C melody saxophone

Missing Infobox musical instrument / maintenance / Parameters Sound example: template

• Soprillo
• Sopraninosaxophon
• Soprano Saxophone
• Alto Saxophone
• Tenor Saxophone
• Baritone Saxophone

The C -Melody Saxophone is tuned in C Saxophone, so a whole step above the tenor saxophone. It is also known as C- Tenor Saxophone '. The C -Melody Saxophone Saxophone belongs to the group in C and F, which were intended by its inventor, Adolphe Sax, for use in symphony orchestras. Since 1930, only be there - and B- Saxophone ( originally intended for military music were ) produced on a larger scale. However, smaller amounts of new C -Melody saxophones for the New Zealand company Aquilasax, since the beginning of the 21st century in China.

A C- Melody saxophone is larger than an alto and smaller than a tenor saxophone. Viewed from the side, it has similarities to a tenor saxophone, although it is smaller and the cup looks longer. Most C -Melody saxophones have curved S- bends ( as in tenor saxophone), although C. G. Conn C -Melody saxophones manufactured with straight S- bends. Usually, the C -Melody saxophones are marked with a "C" above or below the serial number.

Benefits

The main selling point of the C -Melody saxophone was the fact that it, unlike other saxophones, not a transposing instrument is. As a result, you can with a C -Melody saxophone sounding voices written (for example, sheet music for flute, oboe, violin or piano) play without having to transpose or to use transcribed notes, which is necessary for most other saxophones. This allows amateur musicians playing together with other instruments sounding of a sheet of music - as long as the music fits into the range of the C -Melody saxophone, ie neither too high nor too low.

Another argument for the purchase was that the C -Melody Saxophone produces a softer sound than an alto or tenor saxophone, which is partly due to the mouthpieces used. Many pieces, mainly influenced by the dance music of the 1920s, were written specifically for the instrument.

Mouthpieces

There have been manufactured specifically for the C -Melody saxophone mouthpieces. The C -Melody Saxophone in comparison with other saxophone types a muffled sound, especially an old C -Melody Saxophone mouthpiece is used. That was an advantage in its intended game environment, in living rooms. Old mouthpieces give a C -Melody saxophone often a slightly muffled sound, giving players do not always like.

Some players successfully use a tenor saxophone mouthpiece with their C -Melody saxophone, though it may come from the choice of the mouthpiece to problems with the accuracy of intonation dependent, particularly at the upper end of the tonal range, as these mouthpieces are adjusted in length to tenor saxophone.. Consequently, little testing be necessary to find a tenor saxophone mouthpiece that is a good intonation available over the entire range. Other players successfully use Altsaxophonmundstücke at its C -Melody saxophone. As with tenor saxophone mouthpieces may be necessary little testing. Equipped with a modern mouthpiece, a C -Melody Saxophone lose some of its muted qualities and bright and powerful sound, much like an alto or tenor saxophone. Currently, there are several manufacturers of C -Melody saxophone mouthpieces.

History

Some quality creator -produced C -Melody saxophones (including Buescher, CG Conn, Selmer, Martin and King ) By 1914 until 1930. Production of C -Melody saxophones reached its peak around 1923, after which it declined gradually. Towards the end of the 1920s, only relatively few C -Melody saxophones were produced. The tenor saxophone in C with straight neck Conn is currently the most famous orchestra saxophone and has a classic sound. It is one of the few custom built for professional use models. However, an attitude away from the body is necessary due to the long straight neck, which some players feel as uncomfortable.

Affordable C- Melody saxophones were brought to the market by the end of the 1910s until the early 1930s, when an imaginary for amateur use version of the saxophone. She had a considerably narrower chamber as a B - tenor sax, so it was more or less a stretched ' version of the chamber of the alto saxophone.

At the end of the 1920s the popularity of C -Melody saxophones was greatly diminished. After Black Thursday (1929 ) sales of all saxophones fell dramatically, and the C -Melody Saxophone ( and the mezzo- soprano saxophone) was one of those models whose production was discontinued shortly thereafter. However, the production was stopped for purely financial reasons and not because of an error in design or poor manufacturing standards. C -Melody saxophones were as good as the other saxophones its manufacturer.

The main problem was that the world economic crisis, which immediately followed the stock market crash of 1929 caused worldwide extremely tough economic conditions, which also affected the production of all leisure consumer goods. This unusually strong economic downturn hit the saxophone manufacturers hard and forced them to reduce their range of musical instruments on the most popular models in order to survive further. As a result, the production of C -Melody saxophones ended abruptly. As the global economy had recovered enough ( around 1935 ), that the production of C -Melody saxophones would again have been economically feasible, the leisure interests had changed and there was no longer a market for them. Moreover, had the era of Big Band ' started at the beginning of the 1930s, and wanted to learn to play any saxophone, was interested in soprano, alto, tenor or baritone saxophone, because in these instruments, big bands ' play could, while they were not interested in C -Melody saxophones. As a result, demand waned after C -Melody saxophones, the manufacturer presented a whose production, concentrating instead on other types (eg, alto and tenor saxophone), had the strong demand and thus were easy to sell.

In the 1960s, presented Vito ( a French company ) manufactures a few C -Melody saxophones, of which only about 20 have been sold.

Some jazz musicians began with the C -Melody saxophone, including Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, although Carter later switched to alto saxophone and Hawkins to the B tenor saxophone. As profiled famous player of a C -Melody saxophone applies Rudy Wiedoeft. Although he also played alto and soprano saxophone ( in ensembles with Arnold Brilhart, Alford Evans and others), he made his most famous images using the C -Melody saxophone and was an important factor for the popularity of the C -Melody saxophones, which in the 1920s were often sold.

Another specialist in the C -Melody saxophone was Frankie Trumbauer, a technical for his exceptional skills on the instrument known jazz musicians. Jack Pettis, a member of the Ben Bernie Orchestra and a recording artist under his own name, was also a skilled player of the instrument. Some modern saxophonists play occasionally C -Melody saxophones, including Anthony Braxton, Kyle Vincent, Scott Robinson, Rick Arbuckle, Dan Levinson, Hayes Greenfield and Joe Lovano.

Despite the fact that they have not made ​​more than 75 years, C -Melody saxophones have been preserved because of its rare use, even in large numbers.

Similar instruments

• A similar saxophone been produced since the late 1990s by Jim Schmidt. It is a modernized and modified version of the C -Melody saxophone.
• Aquilasax from New Zealand announced in 2006 a new, C -Melody Tenor Saxophone ' to. Meanwhile, the production has started. With the first production series there were problems with the quality control and packing, apparently these problems have been resolved and will not reoccur. Had the second production series but due to the construction of the S- bends ( both straight and curved at ) problems with intonation. A quote of 30 June 2008: " I ​​am relieved to announce the arrival of new stock of C saxophones. I began to believe that the revival would be a myth. Once again, I 'm going to check each and notify the customer by e -mail if their choice is ready. "