The bamboo saxophone has a cylindrical bore with eight holes along the top and one underneath, which is played by the thumb, that produce different notes when fingers cover them, and looks a lot like a recorder. It’s also small, like a recorder, with a length of about 12.5 inches (31.75 cm) and is commonly referred to as a pocket sax. Brian Whittman created a xaphoon, an early version of a first bamboo saxophone, in the 1970s in Hawaii, as an alternative to the traditional brass version of the instrument. It was designed to look like a chalumeau, a woodwind instrument from the late Baroque period of the 18th century. The instrument has gained popularity in many countries since its invention, including Jamaica, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Argentina.
Bamboo’s hollow inner stem, which makes it a good material for wind and percussion instrument construction, has been used to make a variety of instruments. Bamboo is a plant that belongs to the Poaceae family and is used to make a bamboo saxophone. Bamboo has also been used to make jinghu and xiao bamboo flutes, as well as the aboriginal didgeridoo, in place of eucalyptus wood.
The bamboo saxophone and the brass saxophone differ in several ways, including bore shape. The bore is the interior chamber of an instrument through which air passes. The bore of a bamboo saxophone is cylindrical, with the diameter remaining constant throughout its length, whereas the bore of a brass saxophone is conical, with a small diameter at the top and gradually increasing in diameter along the length. Despite their differences in shape, they produce a sound that is very similar.
Adolphe Sax invented the first saxophone in 1846, and it belongs to the woodwind family. The reed attached to the saxophone mouthpiece vibrates when air is blown through it, producing a sound. Pressing keys that are positioned along the brass surface of the instrument produce various sounds or notes. The instrument is popular in a variety of musical genres, including blues and jazz, and it can produce smooth or edgy tones.