Starting from the fourth fundamental
note, each key can be employed in the next higher octave, by the help
of other two keys, which, being opened successively, set up a
vibrating loop. The saxophones, although difficult to play, fill an
important place in the military music of France and Belgium, and have
been employed with advantage in the French orchestra. The fingering of
all saxophones is that attributed to Boehm.
The cup shaped mouthpiece must now take the place of the reed in our
attention. Here the lips fit against a hollow cup shaped reservoir,
and, acting as vibrating membranes, may be compared with the vocal
chords of the larynx. They have been described as acting as true
reeds. Each instrument in which such a mouthpiece is employed requires
a slightly different form of it. The French horn is the most important
brass instrument in modern music. It consists of a body of conical
shape about seven feet long, without the crooks, ending in a large
bell, which spreads out to a diameter of fifteen inches. The crooks
are fitted between the body and the mouthpiece; they are a series of
smaller interchangeable tubings, which extend in length as they
descend in pitch, and set the instrument in different keys.
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