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Smithers Trumpet
Smithers Trumpet
Smithers Trumpet
T
he current revival of baroque isters. It was in fact simply a long of the harmonic series are not in tune
music puts great emphasis on coiled or folded metal tube, rather like from the viewpoint of Western stan
methods of singing and playing the modern bugle. And like the bugle, dards of intonation. This makes mat
that satisfy criteria for historically cor it had an air column whose overall ters worse for the baroque trumpet
rect performance. In particular, many length was fixed. Hence the instrument er and constitutes the major obstacle
instrumental ensembles in Europe and was more or less limited to those notes in relearning the lost art of baroque
North America are dedicated to play that can be produced from a fixed trumpet playing. The natural harmon
ing 17th- and 18th-century music with column of air; the notes are caUed ics between the sixth and 16th partials
authentic baroque techniques on origi harmonics or overtones. It is for this that are prime numbers (evenly divisi
nal instruments or on modern instru reason baroque trumpets and horns ble only by themselves and 1) are nota
ments copied from surviving originals. are sometimes referred to as natural bly out of tune for virtually any stan
The difficulties encountered in this at instruments. dard of musical temperament in the
tempt are nothing less than formida West. The seventh harmonic (and
ble. Considerable scientific and histori Uestricted as he was to the natu- therefore also its octave) is too fiat;
cal research is required-as much or 1.'- ral tones-the harmonics-the ba the 1 1th is neither an F5 nor an F5
more for the restoration of an antique roque trumpeter had to have an instru sharp, and the 13th is neither an A5
piece of music as for the restoration of ment of appropriate length and design nor a G5 sharp.
an 'old painting or building. and had to develop special playing Furthermore, such notes as D4, F4,
By now most baroque musical in techniques to be able to sound enough A4, B4 natural, C5 sharp and E5 fiat,
struments have been successfully re of the available harmonics to generate which appear frequently in parts writ
vived, the surviving originals having a musical scale. Such an instrument ten for the instrument by 17th- and
yielded virtually all their secrets. A would have been approximately eight 18th-century composers, are nowhere
few instruments, however, have been feet long. (A shorter tube would yield to be found within a harmonic series
slow to attain the degree of revival fewer playable harmonics.) The eight based on a fundamental of C2. Yet
needed for a pleasing and at the same foot tube produces as its fundamental, the skilled baroque trumpeter was ap
time historically correct musical per or lowest note, C2 (two octaves below parently expected to play them even
formance. Of these the baroque trum middle C on the piano). As a conse though he had nothing but the stan
pet is the least understood. There ap quence the trumpet was capable of dard, fixed-pitch instrument that under
pear to be two fundamental and not producing a discrete series of harmon normal circumstances could produce
mutually exclusive reasons. The reviv ic tones (called partials) above the fun only the series of harmonics described
al of an antique musical instrument is damental note, which is also called above. Until it was shown both in live
dependent on continuity in its design the first harmonic [see middle illustra performances and in recordings that
and manufacture and also on the per tion on page 112]. these notes could in fact be played in
sistence of its playing techniques in the The fundamental can be altered by tune and with enough resonance on an
memory of musicians. If there has changing the length of the tube; the authentic baroque trumpet, many peo
been a significant period during which result is a higher or lower series of up ple thought they either were mistakes
the instrument has not been manufac per harmonics, depending on the pitch or were intended to be played on an
tured, with an attendant loss of the of the fundamental. The trombone is instrument of variable pitch, such as a
skills necessary for playing it, there is an example of a brass wind instrument slide trumpet. Recent demonstrations
little reason to suppose a revival will with a variable fundamental. Because on uncompromised historical instru
be either quick or easy. Today the ba it has a slide that can vary the length of ments show that baroque composers
roque trumpet is not manufactured the the air column, the trombone player knew what they were about.
way it was in the 17th and 18th centu can pick notes from several different The last writer who seems to have
ries, and its playing techniques have harmonic series, thereby filling in the had some firsthand experience with the
been seriously compromised. gaps of a single series to make a com daunting problems of playing the ba
Unlike the modern trumpet, the ba plete scale. In the modern trumpet and roque trumpet was the 18th-century
roque instrument had no mechanical horn the valves serve a function simi German musician Johann Ernst Alten
devices (valves, keys, finger holes and lar to that of the trombone slide. burg. He wrote that trumpeters needed
the like) to help produce a complete A problem for the baroque trumpet both theoretical and practical instruc
scale from its lowest to its highest reg- arises from the fact that several notes tion "partly because of these missing
108
109
110
your copies of
piece, however, the postvibratory im
pedances become those corresponding
to free radiation or to the mouthpiece.
The player in this situation has to make
major adjustments of the impedances
to ensure that oscillation can take
place. Simple estimates of the magni
tudes involved emphasize how impor
SCIENTIFIC
tant the impedances under the control
of the player are and how relatively
AMERICAN
unimportant the impedance of the in
strument itself is. A choice of handsome and durable library
The least understood parameter of
brass-wind-instrument playing in gen files-or binders-for your copies of
eral and of baroque-trumpet playing in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Both styles
particular is the dynamics of the play
er's lips. Since the lips make the prin bound in dark green library fabric stamped
cipal (and initial) contribution to the
generation of sound in any brass wind
in gold leaf.
instrument, it is ironic and regrettable
that the dynamics of the lip vibrations Files Each file holds 12 issues. Price per file
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deal with in this analysis is the non
linear relation between the flow of air (Add $2.5U each outside U. s.A.;
through an orifice and the pressure
across the orifice. Binders Each binder holds 12 issues. Issues
The orifice formed by the gap be
tween the lips becomes smaller as the open flat. Price per binder $8.50; three for $24.75;
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rise in frequency there is a dispro
portionately rapid rise of resistance, (Add $2.50 each outside u.s.A.)
while at the same time the vibrating
1----------------------,
mass is reduced, with an attendant To: Jesse Jones Box Corp., P.O. Box 5120, Philadelphia, Pa. 19141
reduction of the surface area in the I
source of vibration and a decrease I
of amplitude.
I
A result of these phenomena is that
there is an inherent difference between I
notes played with a large mouthpiece I
and notes played with a small one. This
conclusion is entirely supported by the I
experience of playing a baroque trum
pet in the original way. With a large,
flat-rim mouthpiece it is possible to
play notes in the high clarino register
(from the 12th harmonic upward) that
Send me SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
require different surfaces of the lips to
vibrate than the lower notes of the bas o Files 0 Binders
so register do. It is noteworthy that the For issues dated 0 through 1982 0 1983 or later.
baroque trumpet had about the same
I enclose my check or money order
length of air column as the modern
trombone has and a mouthpiece of for $ (US. funds only).
comparable dimensions, and yet the
clarino register of the instrument is at I Name �----�---------------------
(please print)
____________________
_____________________ _
J
111
HARMONICS
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
--.6L14L ---.-
,
•
• bD �. •
�): •
• • • • • b.g. . *- •
-
--.
AMERICAN C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
'"
EUROPEAN C e e' e" e
HARMONIC SERIES based on a fundamental, or lowest note, of eral notes (color) appear frequently in parts written for the baroque
C2 (two octaves below middle C on the piano) indicates the rang� trumpet by 17th- and 18th-century composers but are not part of
of notes available to a baroque trumpeter whose instrument had the harmonic series based on C2. The trumpeter in baroque times
an eight-foot tube. The instrument could produce a discrete series was apparently expected to play them regardless of the fixed pitch
(black) of partials, or harmonic tones, above the fundamental. Sev- of his instrument. Recent research shows that they can be played.
b c d
t 0 0< t < 1
fL
=
ACTION OF LIPS in playing a brass wind instrument is represented in this schematic dia
gram, in which P is the air pressure in the lungs, Pm the air pressure in the player's mouth,
e KL the muscle force of the lips, Km the force of the compressed air in the mouth against
the lips,! L the oscillation frequency of the lips and t time. The lips represent an oscillating
«<.? system composed of a mass m and a spring (a). The lips behave like two flaps that tend to
wz (b). As the internal air pressure in the mouth
a:- be held closed by the springlike elastic lip forces
«dJ Km KL (c). A cer
wa.. rises, the lips open at the moment the force becomes larger than the force
>0 tain amount of air then escapes as a positive pressure impulse. The resultant drop of pres
��
WLL
sure in the mouth causes the lips to close (d); the pressure rises once more, forcing the lips
apart again. The result is a particular regime of oscillation in which the variation in the area
a:O (e).
o�------��- of lip opening with time is sinusoidal If lip mass, lip tension and air pressure are kept
�t----1
constant, the relaxation time will decrease with a reduction of volume in the mouth cavity.
The player can alter the volume by changing the position of the tongue. He facilitates the
playing of low notes by depressing the tongue and of high notes by arching it up and forward.
112
1 13
50 50
40 40
30 30
(iJ 20 (iJ 20
-' -'
w w
[]J []J
(5 10 (5 10
w w
e. e.
-'
w
0 -'
w
0
> >
�-10 �-10
0: 60 0: 60
w w
� �
CfJ CfJ
CfJ
w 50 CfJ
w 50
0: 0:
D- D-
O
z
40 O
z
40
� �
� 30 0
CfJ 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
-10
0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FREQUENCY (KILOHERTZ) FREQUENCY (KILOHERTZ)
SOUND SPECTRA for two methods of sounding the tone C4 are ed a twice-folded natural trumpet. In each case the top graph rep
compared. At the left a baroque-trumpet player sounded his lips resents a large mouth volume (tongue back and down), the bot
alone, without a mouthpiece or an instrument. At the right he sound- tom graph a minimal mouth volume (tongue forward and arched).
a C
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
(iJ
-'
20 (iJ
-'
20
w w
[]J []J
(5 10 (5 10
w w
e. e.
-' 0 -' 0
w w
> >
�-10 �-10
b
0: 60
w w
0: 50
� �
CfJ CfJ
CfJ
w 50 CfJ
w 40
0: 0:
D- D-
O 40 O 30
z z
� �
0
CfJ 30 0
CfJ 20
20 10
10 0
0 -10
-20
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
FREQUENCY (KILOHERTZ) FREQUENCY (KILOHERTZ)
FOUR INSTRUMENTS are represented in these sound spectra (d). The differences between the baroque trumpets and the piccolo
showing the average values of a two-octave tone array. The instru trumpet, which often substitutes in modern performances, show
ments are a twice-folded baroque trumpet in C (a), a coiled baroque that baroque-trumpet music cannot have the necessary brilliance
trumpet, the tromba da caccia, or c1arino, in D (b), a modern piccolo and clarity when it is played on the piccolo trumpet, which is one
trumpet in B Hat (c) and a cornetto (played with finger holes) in A fourth the length of the instrument the composer had in mind.
1 14
© 1986 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC
tongue is arched in the high, third vo trombone and at least a fifth above instrument (the values of the reso
cal position (reducing the volume of the French horn. nance frequencies) is determined al
resonance in the mouth), and it de The many ancient baroque-trumpet most exclusively by the shape of the
creases when the tongue is depressed mouthpieces that survive suggest play inner walls of the air column. On the
in the first vocal position (increasing ers and makers took a strong interest other hand, the response of an instru
the mouth's resonance volume). At the in mouthpiece design and construc ment is almost entirely determined by
same time there is a rise in the noisy tion. No two are alike. Mouthpieces what is called the Q factor of the res
components, as is seen in the increase were clearly made to suit the feel and onance, that is, by the smoothness
of 20 decibels in the sound level at facial structure of individual players. and the degree of precise continuity
frequencies above six kilohertz (6,000 Equally important, mouthpieces would of the inner surface of the metal tube
cycles per second). This means that have been made to match the player's (and to some extent by the material
the resonance frequency of the mouth instrument. the tube is made of).
cavity rises with the elevation of the A modern player can learn to cope Baroque trumpets, both original and
tongue and that there is a greater tur with mouthpieces of different kinds, modern, consist mainly of joined cy
bulence in the airflow and a decrease usually one at a time over a long pe lindrical tubes (either coiled or fold
of lip displacement. riod. The process carries some risk, ed), with a final short conical flaring
Comparable spectra appear when, however, to the sensitive neuromuscu section. In modern reproductions the
instead of sounding the lips alone, the lar apparatus of the sound generator methods of manufacture produce a
player blows a natural trumpet under (the lips as well as the neck and facial consistently regular and smooth inner
identical conditions [see bottom illus muscles). Given a choice, a competent surface, thereby creating resonances
tration on opposite page]. For a large performer always prefers to have a with high Q factors. Inasmuch as there
_ mouth volume (low tongue position) mouthpiece that feels comfortable and is no particular relation between reso
a full and bright sound is obtained; it produces the best acoustical response. nance frequencies and the harmonic
has a rich assembly of overtones and Notwithstanding the uniqueness of components of the sound, the modern
only a slight amount of noise, because each baroque-trumpet mouthpiece, instruments display less variability of
of the strong vibration and large dis the mouthpieces collectively have sev pitch than the 17th- and 18th-century
placement of the lips. When the mouth eral common features. Nearly all of originals. As a result it is difficult to
volume is made smaller with a high them are larger than the largest mod play them in tune.
tongue position, the sound is rougher ern trumpet mouthpieces. Various The components of old brass instru
and has a nasal and obtrusive tone col methods of dating indicate that the ments were fashioned from sheets of
or. To obtain stable tones in the very ones from the 17th century are larger brass, as they are today, but hand
high clarino register it is necessary to than ones made in the 18th century. hammered sheets of brass lack the con
reduce the volume of the mouth as More important, the design of ba sistency of modern ones rolled by ma
much as possible, although this action roque-trumpet mouthpieces is consis chine. Furthermore, when the hand
does not always produce a satisfacto tently different from that of their mod craftsmen made the sheets into lengths
ry tone color. ern counterparts. The design not only of tubing by shaping and hammer
promotes greater resonance in the low ing them over steel rods, they intro
ext to the instrument itself, the est harmonics but also gives great duced many irregularities on the inner
N mouthpiece is the most crucial el er definition to the uppermost partials surface. These small but significant
ement for playing a brass wind instru and allows more control of nonhar imperfections were compounded by
ment. It is an integral part of the in monic tones. irregular tube diameters, imperfectly
strument, equal to it in importance for Furthermore, the peculiar design of made fittings and a lack of symmetry
generating specific impedance maxima some baroque-trumpet mouthpieces in the places where the tubing had to
(the ratio of the pressure to the volume causes an increased excitation of the be bent. All these variations caused a
velocity at a given surface) and achiev higher frequencies. That, in conjunc decrease in the Q factor of the ba
ing a favorable intonation curve (the tion with the deeper and more resonant roque trumpet's resonances, thus flat
curve that reflects the values of the presence of the lowest harmonics gen tening the resonance curve.
playing frequencies), particularly for erated in an eight-foot air column, The end result is that the musician
notes above the sixth harmonic. The produces for each note a far richer playing an antique baroque trumpet
mouthpiece and the instrument there and broader sound spectrum than one can "bend," or vary, the natural har
fore have to be matched. Moreover, as hears from shorter modern trumpets. monics, so much so that many of the
we have pointed out, the player is part The modern piccolo valve trumpet, old instruments can be played in tune
of the total system, and so the mouth which is the instrument employed in without creating unacceptable changes
piece must be matched to the player as most contemporary performances of in tone color and response. To achieve
well as to the instrument. It is the inter baroque music, produces somewhat this capability nearly all modern mak
face between the two. shrill tones because it is only about two ers of baroque trumpets have resort
For these reasons the mouthpiece is feet long. ed to the expedient of putting pitch
one of the player's most personal items correcting finger holes in their instru
of equipment. The relation seems to be he last part of the equation of ba ments so that the trumpeter can play
more critical for playing the baroque T roque-trumpet playing, but by no them in tune. This is not only a fal
trumpet than it is for playing any other means the least important, is the in sification of historical principles but
brass wind instrument because of the strument itself. Here one encounters also a self-defeating compromise of
extremes of range with which the ba an oddity: in spite of the perfection of specific acoustical parameters and
roque trumpeter has to cope. The in modern, machine-made components of the intended playing techniques.
strument's lowest basso register is as opposed to the irregularities in 18th Only by consistently applying histor
equal to that of the trombone. Its up century handmade construction, the ical principles to all three parts of the
permost clarino register is often above old instruments are much easier to equation-the player, the mouthpiece
the normal range of a modern trumpet, play and are more in tune than modern and the instrument-can one accu
and that range is already an octave facsimiles. Recent acoustical research rately revive the lost art of playing
higher than the upper limit of the has shown that the intonation of an the baroque trumpet.
1 15
© 1986 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC
Flberoptics:
beyond
20,000,000,000 bits/sec.