Hitting that note

You might think the mellifluous sound of the saxophone couldn’t be bettered,
but the Henri Selmer Company in Paris thinks otherwise (W0 01/31626). The firm
wants to improve the accuracy of treble C sharp. Making the C-sharp hole smaller
will do the trick. But then medium C sharp sounds anaemic, reports inventor
Jerome Selmer. So he has put a second C-sharp hole and closure pad on the
instrument body, alongside the reduced hole. When the musician opens them both,
with the octave hole closed, medium C sharp sounds as good as treble C
sharp.