The group was notable for its contrabass saxophone, which is 203 centimetres tall with a 43-centimetre-diameter bell.

In recent years, however, the contrabass saxophone has experienced a resurgence in interest.

The contrabass saxophone is the lowest-pitched extant member of the saxophone family proper.

Due to its large body and wide bore, the sound of the contrabass saxophone has great acoustical presence and a very rich tone.

He also owns and records with a vintage contrabass saxophone, so rare that fewer than twenty in playable condition are known to exist.

He also makes bass saxophones, contrabass saxophones, and contrabass clarinets.

The Contrabass Saxophone.

Saxophone ensembles were also popular at this time, and the contrabass saxophone was an eye-catching novelty for the groups that were able to obtain one.

Several modern works for orchestra and chamber ensembles were scored for contrabass saxophone by composer Adam Gilberti.

Thanks to refinements in their acoustical designs and keywork, modern contrabass saxophones are no more difficult to play than most other saxophones.

Video of Marcel W. Helland playing a Contrabass Saxophone.

It has the same register as a regular contrabass saxophone but is much more compact and thus more manageable due to its tubing being folded more times.

The EE sarrusophone has the tone of a reedy contrabass saxophone, while the CC sarrusophone sounds much like the contrabassoon.

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.

In some contemporary jazz/classical ensembles the contrabass saxophone doubles the baritone saxophone either at the same pitch or an octave below, depending on the register of the music.

Sandman's theme uses "two contrabass saxophones, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabass bassoons and eight very low French horns" to sound "low, aggressive and heavy".

The Scottish composer Alistair Hinton has included parts for soprano, alto, baritone and contrabass saxophones in his Concerto for 22 Instruments completed in 2005.

The contrabass saxophone has most frequently been used as a solo instrument by woodwind players in the genres of jazz and improvised music who are searching for an extreme or otherworldly tone.

While there are few orchestral works that call specifically for the contrabass saxophone, the growing number of contrabass saxophonists has led to the creation of an increasing body of solo and chamber music literature.

Patrick Gilmore's famous American band roster included a contrabass saxophone in 1892, and at least a dozen of these instruments were built by the Evette-Schaeffer company for the US military bands in the early 20th century.

"Hymns and Fuguing Tune No. 18" for soprano and contrabass saxophones is more interesting to look at than to listen to by virtue of the lower instrument, an astonishing mutation of Patrick Ewing-like dimensions.

The contrabass saxophone was part of the original saxophone family as conceived by Adolphe Sax, and is included in his saxophone patent of 1846, as well as in Kastner's concurrently published Methode for saxophone.

The question of whether or not the tubax is truly a saxophone is debatable: it has the same fingering as a contrabass saxophone, but its bore, though conical, is narrower (relative to its length) than that of a regular saxophone.

There was humor in the music when Mr. Robinson, on the outsize contrabass saxophone, made his way through a sultry ballad like a barge in a narrow creek, and when he played the vocal part of "Creole Love Call" on theremin.

Although still quite rare, perhaps partly due to its great expense, three manufacturers now produce contrabass saxophones: Benedikt Eppelsheim of Munich, Germany Romeo Orsi Wind Instruments of Milan, and J'Elle Stainer of São Paulo, Brazil.