Selmer Saxophones
Selmer are a little known French musical instrument company. They specialise in woodwind instruments and can be traced back to the 18th century. Even though Selmer can be traced back to France and are essentially a French company they are now based in the US and sell a large majority of their instruments to American customers.A little Selmer history:
The Selmer brand name comes from the Selmer family who can be traced back to the rural regions of France in the 18th century. Like most big musical instrument manufacturers they started off small in a workshop run by one man. The Selmer family were not always called Selmer however, they started off with the name Zelmer. Several generations later one of the sons decided to change the family name to Selmer and hence the Selmer brand name was born. The Selmer family started out by only repairing clarinets and many years later when they realised there was a great trade in making them did they start to manufacturer them themselves. At first business was slow but it soon started to pick up and many hundreds of years later Selmer is a well respected, if not the best known, manufacturer of saxophones.
Selmer make all major woodwind and brass instruments. This is an interesting point about Selmer. Many expert instruments makers usually stick to one type of instrument family. For example; Stentor only make violins but Selmer make both woodwind and brass.
Types of Selmer Saxophones
Selmer make the three major sizes of saxophones: alto, tenor and baritone.
Selmer Alto Saxophone Outfit
This saxophone is silver plated with a brass body which is standard in most alto saxophones. The keys are also silver plated which makes for more a more durable instrument. In selected instruments there is mother of pearl key pads which makes for a better feel under the fingertips. The Selmer Alto saxophone is designed to fit the measurements of an average hand and all the keys are within easy reach without having to stretch too much. For this reason this saxophone is suited to children who are starting to learn. The Selmer Alto saxophone has a high F# key and an adjustable thumb rest to ensure maximum comfort when playing. There is also a C# adjusting key. The bell of the Selmer alto sax is engraved with the Selmer logo so that it is unmistakably a Selmer instrument.
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