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Saxophone Explorer (3D)

About this app

An alto saxophone to cut open and play: the reed vibrates on the mouthpiece, a standing pressure wave fills the conical bore, and the topmost open tone hole sets its length. Octave key, fingering chart, sound via Web Audio and a comparison with the clarinet’s cylinder (octave vs twelfth, spectrum).

With explain mode: an AI tutor walks you through the app, points out what matters in the scene and answers your questions.

How a saxophone makes its sound

The saxophone is made of brass and yet counts as a woodwind: the sound comes from a cane reed that vibrates on the mouthpiece and opens and closes the airflow in rhythm. The pitch is set by the air column in the tube, and its length by the topmost open tone hole. The saxophone’s bore is a cone, and a cone vibrates like a tube of the same length open at both ends: f = n · c / (2L) with all partials. The octave key opens a small hole; the fundamental is disturbed and the air column vibrates in its second mode, one octave higher. Adolphe Sax, born in Dinant on 6 November 1814, received the patent in Paris in 1846.

What the app shows

An alto saxophone in E♭ in 3D, optionally cut open lengthwise. The reed vibrates in slow motion; the air column in the bore shows the over- and underpressure of the standing wave and ends at the topmost open hole. Closed keys are highlighted, a fingering chart shows the keys pressed, along with written and sounding note, frequency and vibrating length. One panel compares the cone with the clarinet’s cylinder of the same length, another the spectra of both instruments. The sound is generated from this spectrum via Web Audio.

Things to try

Play on the on-screen keyboard or with the keys A to K and hold the octave key with Shift. With all keys closed the air column is 123.7 cm long and the lowest note sounds at 139 Hz. With the G4 fingering it ends after 73.6 cm; with the octave key the note jumps from 233 to 466 Hz while the length stays the same. Switch to clarinet and compare sound and spectrum: its even partials are weak in the low register. Click single keys on the instrument and check which ones change the note.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the saxophone a woodwind instrument?
Wind instruments are classified by how the sound is produced, not by their material. On the saxophone a cane reed vibrates on the mouthpiece, as on the clarinet. On brass instruments such as the trumpet or trombone the player’s lips vibrate in a cup mouthpiece.
What does the octave key on a saxophone do?
It opens a small hole near the middle of the vibrating air column. For the fundamental there is pressure at that point, so the hole disturbs it. The second mode has a pressure node there and is not disturbed. The note jumps one octave higher although the air column keeps its length. On the alto saxophone a body vent opens up to G♯5 and a neck vent from A5.
Why does the clarinet overblow to the twelfth and the saxophone to the octave?
The clarinet has a cylindrical tube that is acoustically closed at the mouthpiece. It vibrates only at odd multiples of the fundamental, f = n · c / (4L) with n = 1, 3, 5. The next mode lies at three times the frequency, a twelfth. The saxophone’s cone has all multiples, so the next mode lies at twice the frequency, an octave.
What can I try in the Saxophone Explorer?
You play the alto saxophone with the on-screen or computer keyboard, press the octave key, change the breath pressure and switch between saxophone and clarinet sound. The instrument can be cut open and single keys opened and closed. Panels show the fingering chart, the vibrating length, the standing wave in the cone and the cylinder, and the spectra.

Subject: Music (Gymnasium)

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