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Re: [Phys-l] musical instruments



Mike,

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Not having built any brass instruments myself, I am just guessing that early instrument manufactures had to experimentally determine the correct flare to make an instrument that could be played in tune. At instrument manufacturing/design companies today, I do not know if the proper flare is theoretically calculated, or if it is experimentally determined. Does anyone on this list know?

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The answer is "both". The flare serves more than one purpose, and, IIRC (my notes are not easily accessible, and it has been several years since I paid attention to this) you can determine some theoretical shapes (e.g., a "Bessel" flare) that, to a first approximation, are pretty good for the generation of a harmonic series. These are then tuned experimentally to account for curved tubing, desired tone, etc.

Barney

Bernard Ricca, Ph.D.
Director, Graduate Program in Math, Science and Technology Education
Department of Mathematical and Computing Sciences
Saint John Fisher College
3690 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
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bricca@sjfc.edu