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Chapter 4: Tools of the Trade: The Instruments of Jazz
Early C-melody saxophones (a higher-pitched cousin of Adophe Sax’s C-bass
saxophone), favored by players such as Jack Pettis and Frankie Trumbauer,
had a range between alto and tenor. No one uses them today (a possible
opportunity for a young player to create a “new” sound).
Most saxophone mouthpieces are made of hard rubber (a few players prefer
metal), and are similar to a clarinet’s mouthpiece. There’s a small clamp for
attaching a reed, which vibrates with the player’s breath. Saxophonists can
be particular about their mouthpieces and reeds, searching for the perfect
combination, treasuring it like expensive jewelry after they find it.
Brassy cousins: Cornets and trumpets
Cornets and trumpets are cousins with similar but distinctive sounds; both
have ancient roots that reach back to horns in ancient Egypt. In the Middle
Ages, there were horns of tubing bent like trumpets, only much longer.
Over the years, various bends made horns more compact, without compromising
their sound. In the early 1800s, various valved cornets and trumpets
appeared, and in the 1840s Adolphe Sax (see “Inventing the saxophone” earlier
in this chapter to find out more about him) introduced a line of valved
bugles (or “saxhorns”). The modern cornet, with valves in the middle, was
first manufactured by Antoine Courtois in 1855.
Trumpets developed on a parallel track. Joseph Haydn and other composers
wrote parts for keyed trumpets. The piston-valve trumpet was invented by
Francois Perinet in 1839.
Trumpets and cornets both use similar tubing but differ in their proportions
of cylindrical and conical bores. The trumpet has less cylindrical tubing; its
tubing stays the same size from mouthpiece to bell. The cornet’s conical
tubing tapers more dramatically than the trumpet’s; it widens continually
from the mouthpiece to the bell. This is said to give the cornet a smoother,
mellower sound. The trumpet’s sound is brighter and more commanding.
The cornet fit well with early New Orleans bands, where it was among colorful
brass sections that grew out of marching bands and was used by players
including Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong (see Chapter 5). Although the
sound of cornet became synonymous with Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke,
this horn fell out of favor for years until it was picked up again by Dixieland
revival players in the 1940s and 1950s. A few modern musicians have also
played cornet, among them Nat Adderley and Warren Vache. Trumpeters like
Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong (see Chapter 5 for more about them)
actually played the trumpetlike cornet in the early years of jazz, although
Armstrong eventually switched to trumpet.
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