When Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone in 1846, he envisioned the instrument for either orchestral work (in the keys of F & C) or for military bands (in the keys of Eb & Bb). However in either case, Sax envisioned his invention to be an instrument made out of brass, with a mouthpiece and single reed similar to that of a clarinet.
An Adolphe Sax original quartet featuring a soprano circa 1858, alto circa 1857, tenor circa 1861-1862, & baritone circa 1858. Source: National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion.
Adolphe Sax could never have foreseen some of the changes in technology that have allowed saxophone manufacturers to attempt to make their instruments out of acrylic, such as the Grafton, or polymer, like the new, not-yet-on-the-market Vibratosax.
Grafton Acrylic Alto Invented by Hector (Ettore) Sommaruga (1904 – 1986). Source: http://www.thesax.info/
The 100% ABS plastic, student model Vibrato Sax, complete with rubber pads. Source: SOTW
Now, one material that certainly was available in Sax’s day was wood, and if Adolphe had thought that it was a good idea to make a saxophone out of it, I’m sure he would have. Well, sometimes the old ways really are better….Case in point…Saxwood.
Saxwood claims to be the world’s first full wooden saxophone. According to the company’s website:
Saxwood is a kind of music instrument. It is a saxophone handmade. It can be as a saxophone and a souvenir. Saxwood is made from good quality of Javanese Teakwood.
OK then, so which is it? A saxophone, or a souvenir? But if I haven’t been to Indonesia, do I really want a souvenir? Oh right, the company’s Mission Statement says:
2. To make “simple playing” by giving the standard fingering and tuning configuration of saxophone. So, it is suitable for the new comers of saxophone player who wants to play saxwood or even for the professional saxophonist. (Emphasis added.)
OK then, so it’s aimed at experienced players as well. Good to know.
Saxwood comes in so many different horn varieties, a player with a serious case of GAS could be satisfying their needs by ordering wooden saxophones for some time. Saxwood comes in: alto, c pitched tenor, Bb tenor, baritone, straight soprano, soprano with a curved neck & bell, and a curvy soprano.
What they call their curved soprano. Source: www.saxwood.net
Tenor in the key of C. Source: www.saxwood.net
Source: www.saxwood.net
BTW, did you notice that “high-tech” string operating the octave key on the tenor? … But I digress…
But the real question is, how do they sound? For the answer to that, a quick tour of Saxwood’s Video page will provide all the answers you need. My personal favourites are Steve Grant playing the baritone on the American anthem & Robi Jazz Perhaps trying to groove on a riff on the Bb tenor. It’s obvious these 2 players, who were presumably in town for the jazz festival, could play, but the horns were really working against them.
I think we can safely say these lovely pieces of hand cut and assembled teak should be left in the souvenir category. Although I don’t think I’d be spending $600 to $1500 for souvenirs in the shape of a saxophone, but hey, that’s just me.
But wait, what’s this? Pete Hales, our intrepid saxophone researcher found yet another saxophone made of wood!
Thaitradder.com lists a wooden alto saxophone made by Mr. Sawad Dejprakune. This horn claims to be “the only original one in the world”. (Me thinks he needs to check out the Saxwood website!) None the less, this horn sells for $350, and is actually playable. The link to the YouTube video is actually impressive when you consider the sax is made of wood.
Source: Thaitradder.com
The sax actually comes with “saxophone gear” like a gig bag, and looks like it might be better constructed than the Saxwood horns.
Source: Thaitradder.com
Source: Thaitradder.com
Source: Thaitradder.com
I don’t know what Adolphe Sax would think of all of these variations in the material used for constructing saxophones. One thing is for sure…These aren’t your father’s saxophones!
Sorry I’m so late to the party. I’ve been spending a lot of time at the vet with my animals lately. They’ve both had some health problems….
That said, here come some replies…
@Peter: Sorry I don’t have any comparisons between the Saxwood and the Sawat saxophones. I have never played either of these saxophones, because I have never even seen any kind of wooden saxophone in real life.
Unforuntaly the Saxwood website is down, but it used to have all kind of videos of their instruments. They did sound truly awful. In particular I remember a rendition of the American anthem that would bring tears to your eyes—but not in a good way. 😥
The Sawat saxophones on the other hand, had quite a good sound—if the videos are any indication. The horns appear to be better made, and certainly have better intonation. Just as an aside, I didn’t see any strings on the Sawat saxophones, like were visible on the Saxwood horns.
Also, there are the Nova saxophones I have written about in the past. They look remarkably like the Sawat horns. Unfortunately, their website is down too. BTW, it’s not the same as the other Saxwood website, they just “borrowed” the domain name, but have a .com extension, while the Saxwood company had .net behind their name.
@leonAzul: Re: the taragoto. The Woodwind Forum has a number of taragoto players active on it. The instrument is discussed quite regularly, and ideas about cases, reeds, etc, etc, are exchanged.
Yes, Hammerschmidt still exists. I’ve written extensively about the company’s history, and also have a blog post about their current status. (I’ll address Peter’s question about the name by responding to his comment specifically.)
Hi Helen.
Agreed. Saxwood seems to be more rustic than Sawat. Except the high-tech string operating. 😆
About the Hammerschmidt, I read here (some time ago) about its history, because I have a Hammerschmidt stencil. Maybe I was careless in reading.
Regards
And furthermore…
Believe it or not I was once actively shopping for an alto taragot to add to my menagerie of strange and magical friends. At that time I discovered a striking similarity between the taragot and the C-melody saxophone, namely that there were handful of “real” instruments out there, but too many of them are cheap knock-offs meant to cash in on a fad, in this case ethnic music. While most of the links I had collected at the time have died, a few remain tantalizingly alive including this one. Towards the end of the message, the author mentions a range of taragots made by Hammerschmidt of Germany. I wonder?
Peace,
paul
Hi Paul.
Yeah. Saxwood web site is down. But you can try find it at:
Contact Name: Andjar Rangga
Company Name: Saxwood
Email: Info@saxwood.net
Tel: (+62) 08175477321
Fax: (+6274) 4461593
Street Address: Perumahan Gadjah Mada Asri L-2 Turi, Sleman, Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
About Hammerschmidt, I discovered few days ago (and I comment this here, in another article) that “Hammerschmidt” is alive and they still are making clarinets and weird piccolos:
http://www.karl-hammerschmidt-klarinetten.de/spielmannsfloeten.htm
I wonder!!!
Regards
@Peter
Thanks for “bumping” this, it’s very likely I would have missed it otherwise.
Following the links, guess which one of these brands survived to the present? The Saxwood web site doesn’t even exist any more and the domain name is for sale.
Mr. Sawad Dejprakune, on the other hand, seems to have very cleverly and expertly copied a Selmer alto with great craftsmanship, and the result speaks for itself.
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There is a traditional family of wooden instruments with near conical bore and double reed called taragoto. In the mid 19th Century an inventor named J. Schunda created the taragot, a sort of saxophone-taragoto hybrid made of wood. The most popular size is comparable to the soprano sax, but I have seen straight alto and tenor versions on videos and such. I recall seeing a link to a baritone-voiced (straight) taragot for sale, but I have lost track of that maker for the moment.
Peace,
paul
Two neighbors countries that are growing up on musical issues:
Indonesia (“SaxWood” and “Java Jazz Festival”) & Thailand (“Sawat sax” and “Vibratosax”). According to Steve Goodson, the king of Thailand is a very enthusiastic saxophone player and music supporter.
Helen, would be nice a comparison of “Sawat” and “SaxWood”.
Do you have them?
Looks like it’d be fun to play with and I hadn’t seen the one Pete pointed to.