[Trombone-l] Acoustics of brass instruments

Sun Jun 4 08:30:37 CDT 2006

Gabe,
	You have to keep in mind that Dan comes to us from a background of
double reed performance, and I really believe that because of the low air
flow rate needed to play those instruments, the carbon dioxide has done
something to his thinking capacities. 
	Even though I play on older instruments and if necessary have them
disassembled and reassembled by a modern day craftsman who really
understands quality workmanship versus a new custom instrument like a
Shires, you're exactly on point. (Besides, my bank account prohibits me from
spending over $3000 on a brand new trombone. If money were no object, I'd be
giving you guys a serious look.)
	I went to a brass band festival this weekend, and the fellow I rode
with is a mechanical engineer. On the way back, not familiar with some of
the terminology, I had to ask him what a micron was. He said it was a
millionth of a millimeter. I realize that there are instances where
something that minute is very important, but, for example, in the
manufacturing of a trombone slide, we're satisfied with something being
level within 1-2 thousandths of an inch, and anyone who plays a slide that
is that level is very hesitant to let anyone even play it who is not
careful. We probably would not be able to FEEL the difference between 1-2
thousandths of an inch and a micron. We're humans, not machines. It's
amazing what we will let ourselves become used to over time. I seriously
doubt if high end woodwind instruments are manufactured to the same level of
precision as brass instruments because you can be far more precise with
metal than you can be with wood. 
	I applaud what you said above about leaving the human element intact
concerning the manufacturing of your instruments. I have it on good
authority that even Yamaha who boasts on having the most state of the art
manufacturing technology have their problems.

Paul Kemp

-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu
[mailto:trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu] On Behalf Of Gabriel
Langfur
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 7:13 AM
To: TROMBONE-L at server5.SAMFORD.EDU
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Acoustics of brass instruments

--- Daniel Pliskin <daniel_pliskin at hotmail.com> wrote:
> A trombone IS a piece of high technology.  Manufacturers
> have been using the 
> highest technology they could get their hands on since
> the beginning of 
> manufacturing.  And so to bad-mouth technology and in the
> same sentence 
> mention playing a trombone is ludicrous.  Just because
> you don’t see the 
> technology, doesn’t mean it didn’t go into the very
> instruments you play.

Dan, I hate to burst your bubble, but I know how the
instruments Sam plays are made, and we don't use all of the
technology you think we do. 

Sure, we have CNC lathes and mills for the machined parts,
but the slide tubes are checked by eye and straightened by
hand - and I challenge you or anybody else to find a
manufacturer (even Yamaha) who makes consistently better
slides than Shires. 

All soldering, everywhere on the instrument, is done
freehand, without jigs or pre-set forms. Why? Because a
skilled worker given the time to do it right will make a
better solder joint, free of structural stress. That's more
important to the way the instrument plays than 100%
consistency of form.

Shires bell stems are hand-hammered, and have brazed rather
than plasma-welded seams, and the assembled bell is
hand-spun by Steve Shires. Plasma welding is essentially
invisible, and there is such a thing as a CNC bell spinner,
but Steve's considered opinion, after playing and working
on thousands of instruments, is that the older methods
simply sound better and more interesting.

The larger manufacturers know this too, which is why
professional models from Yamaha are advertised as having
hand-hammered bells. 

Steve Shires' guideline on automated technologies has
always been to look and evaluate whatever is available. But
automation and consistency is and always will be less
important than the ultimate playing characteristics of the
instruments, and if he wouldn't rather play the new horns
that come out of the factory over the Elkhart 8H on the
stand in his office, then something has gone awry.

Gabe Langfur
Boston, MA
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