Re: Brass instruments

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

John Gastineau says:

> I'm not sure that my experience matches this last claim. From back in my
> low-brass playing days, I recall the supreme test of a player's chops: to play
> the Star Spangled Banner with no horn, no mouthpiece, just the lips. So, the
> pitch of the sound emitted by the lips alone, and even more so with the
> mouthpiece, is far from pitch indeterminate. You can play a melody, although
> it is hard.

A really fit cyclist could ascend Pike's Peak all the way in high gear.
He would take a long time to do so because his power source is not well
matched to the task at hand. The bicycle is an impedance matching device
which allows him to expend greater power. All of the energy necessary to
climb the mountain comes from the cyclist himself; the bicycle does not
"amplify" his muscular power.

A really good trumpeter can play without a trumpet, but he can't play as
loudly as he could with the instrument*. The instrument is an impedance
matching device which allows him to produce greater acoustic power. All
of the energy in the output sound from a trumpet is produced by the
musician himself; the trumpet does not "amplify" his acoustic output.

Leigh

*My memory is that the test was *with* mouthpiece, but the point is the
same. John's statement is correct.