Well if today’s article title doesn’t show my large horn bias, nothing does. 😉 Hey, it’s all in good fun. No offence intended to those of you who love the sound of small horns, and to those of you who love to play them.
Now if you fit into either of those above-noted 2 categories, then perhaps today’s unusual little eBay offering might be of interest to you. Hollywood Music World is selling a new Eppelsheim Soprillo.
Source: eBay.com
This is how they describe this Eppelsheim creation:
The “Soprillo” Saxophone
B-Flat Piccolo Saxophone – Vintage Gold lacquer
This is a brand new instrument, developed and manufactured in Germany by Eppelsheim Wind Instruments It is a high quality saxophone, pitched in B Flat, one octave above a normal soprano saxophone.
This saxophone has a rich, warm sound and plays in tune throughout the range using a specially made mouthpiece. It is an amazing horn. Great for the player, collector or sax enthusiast. The B Flat piccolo saxophone “The worlds smallest saxophone” Written range B flat to high E Flat. 1 octave above the B flat soprano same fingering as any modern saxophone.
Each horn we sell is setup personally here in Los Angeles before we ship them out. The retail list price is $3,999.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
I really do love the European hand engraving. There is just something very special about it.
Source: eBay.com
Now what Hollywood Music World doesn’t say, but what the Soprillo’s manufacturer, Benedikt Eppelsheim Wind Instruments, does state very clearly on the Soprillo page of their website, is that these instruments are very difficult to play.
We’ve all heard the expression that the saxophone is an easy instrument to learn to play… badly. Well, even the most seasoned sax player is going to find the Soprillo a serious challenge.
Here is how Benedikt Eppelsheim words it on his site: (Emphasis is just as it appears on the Eppelsheim Soprillo page.)
Attention: Due to its extreme range and the required very firm embouchure only professional players can play the Soprillo. It may take several months of practice to reach the highest notes.
I admit that I’m not much of a soprano player, but I was really taken aback when I tried Gandalfe’s Soprillo. I did manage to hit a C3 or D3, but I was cheating, and had to bite. My intonation was nowhere near close either. Benedikt Eppelsheim wasn’t kidding. These little beasties are truly difficult to play.
However, in the hands of a truly skilled player, the Soprillo can sound warm and beautiful. If you’ve never had the opportunity to hear one of these saxes, here is a small sample of what they can do, when in the hands of a master player.
Waltzing Soprillda by Nigel Wood
There are more sound, and even video samples of the the Soprillo saxophone, on the Media page of Soprillo.com. Soprillo.com is the first website dedicated to the world’s smallest saxophone. If you are interested in the baby of the saxophone family, this site will be of great interest to you.
So if you are up for a serious challenge, and really want to play a very unique saxophone, then this Soprillo from Hollywood Music World might just be the ticket.
The Buy It Now price for this horn is $3,499.00. Or you can make an offer. The auction runs until March 5. At the time of writing, there were no offers yet on this, the smallest member of the saxophone family.
I played one of those. the horn is very well set up and is easy to play………..except when you get to high G, then it’s an embochure challenge. I was only able to get up to high C# in about 10 minutes. Marcel (person who I visited and had the soprillo in Seattle) could reach up to the high E on the horn. They do have a reather HIGH tendency to go out of tune. It plays wonderfully on the lower register.
End decision, too squeaky for me, but still a collector’s horn.
I posted the picture again, but the Soprillo IS in it. Look at hands.
Hi Chris.
Hey, really sorry I missed you during your trip to Seattle. I had all intentions of getting down there, but life got completely away form me. This addition to my home took much longer than I thought it would. By the time I realized that you were there, it was nearly the end of visit. Oops… 🙁
Looks like you had a great time though. Who owned the contra? Is it an Orsi? It’s a bit hard to make out in the other photo you posted. I can’t quite see the neck, and the bell to body brace looks different in shape than the other Orsi contras that I’ve seen. Let’s talk about it on the that article, but yes, please, I’d love some more contra pics. 🙂
Personally, I speak only from having played Gandalfe’s Soprillo once, and owning a soprano for 30 years, Soprillo is too high for me. Even my own soprano is too high for me above A2 or thereabouts. But… for adding color to a set, or to a few bars of a song, I like to use one or the other of my sopranos. It’s a nice change from the everyday. I just don’t see very much practical application for the Soprillo. I think you could find it work, just like a bass player can find work for their bass sax, but I suspect it would be harder.
Hello Helen,
yes the Contra is an Orsi it’s Marcel Helland’s Contrabass. I was able to meet up with him and Paul Wolff from the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band.
Marcel seemed really cool and I have thanked him and his 2 roommates many times for having me over the 4 days I was there. Climbed mount Philchuk, got to experience Seattle, WA through local’s perspective and met up with another friend Dave Grohl who joined me on the train ride out there and the first day touring Seattle.
For the people who don’t know who Dave is, he was the drummer for Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.
Since the trip out to Seattle I was able to meet up Billy Joel at the PNC center on the Garden State Parkway in 2011. Didn’t play on stage with him but did get to jam afterwards and after he signed autographs.
Not just the drummer for the Foo Fighters… he’s the front man (guitar/vocals) and played EVERYTHING on the first album before assembling an actual band.
That said, he really is at his best when hitting things with sticks. While certainly aware of his status in the music world, he really does seem committed to not letting it go to his head (unlike, say, the widow of a certain other Nirvana member…)
Update: Well this little guy didn’t sell on this, his 2nd time around the eBay wheel. Let’s see if it appears again, and if the 3rd time will be the charm.
If I were to own one, I could easily see it being an effective means of pest control. All the rodents in the region would run as fast as the can to get away from the high-pitched squealing emanating from the thing. 😆 😆
Still, it’s fun to play and strategical placed in songs such as ‘Intergalactic Rag’ aka the Star Wars bar song, it sounds out of this world. ;o)
Hey Helen, I can imagine that would be somewhat ridiculous to play! Even soprano can be a bit of a beast to control.