Posts made by stumac

"The difference between one mouthpiece and another is about 3 weeks" Merv Simpson former Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

We had 3 weeks when Big Band commenced practice with limited numbers (6) on a roster system then we went back into lockdown with no sign of .when we may resume. Orchestra is not likely to resume this year.

The balance is extremely good with the thumb and forefinger each side of the valve block under the bell. With Dupoitrans contraction in both hands I normally hold a conventional horn underneath the valve block, with this one I can use the conventional hold.

Notice there is no pinkie hook or water key, my hand condition does not allow use of a hook and having played French horn for many years I can manage without a water key.

At 2lb 7oz it is not a lightweight horn.

Regards, Stuart.

Much excitement today, the Jerome Wiss 6/20 arrived, the fit and finish are superb, Jerome is truly a craftsman in instrument making. The $64,000 question, How does it play. With my Wedge 3CC SST mouthpiece which has been my standard for the last 9 years, it responds with the least amount of air I can give it and the tone remains uniform to the most I can raise.

The sound behind the horn is unlike any other I have played, I find it difficult to describe, full, rich, not dark nor shrill, mind this is first impressions after 1/2 hour playing, I shall have to have a lot more time on it to get fully accustomed to it. I think it is mainly a function of the bell shape which is more conical than exponential, reminds me of pictures of ancient trumpets.

I have not yet checked the tuning, first impression nothing stood out to my ear, more to come as I spend more time with it.

Regards, Stuart.

I see they ask for a German Bb Trumpet, does this mean a rotary valve trumpet?

Regards, Stuart.

I envy people that work in wood, my woodworking skills start and end with chainsaw and axe for firewood.

Regards, Stuart.

Put your pointer on the top half of the chat ikon, move it to thr right. a half height light blue should appear called profile, click on this, a drop down menu should appear, scroll down to the bottom logout, click.

This works for me.

Regards, Stuart.

This one will be the last horn I will, after assembly ready for final polishing and lacquering.

Regards, Stuart.

I have Ivan's Resonance Enhancers on several of my trumpets, I concur they have made a difference. my thoughts are that they dampen spurius resonances in the valve block.

One trumpet that they did not have much effect is a German Alexander, it has 3 sets of braces between the valves.

I am in the process of setting up my spectrum analyzer again, it will be interesting to see the effects before and after.

Regards, Stuart.

The first horn I played was a very old Eb tenor horn belonging to the town band which I joined in 1946 when it was reformed after WW2, band folded in 1949, as I expressed a desire to keep playing my father bought me a cornet, a 1904 Besson Class A Prototype, he paid the equivalent of $64 which I now realize was about 2 weeks wages.
New instruments were rare and very costly in Australia at that time. When I came back to playing in 1986 I found the Besson to be in high pitch and virtually useless.

Regards, Stuart.

Not available in Australia due to rights restrictions.

Links work fine in Australia.

Regards, Stuart.

The bead of the Selmer is not an added piece, just the edge of the bell rolled back and formed into shape. Selmer were not the only ones to have this bead, my Buffet-Crampon has a similar one.

Regards, Stuart

Lovely horn George, enjoy.

Dr Go, known as the French rim, I wonder why?, the later Selmers, Radial, Deville, 700 series and later all had a conventional roll.

Regards, Stuart.

Among the best tap dancing I have seen, great playing by all, BUT if I had come in cold during any of the long solos I would not have a clue what tune they were playing. All scrambled egg music. ( perhaps I am showing my age).

Regards, Stuart.

Only a year behind George I have similar problems with arthritis developing in my finger joints, I find that having the lightest valve springs commensurate with good action helps, I don't think you can compare finger action with a violinist, their fingers do not have to move far and exert much pressure.

A typical trumpet valve has 1/2" to 5/8" movement and an initial preload of around 100 grams and final pressure down of around 175 grams according to my measurements.

I have a French Besson trumpet made by Courtois, the springs were stainless steel and so strong I found it impossible to play without pain in my hand, going through the spring stock of 2 local repairers yielded nothing that would fit, I ended up modifying a set of Yamaha Flugel springs, now 100 grams depress the valves half way and the instrument is a joy to play.

Playing 2nd trumpet in a 40s style big band and having no trouble with the fast lines.

Regards, Stuart.

@ROWUK said in Structure of the Trumpet by Yamaha:

Did any of you ever notice that a trumpet is twice longer than for instance a soprano saxophone that plays at the same pitch? If we analyse the spectra of the trumpet, we see the fundamental but primarily “hear” the first overtone. With the saxophone or flute, we “hear” primarily the fundamental.

Would this have anything to do with thr phase of the reflected wave, in a trunpet it closes the lips (reed) and in the saxophone it opens the reed, just a thought. Regards, Stuart.

Playing a lot in Church many years ago from the old "Hymns Ancient and Modern" most seemed to be in concert E, 6 sharps for Bb trumpet, the reason I bought a C, after changing to The Australian Hymn Book most had been dropped to Eb, much easier to sight transpose to F. Regards, Stuart.

As a retired electronic engineer with radio communication experience I realized that the trumpet has similar characteristics as a radio frequency transmission line.

Regardless of buzzing or or just blowing air through a trumpet mouthpiece the resultant sound waveform as seen by an audio spectrum analyzer contains a whole mix of frequencies in the audible range. Applying this to the trumpet we have this mix traveling forward through the length at the speed of sound ~ 1200 ft/second. Some of this wave traveling forward will be reflected from the change in impedance of the tube in the region of the bell and will interfere with the forward traveling wave creating a new standing wave the frequency of which will depend on the length of tube and energy level of the reflected wave,

When a peak of the reflected wave reaches the lips coinciding with a trough in the forward wave the lips will close momentarily and then reopen by the air flow, according to Benade this takes around 3 cycles for the standing wave to stabilize.

An easy demonstration is to just blow air into the trumpet with the mouthpiece attached with relaxed lips and open aperture, while keeping the air flowing slowly close the aperture, a point will be reached when the standing wave will develop and the trumpet will sound.

References,

A Textbook of Sound Edwin H. Barton

Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics Arthur H. Benade

Music, Physics and Engineering Harry F Olson

Basic Physics Vol 3 Sound and Light Martin and Connor.

Regards, Stuart.
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