The Interactions Between Wind Instruments and their Players

Abstract

To play awind instrument well, the player controls several elements in the player-instrument system, beginning with the source of pressurised air in the lungs. The bore of the instrument is aresonant duct whose geometry is controlled by the player'sfi ngers via keys, valves or as lide. At the mouthpiece the player controls several parameters of anonlinear element (which is an air jet, reed or the player'slips)that produces sustained oscillations. Upstream from this valveisasecond resonant duct-the player'sv ocal tract-whose geometry is also controlled. This paper givesanoverviewofthe interactions of these elements and howtheyare controlled by the player. PACS no. 43.75.Ef,43.75.Fg, 43.75.Pq, 43.75.Qr 211 ACTA ACUSTICA UNITED WITH ACUSTICA Wolfe et al.:I nteractions between wind instruments and players Vol. 101 (2015)

Native Language Influence on Brass Instrument Performance: An Application of Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) to Midsagittal Ultrasound Images of the Tongue

“…Basically, any changes to vocal tract shape will alter its acoustic impedance which will probably have an impact on instrument sound, even if the exact details of such a mechanism are of yet unknown. In a paper outlining considerations regarding vocal tract influence on different types of instruments, Wolfe et al (2015) write that restricting the opening of the true vocal folds (or controlling their impedance) not only allows for “fine control of mouth pressure” but also affects potential vocal tract influence considerations by providing a “higher reflection coefficient for acoustic waves in the vocal tract” (p. 3). The result would be a reduced influence of subglottal resonances on upper vocal tract resonances (extending from the glottis to the lips, cf.…”

“…A small number of studies have addressed the influence of vocal tract shaping on brass instrument sound in human subjects by “measuring the impedance spectrum of the vocal tract by injecting a known broadband acoustic current into the mouth” (Wolfe et al, 2015, p. 11); this requires notes to be sustained for roughly a second but it is then possible to directly determine vocal tract resonances during playing. Using this method, a team of researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia measured vocal tract influence on trumpet (Chen et al, 2012) and trombone performance (Boutin et al, 2015).…”

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“…This set of events repeats as a cycle sending pulses of high-pressure air into the instrument. The auto-oscillation of the lips (repeated open–close cycle) collaborates with the natural resonances of the instrument to produce notes in the partial series (also referred to as harmonic series) (Boutin et al 2015 ; Wolfe et al 2015 ).…”

“…The tongue instead makes use of air stored in the mouth, allowing for greater agility and a more nuanced range of attacks. For example, varying levels of compression can produce a range of onset attack types like tah, dah, and dat sounds (Wolfe et al 2015 ). The slur refers to movements between pitches produced by changes in valve combinations only, without the use of the tongue.…”

Towards 3D printed saxophone mouthpiece personalization: Acoustical analysis of design variations

“…Perception of tone quality is very subjective, and it is likely to be defined by different adjectives by listeners [28]. The same subjectivity applies to producing sound with the mouthpiece and its associated playability, since the vocal tract of the player has an essential role in these [29][30][31]. Therefore, the same mouthpiece cannot guarantee the same sound when used by different players.…”