The Eb contrabass sarrusophone was the only sarrusophone that was ever mass produced in the United States. It was made by companies such as Gautrot, Couesnon, Romeo Orsi, Rampone (and Cazzani), Buffet Crampon (Evette and Schaeffer), and C.G. Conn.
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Tone
The EE♭ sarrusophone has the tone of a reedy contrabass saxophone, due partially to the fact that it is played with a double reed. The reedy tone is also caused by the narrower bore. The CC sarrusophone sounds much like the contrabassoon, and in fact was preferred over the contrabassoon for many years, until Heckel modernized the contrabassoon. (Prior to that, the contrabassoon had very poor intonation and a weak sound.) The BB♭ contrabass sarrusophone is the lowest of the sarrusophones, and was the lowest-pitched wind instrument until the invention of the EEE♭ octocontra-alto and the BBB♭ octocontrabass clarinets, and the BB♭ subcontrabass tubax. Contrabass sarrusophones come in two bore widths: big pipes, which sound mellower and softer, but are still reedy; and small pipes, which are extremely reedy. All contrabass sarrusophones, except for the CC contrabass, are transposing instruments. T The contrabass sarrusophone is sometimes confused with the reed contrabass, to which it bears some superficial resemblance.
Reed
Contrabass sarrusophones take rather large reeds; they are larger than contrabassoon reeds. This leads to most people either making their own reeds (as is the practice of most oboe and bassoon players). Contrabass sarrusophone reeds are still manufactured by Vandoren, and one can sometimes substitute the great bass sordune reed (see, e.g., [The Early Music Shop]http://www.e-m-s.com/). Sarrusophones are traditionally played with a double reed, but single reed mouthpieces have also been used. These mouthpieces are similar in size to soprano or alto saxophone mouthpieces.
Size
Contrabass sarrusophones are extremely light for contrabass instruments, weighing only about as much as a baritone saxophone, and being approximately 4 feet tall, about the same height as a bass saxophone. This makes them more convenient to carry around, fitting into cars more easily, and putting less strain on one's muscles while carrying or playing it. 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.
Use
Classical
The sarrusophone is rarely scored in classical music today, but there are a few examples. Pieces written for it include Percy Grainger's Over the Hills and Far Away, Paderewski's Symphony in B Minor (Polonia), which called for three EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone players, Maurice Ravel's L'heure espagnol, and Arrigo Boito's Nerone. Paul Dukas also used it in his song The Sorcerer's Apprentice. And, last but not least, Sir Thomas Beecham performed Josef Holbrooke's Apollo and the Seaman with contrabass sarrusophone players, which they had to ship in from France. Igor Stravinsky's first fully serial work, Threni (1958), a symphonic/choral setting of passages from the Latin Vulgate of the Book of Lamentations (Robert Craft has recorded this piece twice.), includes a sarrusophone in its unusual scoring, which also features a solo Flugelhorn. American composer Barney Childs composed a chamber work, The Golden Bubble (1967), for EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone and one percussionist. Today, the sarrusophone finds more work in film scores, such as "Tombstone" and "The Scorpion King", where it adds sinister and foreboding elements.
Jazz
An unusual example of jazz that uses the contrabass sarrusophone is the famous song "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind", with Sidney Bechet on, what is believed to be a Conn EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone with a single reed mouthpiece (Bechet was not a trained double reed player), with Louis Armstrong on cornet, Charlie Irvis on trombone, Clarence Williams on piano, and Buddy Christian on banjo. Gerald Oshita also performed avant-garde jazz on a Conn EE♭ contrabass sarrusophone. More recent examples include recordings by Scott Robinson (jazz musician), James Carter (musician), and Lenny Pickett.
