Sax Appeal

Key Takeaways

Adolphe Sax, the saxophone's inventor, faced a challenging life marked by numerous accidents and financial hardship.
The saxophone was initially designed for French military bands and won a public 'battle of the bands' competition in 1845.
After military decline in Europe, the saxophone experienced a significant 'craze' in the US, later becoming central to jazz music.
The instrument evolved from a symbol of rebellion, facing bans from fascist regimes, to a ubiquitous pop culture icon.
Sax's inventive ambition extended to other unique, large-scale, and potentially mythical military instruments.

Adolphe Sax, introduced as the saxophone's inventor, had a childhood marked by numerous near-fatal accidents.
He joined his father Charles Joseph Sachs' instrument-making business in Brussels, learning the craft.
Sax improved the difficult bass clarinet, developing new keywork and precise acoustic measurements by 1835.
His redesigned bass clarinet gained him recognition, leading him to move to Paris in 1843 to explore brass instrument manufacturing.

In 1845, France's military bands were technologically behind other European nations, prompting a commission for improvement.
Sax aimed to create a hybrid instrument combining brass and woodwind qualities, beginning with the Ophicleide.
He replaced the Ophicleide's mouthpiece with a bass clarinet reed, leading to a smoother tone.
Sax developed a family of instruments at different pitches and patented the saxophone family in 1846, designing them for volume and refined harmonics in marching bands.

Dr. Paul Cohen, a saxophone historian and collector with approximately 250 instruments, operates a museum in Englewood, New Jersey.
The collection includes a rare wooden slide saxophone, which allows for glissando effects and sounds like a theremin or an expensive slide whistle.
Extremes of saxophone size are showcased, from a high-pitched, toy-like curved sopranino to the massive sub-contra bass saxophone.
The sub-contra bass saxophone is described as immense, requiring a stand and producing a deep sound comparable to an idling truck.

Adolphe Sax faced significant challenges, including alleged sabotage and bribery, to secure the French military contract.
A public 'battle of the bands' competition was held on April 22, 1845, at the Champs de Mars in Paris.
Sax's band, featuring his new instruments, produced a strong, harmonious sound with significant bass presence.
The competition concluded with cheers for Sax's band, securing him the contract and requiring his sax horns and saxophones in military bands.

Despite his military contract success, Adolphe Sax faced severe financial difficulties, including expensive lawsuits and patent disputes.
He went bankrupt three times and died in poverty in Paris on February 7, 1894, after 17 years of hardship.
In the US, the saxophone gained popularity as an accessible instrument, leading to a 'saxophone craze' from 1915 until the Great Depression.
This craze saw manufacturers producing novelty instruments and the saxophone becoming a popular tool for home music-making.

Following the saxophone craze, instruments from that era were adopted and integrated into the emerging jazz genre by the late 1920s and 1930s.
Jazz evolved, with the saxophone transitioning from a section instrument to a prominent solo voice, notably with bebop musicians like Charlie Parker.
Its adaptability allowed for powerful tones and nuanced, voice-like sounds, distinguishing jazz playing from classical styles.
By the mid-20th century, the saxophone became an iconic American instrument, particularly associated with African American culture and later linked to illicit Prohibition activities.

The saxophone faced severe political opposition, banned by the Nazis as 'degenerate music' and by the Soviet Union, with saxophonists sent to the gulag.
By the late 20th century, it evolved from an obscure instrument to a symbol of rebellion and reinvention, shifting into mainstream pop and hip-hop.
The 1980s marked its peak popularity, leading to its overexposure and association with a 'cheesy' image, as seen in songs like 'Careless Whisper.'
Despite this, its versatility as an extension of human expression and its original design by Adolphe Sax cemented its place in music.

The episode highlights a photograph of Billy True, known as the 'one-man saxophone section,' playing three saxophones simultaneously using hands and foot pedals.
Adolphe Sax also designed other unusual instruments, including a 'sax cannon' capable of launching a 30-foot shell.
Another fantastical invention attributed to Sax was the 'saxotonaire,' a train equipped with a massive organ intended to intimidate the Prussian army.
These stories, though possibly mythical, align with Sax's pattern of creating oversized and experimental designs for military applications.