Does Lacquer Affect The Sound of a Saxophone?

Many saxophonists consider whether a saxophone is lacquered to be a major factor in deciding what to purchase. It is worth asking: does this actually make a difference? 

Lacquer only slightly affects the sound of a saxophone. In particular, lacquer has a dampening effect that may make the sound somewhat darker. However, the difference is subtle and not enough to make or break a saxophonist’s sound. 

This is a complicated topic which is hotly debated. In this article, I’ll discuss experiments (some of which are rather informal) on both the saxophone and comparable instruments which seem to indicate that lacquer (or material) makes only a minimal difference. I’ll then discuss what I make of anecdotal claims from various saxophonists that lacquer (or lack thereof) has a substantial effect on sound.

Why lacquer does not matter much

All lacquer does is change the material over which the sound travels and slightly increase the thickness. Physics tells us that material should make a difference in instruments that require the material to vibrate to produce sound (such as violins, for instance), but that it will not make a difference if the instrument itself does not resonate. 

The physical material of wind instruments, such as the saxophone, is generally not what produces the sound (with the exception of the reed). Rather, it only directs the sound. Therefore the material, and thus lacquer, should not matter at least in theory.

The question, of course, is whether experimentation validates the theories presented by physics. From what I’ve found, lacquer and material in general do seem to have some effect on the sound, but it is barely noticeable. 

Experiments on lacquer/material

Unfortunately, there don’t appear to have been any published studies done specifically on the sound effect saxophone lacquer as far as I can tell. However, there have been formal studies done with comparable instruments, as well as a few tests done by amateur experimenters on saxophone lacquer. However, my conclusion from the below studies is that lacquer should have a very small effect. You can look into them yourself, and see if you agree with my conclusion.

Study #1

Admittedly, this isn’t so much a study as it was a casual experiment done by two saxophonists in a music shop. The author of this article from the Headwind Music website claims that he had two new Yanagisawa TWO20 tenor saxophones, one of which was lacquered and one of which was unlacquered. They also had two Zetland saxophones, one lacquered and unlacquered.

After blindfolding themselves and testing both saxophones, the author claimed that the unlacquered saxophones had a slightly wider sound. They sounded neither brighter nor darker, but rather had more of both high frequencies and low frequencies. 

That being said, the author had difficulty telling the lacquered saxophones from the unlacquered ones. He claimed that the difference seemed to him to be barely detectable. 

While this was an experiment obviously done on a very small scale, it seems to point toward the idea that saxophone lacquer only has a minimal effect, and that the lacquer seems to cut out some frequencies. Though this was the only ‘experiment’ I could find done on the effect of saxophone lacquer, it seems to point in the same direction as the other studies I looked at.

Study #2

An experiment was done by Robert Pyle Jr. on the effect of lacquer and silver plating on French horns. You can find the full article here

While French horns are obviously quite different from saxophones, we can plausibly expect that lacquer would have a similar effect on a saxophone as it would on a French horn. They are, after all, both wind instruments that rely on something other than the physical material they are constructed out of to produce sound. The reed vibrates to produce the sound of the saxophone, and lips vibrate to produce the sound of a French horn.

The author concluded that lacquer seemed to reduce the strength of higher partials in the tone. This seems to offer evidence in favor of the theory that lacquer causes an instrument to produce a darker sound. Many saxophonists tend to believe this as well.

Interestingly, this study specifically reported decreased higher frequencies due to lacquer, whereas in the previous experiment the authors seemed to hear a decrease in both the high and low frequencies on the lacquered saxophone. This study actually measured the frequencies; it may be more precise for that reason. However, both agree that lacquer seems to result in a narrower range of frequencies.

The author of this study doesn’t indicate whether the differences were noticeable to a listener. He measured the differences rather than listening for a difference in tone. However, we can probably assume that the differences were small. 

Study #3

An experiment was by Gregor Widholm and some of his colleagues on how the material of a flute affects sound. You can find the full article here.

Widholm found that the material produced a measurable effect on the color of sound. The difference was not perceivable to any listeners, however. 

This study again seems to indicate that if there is a difference, it is not easy to notice. The material over which the sound travels clearly seems to have some effect, but whether that is an effect which is musically significant is difficult to say. 

As was the case with the previous study, there may be concerns here as to what extent this study relates to our question regarding saxophone lacquer. However, there is a very similar debate regarding flute material as there is regarding saxophone lacquer, and the physics is roughly the same. Flutes and saxophones are both woodwind instruments, and the effect that the material has should in theory be similar to the effect that lacquer has; both simply change the material which the sound travels over. 

The take-away from the studies

The evidence that I can find on the subject seems to indicate that lacquer most likely has a small effect on the color of the sound, but that the difference is difficult to notice. Furthermore, the exact effect appears to be one which slightly dampens the range of frequencies, most likely (but not for certain) the higher ones.

If this is true, then there is probably some amount of merit to the idea that lacquer causes a saxophone to sound darker. However, this difference is quite minor. Lacquer is far from the most important consideration in selecting a horn, and it is arguably too minor to be a consideration at all. 

Ultimately, I am inclined to believe that lacquer will not make or break a person’s sound. Even among experienced musicians, it is difficult to tell the difference. If you came trying to determine whether to buy a lacquered or unlacquered saxophone, I recommend focusing on the other aspects of the saxophone first. 

If there is otherwise no difference between the saxophones, it might be reasonable to decide on the basis of the kind of sound you want (where lacquer may produce a darker sound).

Why do some saxophonists believe that lacquer matters?

Many saxophonists will claim that the lacquer produces a substantial and noticeable difference in sound. These claims are mostly anecdotal and not based in evidence, but the fact that many saxophonists seem to agree on this means that these claims are worth considering. 

It is possible that the saxophonists who make these claims really do observe some kind of difference. However, it is also possible (and perhaps more likely) that the difference is exaggerated. If someone already believes that lacquer makes a difference, they are more likely to think that there is a difference, whether there is or not. There may therefore be a bit of confirmation bias at play here. 

Also, keep in mind that there can be many factors which affect sound. No two saxophones are identical, no matter how similar they might be. If one unlacquered saxophone happens to sound brighter than one lacquered saxophone, that means nothing. It is hard to control for all factors other than lacquer in a comparison.

It is a bit unfortunate that it’s hard to decisively determine whether or not anecdotal claims about saxophone lacquer have any merit, and that studies on this topic are somewhat limited. Even so, my stance based on the above experiments is that if lacquer makes a difference, it probably isn’t an important one.

Conclusion

Does lacquer make a difference? It would seem so. Is it an important difference? Probably not. While it’s difficult to determine with certainty what effect lacquer has, I haven’t found any real evidence that lacquer is the sort of thing that can noticeably increase or decrease the quality of a person’s sound.

I do not recommend buying a saxophone on the basis of how the lacquer will affect the sound. I think there is simply no compelling reason to believe that this difference is substantial enough to factor into a purchasing decision.

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