Wes hatch wrote: I would think that a bell that rings longer would be preferable because so many factors affect the resonance. I hate wearing a coat when I play because even if I roll up the sleeve a bit and hold the horn off my leg I still feel like the sound is deadened. Also, the person sitting next to me and the person behind me is wearing a coat and acting as a sponge .I even ask the person sitting to my right at a rehearsal not to drape their jacket on the back of their chair. I think that if a bell has a little more life it produces a little clearer sound and projects better. I may be wrong or mentally ill and I humbly accept that fact.
----- It's perhaps a coincidence that you wrote this just after I had left your house, and we had been thunking bells during our discussion. The Kruspe I had brought to you had quite a good ring, as did the bells on your horns, but my Mönnig horn's bell was quite dead. The Kruspe is noted for a dark sound and the Mönnig for a rather bright one. But of course there are many factors at work. Still, I was reminded of an experiment that Reynold Schilke wrote up - the results are counter-intuitive. He built two special trumpets and compared their sound to one of his normal brass ones. The special instruments were made of lead and sheet steel respectively. Not surprisingly, the lead trumpet had no ring to it at all when tapped; but the steel trumpet rang easily and loudly. The lead trumpet produced a harsh edgy sound; the steel trumpet produced a dull dead sound, and the normal brass trumpet produced a pleasing balanced timbre. If a bell rings easily, I would expect it to tend to DAMP OUT the vibrations where it resonates - absorbing the energy at those pitches in mechanical vibration, taking that energy from the vibrating air column. Another view. Richard Hirsh, Chicago _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
