ECE 791/792 Project Proposal
Project Title: Electric Saxophone
Project Team: Michael Peña
ECE Faculty Advisor: Frank Hludik
ECE Courses Involved: 617, 618, 633, 634, 649,
651
Current Date: September 2011
Project Completion Date: May 2012
General Problem
• The saxophone has the smallest range of the
ordinary woodwind instruments
• Practicing is loud and can be annoying to
others. Beginners might be embarrassed
because they cannot play well and don’t want
others to hear.
Most popular solution
As one can imagine this is uncomfortable and does not really
help a beginning player as the player cannot see the keys.
Design Objectives
• The electric saxophone will be able to produce a sound
wave electronically instead of acoustically. This will allow
the saxophone to have an extended range as there will be
no limitations due to the physics of acoustics. The range will
extend two octaves below and one octave above.
Original Range
New Range
• There will also be a headphone jack to allow the player to
listen to the sound without disturbing others while
practicing
Optional Objectives
• Saxophones do not equate to other
instruments. For example, a pianist is able to
play any instrument imaginable when using an
electric keyboard. If I finish my desired goals
early, I would like to have the electric
saxophone produce sounds from other
instruments.
Plan
• Pressure sensor connected to an amplifier to
output louder sounds with harder breath.
• Tonguing switch to add space between notes.
This will equate to stopping the vibrating reed
with the players tongue.
• Keys which will equate to the fingerings of the
saxophone.
• Microcontroller which will monitor the
keypresses and pressure sensor to output a
saxophone waveform at the correct amplitude
and frequency.
Block Diagram
Testing
• I will be taking the completed design to my
friends in the UNH Band and have them rate
how well it works
Budget
Category
Microcontroller
Saxophone
Circuitry
Miscellaneous
Total
Parts
Microcontroller
Hardware attachments
Buttons/Switches
Speakers
Breath sensor
Wires
Battery Connection
Price
$40
$50
$100
$10
$5
$15
$10
$1
$50
$281
Timeline