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The contrabass sarrusophone was the only sarrusophone that was ever mass produced. It was made by companies such as Gautrot, Couesnon, Romeo Orsi, Rampone (and Cazzani), Buffet and Crampton (Evette and Schaeffer), and C.G. Conn. It is now nothing more than a novelty, or a collection item. It comes in three keys; EE♭ (double E-flat), CC (double C), and BB♭ (double B-flat).

Contents 1 Tone 2 Reed 3 Size 4 Use 4.1 Classical 4.2 Jazz 5 External links

The EE♭ sarrusophone has the tone of a reedy contrabass saxophone, due partially to the fact that it is played with a double reed. The reedy tone is also caused by the narrower bore. The CC sarrusophone sounds a lot like the contrabassoon. The BB♭ contrabass sarrusophone is the lowest of the sarrusophones, and was the lowest-pitched wind instrument until the invention of the EEE♭ octocontra-alto and the BBB♭ octocontrabass clarinets, and the BB♭ subcontrabass tubax. Contrabass sarrusophones come in two bore widths: big pipes, which sound mellower and softer, but are still reedy; and small pipes, which are extremely reedy.

All contrabass sarrusophones, except for the CC contrabass, are transposing instruments. These instruments were used in France instead of the contrabassoon; this was because, at the time it was invented, the contrabassoon still had very poor intonation and a weak sound.

The contrabass sarrusophone is sometimes confused with the reed contrabass, to which it bears some superficial resemblance.

Contrabass sarrusophones take rather large reeds; they are larger than contrabassoon reeds. This leads to most people either making their own reeds or purchasing great bass sordune reeds, which are about the same size as a tenor saxophone reed. They are sold, but it is rare to find such a place. Sarrusophones usually use a double reed, but the C.G. Conn company sold them with a single reed mouthpiece at one point, which was similar to that of an alto sax.

Contrabass sarrusophones are extremely light for contrabass instruments, weighing only about as much as a baritone saxophone, and being approximately 4 feet tall, about the same height as a bass saxophone. This makes them more convenient to carry around, fitting into cars more easily, and putting less strain on one's muscles while carrying or playing it. Conn made contrabass sarrusophones, instead of contrabass saxophones, because the sarrusophones were easier to ship across seas, and to send through the mail, due to their lightness.

The sarrusophone is rarely called for in classical music, let alone any music at all, but there are a few examples. They chose to write for the sarrusophone instead of the contrabassoon because of the contrabassoon's overall poor quality. Pieces written for it include Percy Grainger's Over the Hills and Far Away, Paderewski's Symphony in B Minor (Polonia), which called for three EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone players, Maurice Ravel's L'heure espagnol, and Arrigo Boito's Nerone. Paul Dukas also used it in his song The Sorcerer's Apprentice. And, last but not least, Sir Thomas Beecham performed Josef Holbrooke's Apollo and the Seaman with contrabass sarrusophone players, which they had to ship in from France. Igor Stravinsky's serialist work Threni, a symphonic chorale setting of passages from the Latin Vulgate of the book of Lamentations, also includes sarrusophones in its scoring. Robert Craft recorded the piece.

An unusual example of jazz that uses the contrabass sarrusophone is the famous song Mandy, Make Up Your Mind, with Sidney Bechet on, what is believed to be a Conn EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone with a single reed mouthpiece (Bechet was not a trained double reed player), with Louis Armstrong on cornet, Charlie Irvis on trombone, Clarence Williams on piano, and Buddy Christian on banjo. Gerald Oshita also performed avant-garde jazz on a Conn EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone.

• The Sarrusophone