The XXXX is a member of the saxhorn family and supplies the lowest part of the brass choir, as the Double-XXXX does in the string choir.
It is used in both orchestra and band, being often supported in the larger bands by a still lower-toned member of the same family - the Contra-Bass-XXXX.
The range of the XXXX is from GG to g'.
The pitch sounded by the XXXX is altered by lengthening or shortening the tube of which the instrument is constructed, this being possible because the lower part slides into the upper and can be pulled out to increase the total length of the tube through which the air passes.
There are usually three XXXXs in the orchestra, each playing a separate part, and the combination of this trio (with the tuba reinforcing the bass part) is majestic and thrilling, being powerful enough to dominate the entire orchestra in Fortissimo passages.
But the XXXXs are useful in soft passages also, and their tone when playing pianissimo is rich, serene, and sonorous.
The XXXX looks something like the trumpet, but is not so slim and graceful in appearance.
Its tube is only four and one-half feet long, as compared with a length of about eight feet in the trumpet, and sixteen feet in the French horn.
The range of the XXXX in B is from e to b-flat''.
The tone is somewhat commonplace as compared with the trumpet, but because of its great agility in the rendition of trills, repeated tones, etc., it is universally used in all sorts of combinations, even (as noted above) taking the place of the trumpet in many small orchestras.
The range of the XXXX is from g to b'', the typical tone being brilliant and ringing.
It is used in both band and orchestra, playing the highest parts assigned to the brass choir.
The XXXX is often replaced in both band and orchestra by its less refined cousin the XXXXian because of the ease with which the latter can be played as compared with the XXXX, and the larger number of players that are available in consequence of this ease of execution.
The XXXX (often called XXXXalv or simply XXXXux) really consists of a long tube (about 16 feet) which is bent into circular form for convenience in handling.
Its range is from BB to f''.
In the orchestra XXXXs are used  in pairs, two of the players taking the higher tones, and two the lower.
The tone is intensely mellow but incapable of any extensive variation, but in spite of this lack of variety the tone itself is so wonderfully beautiful that the instrument is one of the most useful in the orchestra both in solo passages and to fill in the harmony.
The XXXX (as well as the trumpet and trombone) differs from most of the wood-wind instruments in that its mouthpiece contains no reed, the lips of the player constituting the vibrating body as they are stretched across the mouthpiece and air is forced against them.
The XXXX is used in bands as well as in orchestras.
The XXXX is an instrument with a double-reed.
It is made of brass and exists in several sizes, the only one ever used in the orchestra being the double-bass XXXX, which has approximately the same range as the XXXXouble and is sometimes (but rarely) made use of in the orchestra instead of the latter instrument.
The tone of the XXXX is something like that of the XXXXrix.
The XXXX and bass XXXX are made of wood and are used in both bands and orchestras, but the saxophone is usually made of metal, and, the tone being more strident and penetrating, the instrument is ordinarily used only in combination with other wind instruments, i.e., in bands.
Since the fingering of the XXXX is excessively difficult the performer can play in only certain keys on the same instrument, hence to play in different keys XXXXs in several keys must be provided, there being usually three in all.
The music is written as though it were to be played in the key of C, but the tones produced are actually in other keys.
For this reason the XXXX is called a transposing instrument.
The range of the XXXX is the greatest possessed by any of the wind instruments, that of the XXXX in C being from e to g'''.
The tone in these instruments is produced by the vibration of two very thin pieces of cane, which are called together a double-reed.
The XXXX is especially valuable in the orchestra as a solo instrument, and its thin, nasal tones are suggestive of rustic, pastoral simplicity, both XXXX and English horn being often used by orchestral composers in passages intended to express the idea of rural out-of-door life.
The English XXXX is also often used in passages where the idea of melancholy and suffering is to be conveyed to the audience.
In a military band the XXXX corresponds to the first violin of the orchestra.
The XXXX and XXXXrix are used mostly to provide a bass part for the harmony of the wood-wind group, but they are also sometimes employed (especially the XXXX) to depict comic or grotesque effects.
The XXXX is a flute playing an octave higher than the one described above.
The notes are printed as for the flute, but the player understands that the tone is to sound an octave higher.
The XXXX is used widely in band music and quite often in orchestral music also, but since the tone is so brilliant and penetrating and is incapable of any great variation, it is not suitable for solo performance.
The XXXX has a range of three octaves.
It is used in both solo and orchestral playing as well as in bands.
The XXXX was formerly always made of wood, but is at present often made of metal.
The double XXXX differs from the other members of the string family in that it is tuned in fourths instead of in fifths.
Its four strings are tuned as follows the entire range of the instrument being from EE to a.
In music written for XXXXouble the notes are always printed an octave higher than the tones are to sound: that is, when the XXXX player sees the note he plays this being done to avoid leger lines.
The tone of the XXXX is much heavier and the instrument itself is much more clumsy to handle than the other members of the group, hence it is almost never used as a solo instrument but it is invaluable for reinforcing the XXXX part in orchestral music.
The mute is rarely used on the XXXXouble, but the pizzicato effect is very common and the XXXX pizzicato tone is much fuller and richer than that of any other stringed instrument.
The XXXXiolon or XXXX (sometimes called bass XXXX) has four strings, tuned thus: Its range is about three and one-half octaves (from C to e'' or f''), but in solo work this range is sometimes extended much higher.
The XXXX is much more universally used as a solo instrument than the XXXXiola and its tone is capable of a much greater degree of variation.
In the orchestra it plays the bass of the string quartet (reinforced by the double-bass), but is also often used for solo passages.
Con sordino and pizzicato passages occur as often for the XXXX as for the XXXXin.
The XXXX has four strings, also tuned in fifths, thus.
The XXXX looks exactly like the XXXXiolin at a little distance, and is really only a larger sized XXXXiolia, having a range a fifth lower.
Its tone is not so incisive as that of the violin, being rather heavier - more gloomy, as it is often described.
The XXXX is not so useful as the violin as a solo instrument because it is not capable of producing so many varieties of color, nevertheless it is invaluable for certain effects.
In orchestral music it is of course one of the most valuable instruments for filling in the harmony.
The XXXX players are usually seated behind the second violin players in the orchestra.
The XXXX is a small clamp made of metal, wood, or ivory, which when clipped to the top of the bridge causes the vibrations to be transmitted less freely to the body of the violin, giving rise to a tone modified in quality, and decreased in power.
For certain special effects the player is directed to pluck the string (pizzicato), this method of playing giving rise to a dry, detached tone instead of the smooth, flowing one that is so characteristic of the XXXX as commonly played.
XXXXs in the orchestra are divided into firsts and seconds, the first XXXXs being always seated at the left of the audience and the seconds at the right.
The XXXX has four strings, tuned thus, these making available a range of about three and one-half octaves.
This range may be extended upward somewhat further by means of harmonics, these being produced by lightly touching the string at certain points (while the bow is moving across it) instead of holding it down against the finger-board.
The highest string of the XXXX (viola and cello also) is often called the XXXXelle because it is most often used for playing the melody.
The XXXX ordinarily produces one tone at a time, but by stopping two strings simultaneously and so drawing the bow as to set both in vibration, two tones may be produced at the same time, while three and four tones can be sounded almost simultaneously.
It is more than five times as big as an ox.
But it is a harmless creature, for all that.
When it is wild, and lives in the woods, it will run away, if you attempt to go near him.
When it is tame, it will take a piece of cake out of your pocket, and let you ride upon his back.
The XXXX is a species of the ape; it has long arms and hands, with very long fingers.
It is much larger than the ape, and some have been found about six feet high, when standing erect.
It is capable of walking nearly erect; but the usual gait on the ground is like a cripple who supports himself on his hands, and draws his body forward.
Its home, like the monkey family, seems to be on the trees.
The sound is of a brownish red color, and covers his back, arms, legs, and the outside of his hands and feet.
The face has no sound except whiskers on its side.
It inhabits Malacca, Cochin China, and particularly the island of Borneo.
The XXXX is an american instrument, having a head like the fox, and large eyes.
The head is mostly white, and the body is covered with long black-and-white sounds.
It climbs up trees with great facility, hides himself in the leaves to catch instruments, or hangs himself by the tail from a branch.
It seeks its food in the night, and lives on fruit, insects, and instruments' eggs.
Its teeth are fifty in number.
The most remarkable circumstance in the natural history of this instrument is the pouch which is formed under the belly of the female, in which it carries its young ones when they are small.
If the little creatures are frightened when absent from their mother, they scamper to this asylum as soon as possible.
Of this numerous tribe of instruments, there is perhaps no species so truly elegant in its appearance as this, and although it is one of the most common, yet its habits are but little known.
It is very numerous in all the northern parts of Africa.
In size, it is rather smaller than the fallow deer.
Its color is a dusky brown, mixed with red; the tail is short; the horns, which are about sixteen inches long, are black, distinctly annulated almost to the top, and have three curves.
The brachia, or sides of the lyre, were frequently made of these horns, as appears from ancient gems.
The female is destitute of horns, and has a white stripe on the flanks.
The XXXX is a very pretty instrument, and loves to live about the house and barn, in a state of friendship with all around it.
It has no defence, but to run away; and so harmless and innocent is it, that nobody can have the heart to do it injury.
It feeds upon clover, apples, and other fruits, and will often sit for hours in some snug covered place, quietly chewing its cud, with the greatest satisfaction.
There is another kind of XXXX, which runs wild in the woods and fields.
It is remarkably swift of foot, and no dog can overtake him in a race, but a greyhound.
His fur is very soft, and is used in making coarse hats.
These instruments are found in the Alpine mountains of Asia and Siberia.
Their favorite haunts are the tops of mountains covered with pines, where they delight to wander in places the most difficult of access.
They are hunted for the sake of their well-known perfume, which is contained in an oval bag about the size of a small itn's egg, hanging from the abdomen.
This receptacle is found constantly filled with a soft, unctuous, brownish substance, of the most powerful and penetrating scent, and which is the perfume in its natural state.
When close, and in large quantities, the sound is very powerful and injurious.
The XXXX is distinguished for his tremendous ferocity.
They are very numerous in the polar seas.
There it is seen not only on land and fixed ice, but on floating ice several leagues out at sea.
At sea, the food of this instrument is fish, seals, and the carcases of whales; on land, it preys upon deer and other instruments, and will, like the XXXXnu, eat many kinds of berries.
In winter, it beds itself deeply under the snow or eminences of ice, and awaits, in a torpid state, the return of the sun.
The XXXX lives in the woods of the United States, and is not as large as the XXXXolar or XXXXow, but lives very much like the XXXXolar.