THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE SAXOPHONE MOUTHPIECE 263 The Early Evolution of the Saxophone Mouthpiece The Early Saxophone Mouthpiece TIMOTHY R. ROSE The early saxophone mouthpiece design, predominating during half of the instrument’s entire history, represents an important component of the or nine decades after the saxophone’s invention in the 1840s, clas- saxophone’s initial period of development. To be sure, any attempt to re- Fsical saxophone players throughout the world sought to maintain a construct the early history of the mouthpiece must be constrained by gaps soft, rounded timbre—a relatively subdued quality praised in more recent in evidence, particularly the scarcity of the oldest mouthpieces, from the years by the eminent classical saxophonist Sigurd Rascher (1930–1977) nineteenth century. Although more than 300 original Adolphe Sax saxo- as a “smooth, velvety, rich tone.”1 Although that distinct but subtle tone phones are thought to survive today,2 fewer than twenty original mouth- color was a far cry from the louder, more penetrating sound later adopted pieces are known.3 Despite this gap in the historical record, this study is by most contemporary saxophonists, Rascher’s wish was to preserve the intended to document the early evolution of the saxophone mouthpiece original sound of the instrument as intended by the instrument’s creator, through scientific analysis of existing vintage mouthpieces, together with Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax. And that velvety sound, the hallmark of a review of patents and promotional materials from the late nineteenth the original instrument, was attributed by musicians, including Rascher, and early twentieth centuries. More than 175 mouthpieces manufactured in large part to the design of the saxophone mouthpiece. Although much prior to 1930 have undergone careful examination and some thirty-five has been written about the saxophone’s history, little has been docu- have been analyzed in the laboratories of the Smithsonian Institution’s mented about the evolution of its mouthpieces. Between the 1890s and Department of Mineral Sciences. Their internal shapes and dimensions the 1930s, these underwent complex and rapid changes, from the early have been revealed from silicone rubber casts; some were cut in half to hand-crafted mostly wood mouthpieces of the nineteenth century to the expose their internal dimensions and construction. Their chemical com- glass, hard rubber, metal, and combined materials that became dominant positions have been determined using specialized instruments used by after the turn of the century. These modifications in mouthpiece materials geologists and materials scientists to examine a wide variety of materials were driven mainly by practical and economic considerations, including including minerals, fossils, and artifacts. This research has not only un- a need to produce more stable (less prone to changing shape) and durable covered historical details about the mouthpieces’ fabrication and design, (less likely to break) mouthpieces and a desire by manufacturers to satisfy but also has yielded some unexpected insights. Early mouthpieces, for a boom in demand for the newly popular instruments. Yet throughout this example, have been found to show surprisingly few tooth marks, suggest- ing that the instruments were frequently played with a double-lip embou- four-decade period of experimentation and change in mouthpiece fab- chure. Some mouthpieces were also shown to contain chemical elements rication, one overriding objective was maintained by crafts people and such as mercury and lead that today are widely thought to be potentially manufacturers: the preservation of the large, rounded mouthpiece cham- hazardous to human health. ber design that gave the instrument the smoother timbre intended by Sax The saxophone, designed by Sax to blend woodwind and brass tim- and hailed many years later by Rascher. Only after the advent of jazz and bres and to facilitate play though a revamped keywork and mouthpiece newer styles of popular music during the 1930s and 1940s did the original mouthpiece design give way to new designs that produce an edgier, bright- 2. Robert Howe, “Invention and Early History of the Saxophone, 1840–1855,” Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 29 (2003): 170. Howe lists more than 150 extant er, and louder tone. Adolphe Sax saxophones and states that number “constitutes less than half of those ex- tant.” 3.https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/05/02/403273608/3-d-printers- bring-historic-instruments-back-to-the-future; Tom Verde, “Deceptive Cadence,” Week- end Edition, May 2, 2015, “3-D Printers Bring Historic Instruments Back to the Future.” 1. The Buescher Band Instrument Company, promotional video circa 1950. Verde quotes Robert Howe from an interview: “The problem is that there are only about ten or so surviving original mouthpieces crafted by Sax.” 262 264 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SOCIETY THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE SAXOPHONE MOUTHPIECE 265 scheme, emerged as an increasingly popular instrument during the latter part of the nineteenth century, played in concert bands, small ensembles, and within ordinary households. As it gained popularity in the early twen- tieth century, an explosion occurred in the number of saxophones pro- duced. By 1930 over one million saxophones had been made, 820,000 of them in the United States alone.4 They were primarily fabricated in eight sizes: sopranino in E-flat, sopranos in C and B-flat, alto in E-flat, tenor in C (“c-melody”) and B-flat, baritone in E-flat, and bass in B-flat. Even as mouthpiece materials evolved during the saxophone’s early decades, the instrument’s body and keywork underwent only modest changes. The most notable modifications introduced during this period were the single “automatic” octave key, improved key mechanisms, and some addition- al keys that helped the player with certain formerly awkward fingerings. The instruments were nearly always stamped by their manufacturers with FIGURE 1. The parts of a saxophone mouthpiece. From left, a hard-rubber Holton alto a serial number, a practice that allows an estimate of their age. Because saxophone with a nickel-silver core and table; cross-section of a hard-rubber Naujoks-Mc- Laughlin Sil-Va-Lae alto (nickel-silver table painted white on the interior for photogra- those early instruments generally outlasted their less-durable mouthpiec- phy); cross section of a Bakelite-and-metal Holton Perfected model c-melody attached to a es, the mouthpieces presumably were produced in even larger numbers. saxophone neck; an unbranded marbled hard-rubber alto. Author’s photo. But in contrast to the saxophones, the mouthpieces were not stamped with serial numbers until much later. In addition, many mouthpieces pansion stress on the shank, leading to common cracking of wood mouth- were unbranded. As a result, mouthpiece ages are more difficult to assign. pieces. This defect was later remedied by the introduction of a metal rings added to the shank. In his 1846 patent, Sax described the mouthpiece’s interior as “very 5 Anatomy of the Saxophone Mouthpiece flared. ” Rascher referred to it as “barrel-shaped.” Examples of the large chambers inside early saxophone mouthpieces can be seen in the two During this study, careful observations were made of both the interior cross-sections in fig. 1. Silicone rubber casts taken from the insides of and exterior dimensions of early mouthpieces. Regardless of the material three mouthpieces show the expanded large chamber (fig. 2). used, mouthpieces generally continued to conform to Sax’s original de- Images from later years, including four patent drawings filed from sign until the 1930s. The anatomy of the saxophone mouthpiece is shown 1919 to 19256 as well as those published in advertisements during the in fig. 1. 1920s,7 demonstrate that this internal design persisted until the 1930s. Unlike most modern mouthpieces, early mouthpieces had large bar- 5. Steven Cottrell, The Saxophone (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, rel-shaped chambers with thin walls, a low or nonexistent baffle, and a 2012), 62. William McBride. “The Early Saxophone in Patents 1838-1850 Compared,” small tip opening. In overall length, the early mouthpieces were short- Galpin Society Journal 35 (1982): 112–121. er than their modern counterparts. In one respect, and because most 6. M.H. and J. Babbitt. Mouthpiece for Wind Musical Instruments. United States pat- ent 1385239 filed December 11, 1919, and issued July 19, 1921. Paul Arthur. Saxophone were made from wood, the early design proved to be flawed. Pushing the Mouthpiece and Process of Making the Same. United States patent 1,771,109 filed De- mouthpiece onto the saxophone neck compressed the cork and caused ex- cember 10, 1923, issued July 22, 1930. William H. Grant. Mouthpiece and Method for Making the Same for Wind Instruments. United States patent 1,771,217 filed April 15, 1925, and issued July 22, 1930. Harry E, O’Brien. Mouthpiece for Musical Instruments. 4. Lawrence Gwozdz, Das Saxophon: The Saxophone; An English Translation of Jaap Kool’s United States patent 1,401,634 filed November 29, 1920, and issued December 27, 1921. Work (Baldock, Hertfordshire: Egon Publishers, 1987), 19. Also, an examination of the 7. https://www.saxophone.org/museum/publications/id/74. King Saxophones and Clar- serial numbers issued to saxophones by the major American manufacturers from 1920 inets 1928. Advertisement for the Holton Perfected mouthpiece in Music Trade Review, to 1930 suggests more than 500,000 saxophones were made, supporting Kool’s numbers. May 3, 1924, page 28. 266 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SOCIETY THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE SAXOPHONE MOUTHPIECE 267 These smaller openings would likely have required the use of relative- ly hard reeds. The average length of these sixty-six mouthpieces is 81.4 mm—about 10 to 12 mm less than those of commonly used modern alto mouthpieces made by Vandoren and Selmer.9 Early soprano and tenor mouthpieces also were found to be shorter than their modern counter- parts.