Tubax

History of the Tubax

The story of the tubax begins with Belgian inventor Adolphe Sax who patented the original saxophone family of instruments in the 1840s. Sax envisaged a subcontrabass saxophone that would be the lowest in the family but it was the only saxophone that he never built himself. Contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones were much later developed but they were cumbersome and the tubing required a high amount of breath control to handle. In 1999, German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim invented the tubax, a saxophone based on Sax’s invention but with greater condensed tubing. Eppelsheim also created the saxophone with the highest range in the saxophone family - the soprillo. This instrument tuned to Eb or Bb, allowed for a smaller mouthpiece and was much easier to play than the earlier contrabass designs. The tubax can reach a half tone lower than the lowest notes on a piano, making it easily one of the lowest instruments in the woodwind family. The tubax also has similar fingering to traditional saxophones which makes it possible for first-time players that already play saxophone to take on the tubax. While the tubax does not require as much breath control as a subcontrabass saxophone, there is still a high amount required. The tubax is not easily mass produced but has still found popularity among woodwind and saxophone players.

Inventor: Benedikt Eppelsheim