Photo of my new contrabass sax

[saxtek]

Eppelsheim contrabass with low A and a Selmer Mark VI low A baritone

[CardinalRule]

Wow! The bass is a beauty--Congratulations!
P.S. How tall are you?:D

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

OUUUHHH!!! How much did it cost?

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Judging from the comparison to the contrabass sax, he'd be around 5'10", right, saxtek?:D;)

[AntonVonWebern]

I am guessing judging by the sofa and bari (not stood next to a contrabass so cant tell), he is about 5ft7ins?, (shall we take bets on it?, winner gets a signed photograph of saxtek playing the contrabass)

[bluesaxgirl]

Congratulations! You are one lucky person.

[hakukani]

Let's see, the low A would be a C1, which is 32.7 Hz., and I believe, the same note as a double bass with the low C extension.

That's one lowwwww note!

[bluesaxgirl]

Sweet. 32.7 hz.
Post some vid clips, okay?

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

The contrabass sax is 177 cM which converts to about 6'2". Minus about four inches (apparent difference between him and the sax), and you get 5'10".:D8-)

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Go to the www.eppelsheim.com site for sound clips and info. Lol, lot of posts (Just a week ago, I think I had 100 posts. Now look. Almost 250.:o).

[bluesaxgirl]

www.eppelsheim.com
Just rectifying the link, YAP.

[AntonVonWebern]

Hang on, I need to upscale my estimate, comparing a picture of a tenor sax with a contrabass I am estimating that a contrabass is 2.63 times larger than a tenor sax (without the neck), so the contrabass is just over 6ft tall (without the stand), so I think YamahaAltoPlayer`s estimate was more on the money, infact i`ll go a bit taller and say 6ft to 6ft1ins.

Anyway, nice horn, here is Anthony Braxton on one..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VuZbfGsHQ

[bluesaxgirl]

Wow. Eppelsheim has a whole bunch of instruments of oddities...
Tubax...soprillo...

[bluesaxgirl]

Wait...what's a contraforte? :shock:
edit: oh. It's a huge bassoon.

[AntonVonWebern]

The contrabass sax is 177 cM which converts to about 6'2". Minus about four inches (apparent difference between him and the sax), and you get 5'10"

Ah ok, I had 189cm as my estimate (on my saxophone family picture in an orchestration book a tenor is about 5.5 cm tall without the neck, a contrabass about 14.5cm, my tenor is about 72cm tall, hence my answer)

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Hang on, I need to upscale my estimate, comparing a picture of a tenor sax with a contrabass I am estimating that a contrabass is 2.63 times larger than a tenor sax (without the neck), so the contrabass is just over 6ft tall (without the stand), so I think YamahaAltoPlayer`s estimate was more on the money, infact i`ll go a bit taller and say 6ft to 6ft1ins.

Anyway, nice horn, here is Anthony Braxton on one..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VuZbfGsHQ

Hey, thanks. I forgot about the peg at the bottom. I woulda guessed about 6'1" or 6'2" too. I'm staying with though (5'10"). Hurry up, and finish mesuring yourself saxtek!

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Wow. Eppelsheim has a whole bunch of instruments of oddities...
Tubax...soprillo...

The subcontrabass tubax can play lower... ...by half a note - Ab0.

[CardinalRule]

Hmmmm. I'm gonna go with at least 6'1". I'm 5'7" and a bari comes up to my chest when I stand next to one (which is as infrequently as possible:twisted:)

[hakukani]

The subcontrabass tubax can play lower... ...by half a note - Ab0.
Which is 25.96 Hz. That's getting close to just pumping air.:)

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Which is 25.96 Hz. That's getting close to just pumping air.:)

I thought 1 Hz equaled a half-step.

...And 57 Hz equals 57 varieties... Get it? Hz... Heinz???

Bad joke.

[bluesaxgirl]

The subcontrabass tubax can play lower... ...by half a note - Ab0.

:shock:

[CardinalRule]

How many Hz = 1 ft or meter? I mean, say Saxtek is 5'10" or 6 ft what would the conversion to Hz be:twisted:?

[saxtek]

Wow! The bass is a beauty--Congratulations!
P.S. How tall are you?:D

I'm six feet, one inch in my bare feet,

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

AWWW!!! I'M WRONG! Lol.

[AntonVonWebern]

Ah ha! (second time lucky, I was way out with 5-7, didnt realise how large contrabasses are, you live and learn eh)

[Mark]

The subcontrabass tubax can play lower... ...by half a note - Ab0.

Sort of... This contrabass sax plays to its low A, which is C concert. The subcontra tubax goes to its low Bb, which is the Ab0 (a half step below the lowest note on the piano).

Go to http://eppelsheim.com/tubax_bb.php?lang=en, turn up your speakers, and click on the Jay Easton clip, then get out of the way! :D

Mark

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Sort of... This contrabass sax plays to its low A, which is C concert. The subcontra tubax goes to its low Bb, which is the Ab0 (a half step below the lowest note on the piano).

Go to http://eppelsheim.com/tubax_bb.php?lang=en, turn up your speakers, and click on the Jay Easton clip, then get out of the way! :D

Mark

Nonononono!:D
I meant a half note lower than the Contraforte.

[Saxmusiclover]

Eppelsheim contrabass with low A and a Selmer Mark VI low A baritone

Wow! Cool horns! Congrats!

[tonfisch]

After seeing the thumpnail pic my Bari suddenly suffers from an inferiority complex

[saxtek]

After seeing the thumpnail pic my Bari suddenly suffers from an inferiority complex

After unpacking the horn, I'm suffering from an inferiority complex.

[KEN K]

Saxtek--Why don't you join a marching band?

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Saxtek--Why don't you join a marching band?

He will... ...when he gets one of those subcontrabass Tubax saxes...:twisted::twisted::twisted:

[saxtek]

I played a Conn bass saxophone in marching band at Dartmouth in the late 1960s. I went back and played the same horn again for "alumni band day" in the early 1980s. Then I retired from marching. The new marching bands are fantastic. I'd rather watch than play.

[bobsax]

Very nice :D
I dug the YouTube clips.
That thing needs to be in an ensemble. Have you taken it out yet?
Did it come with a case and does it fit in your car?

[DiscipleoftheRefs]

wow. Not often do you see that beast. You could rent yourself out as a fog horn or simulate earthquakes:twisted:

[saxtek]

Very nice :D
I dug the YouTube clips.
That thing needs to be in an ensemble. Have you taken it out yet?
Did it come with a case and does it fit in your car?

It comes with a stand and a case, and yes, it fits in my Nissan Murano. I checked that part first. Thanks for the nice words.

I'm working on the ensemble, but right now everyone is working, which is good.

[cann0nba11]

Go to the Epp link and check out the third audio file. You haven't lived until you've heard Spyrogyra's 'Morning Dance' on Contra...

So cool, yet so wrong. I'm perplexed. :)

[bobsax]

Go to the Epp link and check out the third audio file. You haven't lived until you've heard Spyrogyra's 'Morning Dance' on Contra...

So cool, yet so wrong. I'm perplexed. :)

It does sound funny but not any funnier then a string bass or tuba playing the melody
well maybe a little funnier ;)

[windjammer]

I'm jealous - I have had my eye on one of those beasties for a long time.
Any ensemble would need 2 of them to counter balance each other on opposite ends of the stage
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/images/smilies/smile.gif
:)

[Rowka]

Very nice.

What are the small diameter tubes comming off the neck?

[DetroitDave]

... gonna need a bigger tour bus.

[nateberly]

How many Hz = 1 ft or meter? I mean, say Saxtek is 5'10" or 6 ft what would the conversion to Hz be:twisted:?

well, at 32.7 Hz. the wavelength is roughly 9.17 cm.

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

Very nice.

What are the small diameter tubes comming off the neck?

They look like the tubes for brakes on a bike. I thought it was they were the octave keys. Right, saxtek?

[Sasquatch]

They look like the tubes for brakes on a bike. I thought it was they were the octave keys. Right, saxtek?

Sweet, big enough to require hydraulics. :D

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

What? What do you think they are?

Wait a sec... On the website it says that the contrabass sax has an altissimo valve thingy-ma-jig.:?

[nagukush]

Wow, its a true beauty ! Thanks so much for sharing the Pics :)
Congratulations Friend, I'm really happy for you :)
Have a Wonderful day !
-Kush

[saxtek]

Very nice.

What are the small diameter tubes comming off the neck?

One of the tubes is really a brace for the neck. The other one is also not a tube, but a flexible linkage for the altissimo key. This horn has 4 (yep, four) octave keys. The first three are for the regular range of the contrabass sax, and they are automatic. That means only one key for the thumb, like any other saxophone, and the instrument swtches octave keys for the player automatically depending on what note is being played. You don't have to think about fingerings - there is only one touchpiece for the left thumb, just like on any other saxophone.

Keywork goes all the way up to high F#, 3 ledger lines above the staff, just like most modern saxophones. Of course you can use special altissimo fingerings to go even higher. The altissimo octave key helps a lot. Benedikt Eppelsheim provides an altissimo fingering chart with the saxophone, and it's easy to invent even more fingerings using the altissimo key. It is operated by the RIGHT HAND thumb, because the left hand thumb is already busy with the regular octave key and the low A key like on any low A baritone sax.

This is the first contrabass ever with a low A key, making it the largest true saxophone ever produced.

[Jorns Bergenson]

What are the small diameter tubes comming off the neck?
The gray one looks something like a bicycle brake cable to operate the octave pip. The other looks like a brace to stabilize the long neck. Just my observations/speculations.

[Rowka]

Saxtek, how about pictures of the case, and dimensions of the case?

Thanks

[Yamahaaltoplayer]

The gray one looks something like a bicycle brake cable to operate the octave pip. The other looks like a brace to stabilize the long neck. Just my observations/speculations.

Um... saxtek already answered that with a lot of detail...

I KNEW IT WAS A BICYCLE BRAKE CABLE FOR AN OCTAVE VENT!:D Err... altissimo vent...

[saxtek]

Saxtek, how about pictures of the case, and dimensions of the case?

Thanks

The case is 77" X 27" X 17" Here's a photo.