Saxophone Player in Gurgaon mouthpiece cup as with the brass instrument family. As with the other woodwind instruments, the pitch of the note being played is controlled by covering holes in the body tube to control the resonant frequency of the air column by changing the effective length of the tube. The player covers or uncovers the holes by pressing keys. The saxophone is used in classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and, occasionally, orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (such as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in some styles of rock and roll and popular music. Saxophone players are called saxophonists. Since the first saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s, saxophones have been produced in a variety of series distinguished by transpositions within instrument sets and tuning standard. Sax patented the saxophone on 28 June 1846, in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments ranked by pitch, in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭ soon became dominant and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the series pitched in C and F never gained a foothold and constituted only a small percentage of instruments made by Sax. High Pitch (also marked "H" or "HP") saxophones tuned sharper than the (concert) A = 440 Hz standard were produced into the early twentieth century for sonic qualities suited for outdoor uses, but are not playable to modern tuning and are considered obsolete. Low Pitch (also marked "L" or "LP") saxophones are equivalent in tuning to modern instruments. C soprano and C melody saxophones were produced for the casual market as parlor instruments during the early twentieth century. Saxophones in F were introduced during the late 1920s but never gained acceptance. The modern saxophone family consists entirely of instruments in the B♭ – E♭ series, historical and experimental instruments notwithstanding. The saxophones with widest use and availability are the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Pitch and Range In the keyed (below overtone-produced altissimo) ranges of the various saxophones, the pitch is controlled by keys with shallow cups in which are fastened leather pads that seal toneholes, controlling the resonant length, and thereby frequency, of the air column within the bore. Small holes called vents, located between the toneholes and the mouthpiece, are opened by an octave key to raise the pitch one octave by eliminating the fundamental frequency, leaving the first harmonic as the frequency defining the pitch. Most modern saxophones are keyed to produce a low B♭ (relative to the instrument's transposition) with all keys closed; modern baritone saxophones commonly play a low A and altos keyed to low A have been produced in the past. The highest keyed note has traditionally been F two and a half octaves above low B♭, while the keyed range is extended to F♯ on most recent performance-class instruments. A high G key is most common on modern soprano saxophones. Notes above F are considered part of the altissimo register of any saxophone, and can be produced using advanced embouchure techniques and fingering combinations. Keywork facilitating altissimo playing is a feature of modern saxophones. Modern saxophone players have extended the range to over four octaves on tenor and alto. Music for most saxophones is usually notated using treble clef. Because all saxophones use the same key arrangement and fingering to produce a given notated pitch, it is not difficult for a competent player to switch among the various sizes when the music has been suitably transposed, and many do so. Since the baritone and alto are pitched in E♭, players can read concert pitch music notated in the bass clef by reading it as if it were treble clef and adding three sharps to the key signature. This process, referred to as clef substitution, makes it possible for the Eb instruments to play from parts written for baritone horn, bassoon, euphonium, string bass, trombone, or tuba. This can be useful if a band or orchestra lacks one of those instruments.