[Dixielandjazz] Sarrusophones

[Tom Belmessieri]

Thanks for the info. Joe.  Is this instrument similar to the opheclide, an 
1850 French instrument that uses a mouthpiece similar to that of the 
trombone or baritone?  They look similar except for the mouthpiece.

Tom B.

------------
>From: <jobriant at sunrisetelecom.com>
>To: <Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sarrusophones
>Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:57:52 -0800
>
>Tom Wiggins wrote:
>
> > Perhaps that lovely instrument (the Sarrusophone) was
> > just unfortunately missmatched with a bunch of other
> > more well known and exposed OKOM instruments that
> > have been over tuned for mellowness and sweetness. :))
>
>Well, the Cornets and especially the Double-Belled Euphoniums are certainly 
>more mellow than the Sarrusophone.
>
>But we weren't hearing this Sarrusophone as it was intended.  Pete played 
>it with a single-reed mouthpiece, as do a number of other contemporary 
>Sarrusophone players. I'm guessing that his instrument is either a Bb Bass 
>or Eb Contrabass Sarrusophone, but that's just a guess.
>
>But as invented, the Sarrusophone used a double reed.  Here's some 
>additional information, adapted from the International Double Reed Society 
>web page:
>
>The Sarrusophone was invented in 1856 by Monsieur Sarrus, a band leader for 
>the French 13th Regiment of the line. M. Sarrus The French patent was 
>awarded June 9, 1856 and gave manufacturing rights to the firm of P. L. 
>Gautrot in Paris. The Sarrusophone was intended primarily for use in the 
>marching band, to replace bassoons and oboes -- which are difficult to play 
>when marching and can't be heard very well outdoors anyway.
>
>The Sarrusophone fingering system is suspiciously like that of the 
>saxophone.
>
>And like the Saxophone, the Sarrusophone came in a family of several 
>instruments of differing sizes and pitches:
>
>Eb Sopranino
>Bb Soprano
>Eb Alto
>Bb Tenor
>Eb Baritone
>Bb Bass
>Eb Contrabass
>C  Contrabass
>Bb Contrabass
>
>These similarities did not go unnoticed by M. Adolph Sax, who sued Sarrus 
>for patent infringement. Sax lost.
>
>Gautrot in Paris and C.G. Conn in the USA had manufacturing rights.  Conn 
>made about 200 Eb Contrabass Sarrusophones between 1914 and the early 
>1920's.  To enable single-reed instrumentalists to play the Sarrusophone, 
>both companies also made a single-reed mouthpiece for it, similar in shape 
>and size to a soprano Saxophone mouthpiece.
>
>Apparently Sidney Bechet also played Sarrusophone, and made some jazz 
>recordings on one or another member of this instrument family.  I'd never 
>heard of these before (much less heard them), but I'd venture a guess that 
>he had a Bb Soprano Sarrusophone; the fingerings would have been similar to 
>his Bb Soprano Saxophone.
>
>In another message, Bill Gunter wrote:
>
> > If you took all the ugly noises in the universe and
> > rolled them into one it would still not sound as bad
> > as a sarousaphone [sic]. Pete could put the ax down
> > and make armpit farts and get a more beautiful sound
> > than that ugly, miserable excuse for a "musical"
> > instrument. It truly is an instrument for people
> > with "tin ears" or perhaps a death wish.
>
>Some C.G. Conn advertising literature took a different tack:
>
>"Although comparatively new in this hemisphere, the Sarrusophone as 
>produced by Conn has already established itself in America. and its 
>popularity is assured."
>
>However, the IDRS concludes its Sarrusophone article with a statement that 
>seems to agree more with Bill:
>
>"The brief popularity and rapid decline of the Sarrusophone is perhaps, as 
>Heinz Becker has pointed out, an argument for the hypothesis that the 
>lifespan of an instrument depends more on its tone quality than its 
>technical quality."
>
>I would agree with that, but not too loudly, as someone is likely to bring 
>up the fact that I own and play an Ophicleide.
>
>Jim O'Briant
>Tuba (& Ophicleide & other stuff)
>Gilroy, CA
>
>
>
>
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