This got me thinking about whether a Saxophone was a brass or woodwind instrument. My logic told me that despite being made of brass, it uses a reed to produce the sound. Therefore it must be woodwind. My wife disagreed (as wives often do) saying that it's a brass instrument.
The solution was to ask that fountain of all knowledge - Wikipedia. This is what it said,
The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841, and patented in 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. A few saxophones remain from the less popular orchestral series pitched in C and F.This just goes to prove just how good my logic is. Either that or my mind is full of useless information. I know which my Wife thinks!
Wikipedia Link - Saxophone
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1 comments:
So, by Wikipedia, a sax is really a BRIDGE instrument. It is recognized as a woodwind because of it's reed, but also a brass instrument because of it's sound. The original intent was to fill the gap between the two. So, does it really qualify fully for either category? Wouldn't it be safe to say it is both? :-) Just using logic.
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