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A new arrival.

© Chris Mindel

Yes, that’s right. We have a new addition to our saxophone family here at base camp (that is, my home.) The saxophone family that has been living here for many years has been my alto sax and my girlfriend’s low-A baritone sax. Of course, they share some space with their cousins: flute and clarinet, but they are only cousins. But a few weeks ago, my girlfriend brought into our home the new arrival. Her brand new Yanagisawa sopranino saxophone in E-flat (which, of course, makes her the coolest saxophone player I know, owning both her own low-A bari and sopranino saxophones). I’ll give you a brief overview of it, as we have yet to explore all of its talents.

I guess I’ll start with the arrival. It was ordered for her birthday, but didn’t arrive until Valentine’s Day. Still a romantic and special day to get a new saxophone! When the box was opened, we were presented with a case that looked somewhat like a rounded-edge rectangular violin case. Only the sopranino’s case is about half the size. After being used to carrying around her bari sax case or my alto (which also hold the clarinet and flute), picking up this little case felt very strange.

Now for the instrument itself. A beautiful little jewel, only 18 inches long. The mouthpiece is about the size of a small person’s pinkie finger. It looks like it could fit into the baritone sax’s mouthpiece, but that would just be unnatural (and possibly damaging to both mouthpieces) to try! The reeds are Vandoren 3’s, which seem to provide a nice resistance. After playing alto for so long, and even clarinet, I found it difficult to feel the sopranino’s mouthpiece in my mouth. It’s so small.

The range on this Yanagisawa is low B-flat to high E. [Note: There is a sopranino from LA Sax which has a high F key, but that can always be faked through altissimo fingerings. I imagine altissimo on sopranino would be able to break glass. I jest.] And, like all saxophones, the paramount feature of this sopranino is its sound. The tone is absolutely heavenly. It is so high, that only the low notes have a slight hint of soprano sax sound. The rest of the instrument sounds like nothing I have heard before. It is a pure, angelic sound. It takes my breath away listening to it. As you can read, words fail to do it justice.

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