us still would not have heard of Adolphe Sax if not for his greatest achievement, the saxophone. In fact, it is common in our day to simply call it by the inventor's last name.
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The sax is a staple in marching bands and wind symphonies. It is the most common "horn" (that is, wind instrument) in jazz groups, both small combos and big bands. It has even been used extensively in rock music.
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| ALTO SAXOPHONE | TENOR SAXOPHONE |
Adolphe designed, and in most cases built, thirteen different sizes of saxes. As with his other instrument families, the idea was to get a consistent quality of sound over the entire spectrum of pitches. In the middle of the family are the two sizes seen above. Most students start out on one or the other. The third size which is standard in jazz big bands is the larger baritone sax, and soloists frequently use a soprano.
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| a totally hot New Orleans postcard | a totally cool candy dispenser |
For example, a piccolo is half the length of a flute, so it sounds one octave higher. A bass flute is twice as long, so it sounds an octave lower.
A saxophone player can move to another size sax without having to learn all new fingerings. However, because the fingered notes on the larger one sounds as lower pitches, a composer or arranger writes each part in a different key to make the notes "come out right."
The names of the sax sizes include note names which indicate the notes that sound when a written C is played. For example, when a C is played on a B-flat sax, a B-flat is heard. So when the arranger wants to hear a C, he has to write a D for the B-flat saxophonist!
Here's a table of the thirteen saxophones designed by Adolphe Sax, showing the intervals by which the sounded pitches differ from the fingered notes.
| name | sounds | ||
| B♭ | sopranissimo sax | major 7th higher | |
| E♭ | sopranino sax | minor 3rd higher | |
| C | soprano sax | "concert" pitch | |
| B♭ | soprano sax | major 2nd lower | |
| F | mezzo-soprano sax | perfect 5th lower | |
| E♭ | alto sax | major 6th lower | |
| C | melody sax1 | one octave lower | |
| B♭ | tenor sax | one octave plus major 2nd lower | |
| E♭ | baritone sax | one octave plus major 6th lower | |
| B♭ | bass sax | two octaves plus major 2nd lower | |
| E♭ | contrabass sax | two octaves plus major 6th lower | |
| C | tubax2 | three octaves lower | |
| B♭ | subcontrabass sax | three octaves plus major 2nd lower | |
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1The C melody saxophone is sometimes called the C tenor.
2The tubax (tuba sax) was designed but never built by Adolphe. |
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