Acoustics of the Saxophone

Abstract

In this chapter, an overview of wind-instrument acoustics is provided as a theoretical foundation to design, build, and use grafted wind instruments. The generic wind instrument is described by a tone generator that is coupled to two adjacent resonators, the instrument’s body and the performer’s vocal tract. As a starting point, the acoustical behavior of a simple cylindrical resonator is examined, and the acoustical consequences of finger holes are discussed. The investigation continues with the introduction of the conical resonator, which describes the acoustical behavior of the saxophone body adequately but is acoustically more complex than the cylindrical resonator. In the following section, common tone generators for wind instruments are introduced and classified. The section includes a description of the acoustical behavior for the single reed, double reed, free reed, flute, and lip-valve instrument mechanisms. Afterward, the coupling between a tone generator and a resonator is addressed, which can only be described as a non-linear system. The chapter concludes with a description of the acoustical behavior of the adaptable vocal tract. Its acoustical importance is often underestimated when dealing with wind instruments.