Re: Brass Instruments

[Mel Bartels <mbartels@EFN.ORG>]

> > >
Brass is used for some musical instruments because it can be used.
Experimental effort has been expended on the effect of construction
material on the sound of brass and woodwind instruments, and the
differences seem to be undetectable to physical instrumentation*.
In one experiment a brass trumpet was packed on the outside with
modeling clay and the sound was unaffected! Silver, gold, and even
platinum are used to make the same instruments that are made of
brass in cheaper versions.
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As a former professional trumpet player with a dozen years playing in
a symphony (8 as lead), I can assure you that materials used do make a
difference.  Beryllium bells sound different than silver bells (coated
metals on trumpet bells).  A Colichio trumpet intended for jazz lead
made from brass so soft that you can bend it in your hands would be
laughed out of the concert hall.  It has been popular with french horn
and trombonists to remove lacquer from their bells - they feel it
makes a difference.

The baroque trumpets were hand made from mallets and rolled metals.
Their sound is very soft compared to the harsher and more piercing
modern piccolo trumpets with their smooth interiors.

So the type of metal, the internal smoothness, and thickness matter.

Clarinet players are still frantically looking for a replacement for
their precious african wood.  Plastic is getting better, but the best
custom plastic still falls short in the concert hall.

The problem with the couple of studies I've seen is that they should
have been conducted in a concert hall with one group of professional
musicians performing and another group selecting the best sounds.

> > >
Instruments made of precious metals are
often made with greater craftsmanship than their brass congeners,
and that may affect relative sound.
<<<

This is true.

Mel Bartels