Re: Brass Instruments

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 15:58 10/10/00 -0400, Jim Goll asked:
> Why is brass used for musical instruments?
>
> Jim Goll
> Glenville State College
> goll@glenville.edu

Brass cymbals and trumpets are instruments of antiquity.
The earliest mention I easily find is this:

And David spake to the chief of the Levites             Chronicles 15:16
to appoint their brethren the singers with instruments
of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding,
by lifting up the voice with joy.

So the singers Heman Asaph and Ethan to sound with                 15:19
 cymbals of brass.

Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant                 15:28
of the Lord with shouting and with sound of the cornet
and with trumpet and with cymbals making a noise with
psalteries and harps.


(The references warn that Biblical 'brass' was often bronze.)
---------------------------------

Pliny later notices several kinds of copper alloy -
alloys with tin, gold, lead and 'silver-lead'.
 He also mentions an alloy translated in Haberly's
abstract of the Bohn edition as brass.
[Historia Naturalis]

1400 years on, Chaucer was writing

Ful lowde he sang, come hider, love, to me
this sompnour bar to him a stif burdoun,
Was nevere trompe of half so grete a soun

Canterbury Tales 672-4

    It is not clear if this is bass or horn.
----------------------------------------------------

But Chinese and Indian cultures both made wide use
of copper alloys.


So, in answer to Jim Goll's question, why use brass?
One answer is - it's always been that way.
 But there was no embarassment of material choice then.
 Now, we could certainly select an aluminum alloy
at advantageous price, or consider stainless steel,
copper nickel or titanium at increased price.

p.s Don't try coating cymbals with clay - they go muted!

brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>  Altus OK
                Eureka!