The Physics of Playing the Saxophone

Last Friday was the Stage Band winter concert, where I played the baritone Saxophone. There was a lot of physics involved in this concert.

First of all a lot of sound waves were being produced. A sound wave consists of condensed and rarefracted areas of high and low air pressure respectively. This wave is made up of particles that travel in simple harmonic motion. The note that the audience hears during a concert depends on the frequency of the note, which is one over the period of the sound wave.

While playing the saxophone, I am able to create music because of the vibrations going through my instrument. A saxophone has a mouth piece with a wooden reed that vibrates when air is blown through it. This air is then pushed through the rest of the instrument and different notes are made because for different notes, different keys are held closed, therefore changing the amount of air that is allowed to go through the instrument. For higher notes (higher frequency) air is allowed to escape towards beginning of the instrument and for lower notes (less frequency) air is not allowed to escape the instrument until it reaches the end. The less time the air spends in the instrument the higher the frequency and pitch, as it there is less time for the air to slow down.