The objective assessment of trombone quality

Pratt, R. L.; Bowsher, J. M.

doi:10.1016/0022-460x(79)90901-5

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Again, Pratt and Bowsher (1979) maintain that even though it is extremely difficult to relate such physical characteristics as the geometry of the instrument and its material composition to the dimensions of subjective quality, only when physical correlates to these numerous dimensions have been established will it be possible to describe an instrument as having a particular objective quality. After having discussed the effect of certain parameters such as the internal bore cleanliness, the mouthpiece cup volume, and the throat diameter, Pratt and Bowsher were not able to establish an entirely satisfactory relationship between the subjective quality and the geometry of an instrument.…”

Section: Sound Quality and Timbral Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Trumpet mouthpiece manufacturing and tone quality

Zicari

MacRitchie²,

Ghirlanda³

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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This article investigates the relationship between the shape of the mouthpiece and its acoustical properties in brass instruments. The hypothesis is that not only different volumes but also particular cup shapes affect the embouchure and the tone quality in both a physical and perceivable way. Three professional trumpet players were involved, and two different internal cup contours characterized by a "U" and a "V" shape with two types of throat junction (round and sharp) were chosen, based on a Vincent Bach 1 [1/2] C medium mouthpiece. A third intermediate contour was designed as a combination of these. Over 600 sound samples were produced under controlled conditions, the study involving four different stages: (1) Simulation of air-flow, (2) analysis of the sound spectra, (3) study of the players' subjective responses, and (4) perceptual analysis of their timbral differences. Results confirm the U shape is characterized by a stronger air recirculation and produces stronger spectral components above 8 kHz, compared to the V shape. A round throat junction may also be preferable to a sharp one in terms of playability. There is moderate agreement on the aural perception of these differences although the verbal attributes used to qualify these are not shared.

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Section: Sound Quality and Timbral Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Trumpet mouthpiece manufacturing and tone quality

Zicari

MacRitchie²,

Ghirlanda³

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Wogram [19] (who wasquoted later by Pratt and Bowsher [18]) introduced what he termed a"Summenprizinzip" (or "sum function" in English): the impedance values of an instrument at integral multiples of the fundamental frequencyc ombine at the player'sl ips to establish the playing frequency. Actually,the sum function is the sum of the acoustic power entering the resonator for af orced oscillation with fixed flowrate amplitude and spectrum.…”

Section: The "Sum Function": Asupposed Indicator Of the Playing Frequmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In literature [19,18],o ther indicators like" sum functions", have been defined in order to predict playing frequencies more accurately than the resonance frequencies from the input impedance. As um function is thus evaluated by using our set of experimental data in the following section.…”

Section: Differences Of Playing Frequencies Vs Differences Of Resonanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the first aim of this paper is to determine an order of magnitude of the brass player'si nfluence on the overall intonation of the instrument. Then, it aims at finding some objective indicators from the input impedance which can predict the playing frequencies without taking the musician'sb ehaviour into account, as intended by Pratt and Bowsher [18] and previously by Wogram [19]. This will be done by recording alarge number of notes played by several musicians on three trumpets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relationship Between Bore Resonance Frequencies and Playing Frequencies in Trumpets

Eveno¹,

Petiot²,

Gilbert³

et al. 2014

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

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The aim of this work is to study experimentally the relationship between the resonance frequencies of the trumpet, extracted from its input impedance, and the playing frequencies of notes, as played by musicians. Three different trumpets have been used for the experiment, obtained by changing only the leadpipe of the same instrument. After ameasurement of the input impedance of these trumpets, four musicians were asked to play the first five regimes of the instrument, for four different fingerings. This wasd one for three dynamic levels and repeated three times. Statistical methods were implemented to assess the variability in the playing frequencies, and to study quantitatively their relationships with the bore resonance frequencies. Alimited influence of the musician on the instrument overall intonation is observed, as well as aweak influence of the dynamic levels on the pitch of the notes. The results showthat for most of the regimes, variations of the resonance frequencylead to same order variations of the playing frequencyo ft he corresponding note. We noticed also that the sum function, derived from the input impedance, does not give ab etter prediction of the playing frequencyt han the input impedance itself.

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“…Athorough study of the perceivedquality of reeds, and more generally of musical instruments, necessitates two categories of measurements on as et of products: subjective assessments givenb ym usicians or listeners [1], and objective measurements (chemical or physical)made on a set of instruments [2]. The task is then to uncover( with statistical methods)amodel for predicting subjective dimensions from the objective measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the Relationships Between Perceived Qualities and Sound Parameters of Saxophone Reeds

Petiot¹,

Kersaudy²,

Scavone³

et al. 2017

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

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The perceived quality of cane reeds used on saxophones or clarinets may be very different from one reed to another even though the reeds have the same shape and strength. The aim of this work is to better understand the differences in the perceived quality of reeds by making use of acoustical measurements. A perceptual study, involving a panel of 10 musicians, was first conducted on a set of 20 reeds of the same strength. Each musician assessed each of the 20 reeds according to three descriptors: Brightness, Softness, and Global quality. Second, signal recordings during saxophone playing (saxophone playing by a musician in the laboratory, called in vivo measurements) were made of the pressures in a player's mouth, in the mouthpiece, and at the bell of the instrument. These measurements enable us to deduce specific acoustical variables, such as the threshold pressure or the spectral centroid of the notes. After an analysis of the perceptual and acoustical data (assessment of the agreement among the assessors and the main consensual differences between the reeds), correlations between the perceptual and acoustical data were performed. [...

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The objective assessment of trombone quality

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

Trumpet mouthpiece manufacturing and tone quality

Trumpet mouthpiece manufacturing and tone quality

The Relationship Between Bore Resonance Frequencies and Playing Frequencies in Trumpets

Investigation of the Relationships Between Perceived Qualities and Sound Parameters of Saxophone Reeds

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