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Re: Cryogenics Bat



I'm a "brass" player, mostly trumpet. For a number of years it's been
possible to have brass instruments cryo treated (to liquid nitrogen
temperatures). All kinds of benefits in tone quality and ease of
playing have been advertised.

I have not had this done to my trumpet, nor have I played a treated
trumpet. Several professional trumpet players I know have paid the
bucks and say they notice an improvement. As was already mentioned
about the bats, it's hard to know if this is real or psychological.

Although the sports movement clearly has been riddled with
"techno-gimmicks," I find other areas where personal skill is important
(i.e. music) also have the same situation. I wish there would be some
easy scientific way to substantiate the claimed improvements of these
things. Many times I don't even know what they are claiming. For
example, I can buy a trumpet mouthpiece (expensive) which has much more
metal and is much heavier. Supposedly it will "contain the sound waves
better" and give me a "much more focused sound." What does that mean?

I understand that shape, bore, smoothness, etc. are important in a
brass instrument. But do the elastic properties of a trumpet really
have much interaction on the standing waves inside such that metal
thickness and heat treatment really make much difference? Of course
people will say, "No, not much... but some. And to a professional
player than can give them an edge." How do you prove/refute that?

Whether the baseball goes farther or the trumpet sounds better is so
dependent upon the skill of the player... and we know some of this is
psychological... I don't know if scientists can do much verification or
debunking in these areas. What do the rest of you think?



Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817