Re: Brass Instruments

["David T. Marx" <dtmarx@SIU.EDU>]

You seem to be missing the most important point - the sound quality.
Musicians prefer certain types of materials to be used over others because of
the quality of sound produced.  While silver and nickel-plated flutes may be
preferred for intermediate players, the top performers choose gold-plated
flutes, not because they look nice, but because of the sound produced.
Plastic instruments may be lighter and cheaper, but you won't find one used
by a professional musician.


> At 3:58 PM -0400 10/10/00, John Cooper asked::
> > >  >Why is brass used for musical instruments?
>
> 1) Just because it's called "brass" or "horn" doesn't mean it is made out
> of brass or horn (i.e. animal keratin).  And none of my silverware is made
> of silver.  Neither is a Pound Sterling, for that matter.  The present-day
> name is just a figure of speech.
>
> 2) If it is made of brass, that's for the same reasons brass is used for
> keys and pipe-fittings.
>
> At 04:18 PM 10/10/00 -0400, Chuck Britton wrote:
> > Because it's cheaper than silver or platinum?
>
> 1) Yes, brass is cheaper than bronze, silver, and lots of other things.
>
> 2) Brass is much easier to work with than steel, the cheapest metal.
>
> 3) There are real limits to what you can build out of the keratin you get
> from animals' horns.
>
> 4) At the time these instruments became known as the "brass" instruments,
> aluminum was not readily available.
>
> 5) These days you can get such things built out of plastic, which has a
> superior strength-to-weight ratio.