Regular brass saxophones are made up of 70% copper and 30% zinc? ¹
I’ve heard rumours that different manufacturers have added different alloys to change the tonal qualities, but I haven’t seen anything written down about this until now.
According to Kessler & Sons, the Keilwerth Solid Nickel Silver saxophone was made of 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc. This was done in order to:
…give the horn a little brighter sound but also provide a more vibrant response.
Source: New Keilwerth SX90R Solid Nickel Silver Alto Sax
It would be interesting to do some research and see what is actually recorded about saxophones and their metal composition. Although I suspect that would be opening up a big ‘ol can of worms. 😉
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¹ Source: Kesslermusic.com
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