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Comment by throwaway_pdp09 | Hacker News Reader

A question please, "and it is still my favorite instrument sound wise". Can the sax in general be said to have one sound? I knew 2 sax players at school, their instruments were much the same in size and appearance, excepting a little ornamentation on one. One was very smooth, it was a great sound. The other was much harsher, almost braying[0]. They seemed to be played with much the same high level of skill, so why the difference? They both sounded like saxes but...

[0] edit; certainly in tune but quite harsh, rough as a terrier's coat

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That's a good point, you can actually change the way a sax sounds quite strongly, there are even people who modify their reeds. The difference between the way the same instrument family sounds on say Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the moon" (Dick Parry) sounds versus say Brandford Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Fela Kuti, Grover Washington or (god forbid) Kenny G is huge.

Of course 'saxophone' is a whole range of instruments going from Low-E giants to saxes so small you have to have pretty small fingers to not hit two valves at the same time.

The mouthpiece and the reed thickness are a big factor in this as is air pressure, 'tonguing' the reed and how you shape your mouth cavity. Endless variation.

But the basic harmonics are baked into the instrument, those would be very hard to change though I'm sure it is possible to manipulate which ones get amplified by the above changes to the environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZjZBe6o78M

Is a nice example, it would be a pretty boring song without that raging saxophone.

> a whole range of instruments going from

I know but I simply didn't have the vocabulary to distinguish them by name or type, so emphasised their common size and appearance. Thanks for the comprhensive answer, and never even heard of Morphine, ta for that!

You're welcome. For some other really nice saxophone: Anything by Steps Ahead, Grover Washington's record 'mister magic'. If you want more drop me a line by email, I'll do some digging in my collection.

To give an idea of the range of saxophones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopranino_saxophone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XqwC1NmtG4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcontrabass_saxophone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgt2m9Q7Kz0

The sax solo that starts around 5:30 is my favorite ever, and I say that as a longtime Morphine fan. Never got into jazz much though...

https://music.apple.com/us/album/city-on-down-live/488251077...

Wow.

If I close my eyes while listening to the sopranino I would swear I was hearing a flute.

It's all about technique and the style you want to develop. Two singers can have very different voices too.

the same could be said for most instruments. Changing the reed, embouchure shape, breath quality all change the sound. Same with a guitar, if you change the strings, playing style, pick material, a lot of different sounds can come out of one instrument.

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