source file: mills3.txt
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 11:04:06 +0100

Subject: TUNING digest 1244

From: Daniel Wolf <DJWOLF_MATERIAL@compuserve.com>

Carl Lumma wrote:

<I don't know as much about clarinets, but I've played the trumpet for ma=
ny
<years.  And trumpet players are notorious "equipment freaks", so I am
always
<up on the latest stuff.  But when it comes down to it, trumpets are just=

<three natural horns in a small package.  Thus, playing the harmonic seri=
es
<is easy as can be -> When you hear an arpegio, you can bet it's Just.

<I've got two top-of-the-line professional Bb horns, a Bach Stradivarius
with
<72 bell and a Yamaha ML heavy-wall.  And I've played many different
<configurations of the above.  I can personally say, and it is well known=
,
<that the intonational characteristics vary widely from horn to horn of t=
he
<same make and config, let alone different makes and configurations.

This is not quite right. Three-valved brass instruments are actually seve=
n
natural horns sharing
a bell and a mouthpiece. The valves are usually tuned to lower the open
horn by multiples of
equal-tempered semitones (1st valve by 2 semitones, 2nd by 1, third by 3;=

actually it might have been more flexible if the third valve lowered by 4=

but this seems to place horns below the optimal diameter to length ratio =
-
the more valves added, the weaker the sound). So the fundmentals of the
tones produced by all combinations of valves are set to 12tet. The lips
buzz at or near positions on a harmonic series, but the actual form of th=
e
tubing can influence this and the designs of individual manufacturers
reflect this fact. An easy demonstration of this is available on the
trombone: insert the mouthpiece in the separated bell joint. With the
dimensions now largely conical, it becomes virtually impossible to blow a=

harmonic series (I say virtually, because I do know some players who can
lip up or down at least a fifth in any position).

On the other hand, in altissimo register - and on the early buzzed-lipped=

woodwind cornett and serpent (the theoretical astrophysicist William
Matthews, a virtuoso cornettist, called the cornett ''a physicist's worst=

dream'')  - the fingering is often more a matter of psychology than
physics. The higher one gets, with increased density of partials, the mor=
e
alternative fingers are available. While several of these alternatives
(starting with the written bb1 on the trumpet) suggest intonational
variants, most players can and do lip these pitches into the prevailing
temperament. I have found, however, that while these alternative fingerin=
g
cannot be depended upon to trigger particular frequencies they can be use=
d
to assist the player psychologically into lipping a pitch away from the
typical value.

The mouthpiece can be an addition factor in intonation. I played alto
trombone and sackbut with both a tenor and an alto mouthpiece and found t=
he
situation to be quite complex. While the upward range was identical, the
slide positions needed were completely different for the two mouthpieces
and any logic that I brought to preparing myself to play on the horn had =
to
be thrown out immediately.

Stuart Dempster's book (UC Press, sometime in the late 70's) on
contemporary trombone  techniques contains a lot of useful information,
including something about the solo piece in septimal jist intonation
written for him by Ben Johnston. This book is especially valuable for
techniques to adjust the timbre of the instrument many of which are
applicable to all brass instruments.  =


SMTPOriginator:  tuning@eartha.mills.edu
From:  gbreed@cix.compulink.co.uk (Graham Breed) 
Subject:  Re: Thrice the Severity
PostedDate:  25-11-97 11:04:09
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