In a message dated 10/17/2003 2:39:05 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I had a thought. Bob's shop is just up Mass. Ave and around a few corners > from MIT. MIT has at least one horn player of note (Jean Rife) and MANY > engineering students, maybe even graduate Acoustic Engineering students, > some of whom may be looking for thesis ideas. Cryo treatment of horns seems > like an ideal project. Maybe Bob, Jean, or the IHS can put a bug in > someone's ear over at the MIT Engineering Department to get this started. > > I believe Chris Stratton is connected with MIT. Check his web site for the interesting things he is doing and discovering. I'd be surprised if he and Bob were already acquainted. In school, I studied physics as primary science and learned practical engineering by applying that knowledge to interesting problems. A huge research grant to study horns probably wouldn't accomplish much. That is the domain of the theorists. A good scientist can already apply what we know about acoustics, metallurgy, and such, and come up with a superior instrument. A good engineer will get his hands on as many outstanding (good or bad) instruments and try to determine the factors that make them good (or bad). Good engineering results in incremental improvements which, taken collectively, often results in accomplishing the impossible. Unfortunately, there are so few good engineers. Most engineers function as scientists, and never get to practical solutions. We are fortunate to have some very experienced engineers working the horn problem for us. Bob Osmun is certainly one of them, and he collaborates with others equally experienced, to bring us custom leadpipes, interesting bell flares, and improved playing qualities of new instruments. An area that would probably result in the most dramatic changes would be the application of modern fabrication methods to duplicate the conditions that make a really good horn good. For instance, bending tubing filled with lead results in a better instrument, according to some experts. Bending with pitch or frozen soapy water works, but not as well. How are the results different? If we can pin down the cause and effect, is there another better process? I use motor oil to keep the lead from sticking to the brass. Somebody doing this as a business is not allowed to use lead. There should probably be a functional lubricant to duplicate the effect with pitch. I just hope people are aware that this forum does a lot to further the technology. The technologists are listening, and they rely on the opinions of the listers to help them decide where to invest their development resources. That's how, and why, Capitalism works. _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
