no difference was perceived by musically sophisticated auditors
listening blind. As you are also likely familiar with experimental
protocols, please tell me how you controlled for variables other
than material differences in the comparisons you make above.
<<<
Well, what hall was used, who performed, who listened, did you put the
material on the bell or elsewhere on the trumpet (the bell is pretty
much the only place where it is going to matter), was the bell an
already heavy design so that more material would have a lessened
impact, were musical passages selected that gave a good demonstration
of the ringing quality of trumpet bells and of projection, were the
listeners in the projected cone of the bell or outside, were the
situated with a good distance to pick up on these differences (say 20
feet to 60 feet away)?
If I may, I suggest you take experiments like this to master classes
at local universities and let them play with it <g>. You will have a
ready pool of interested people with aprenticeship skills, and
developing ears.
You conducted one? experiment, yet professionally, we experiment every
performance, every rehearsal, every practice session. We are
constantly playing with different trumpets, mouthpieces, and lead
pipes, and the like. That's a lot of body of experience to go up
against with a study as you mention.