Saxophone without mouthpiece

Abstract

Don-Paul Kahl’s artistic research project explores saxophone without mouthpiece (SWMP), an innovative approach to saxophone playing that challenges traditional performance practices. In SWMP playing, the instrument’s mouthpiece – an essential component for producing its conventional sound – is removed. Instead, the player performs directly on the neckpiece of the saxophone. This absence of the mouthpiece creates new sonic possibilities, giving rise to a range of relatively new techniques such as air pitch, tongue ram, trumpet sounds, and saxo-flute hybridity. These techniques, which have yet to be fully explored in both performance and academic spheres, prompted my early interest through initial encounters with composers incorporating them into their works. From this curiosity emerged an artistic research project aimed at understanding and refining my own skills with these techniques, contextualizing their origins and aesthetic position within music history, exploring their role in the broader saxophone repertoire, and investigating their potential in such a way that other performers as well as composers could benefit from it.

This research project has taken place in and through my own musical practice. Therefore, it is complemented with personal audio and video performances of various SWMP works. The performances of these works are a crucial element in the possibility of having done (and having been able to do) this research in the first place. The true outcome of this artistic research project lies in successful performances, recordings, and commissions of SWMP works. Additionally, a detailed pitch manual, featuring audio examples of each possible pitch for each respective technique, is included.