[Trombone-l] Acoustics of brass instruments

[Richardson, Timothy Mr. DAC USAG Franconia DPW]

Yes, and a related field is physiological psychology, which studies among
other things the way the brain processes sensory data.  This area made great
advances in the 90's.  Because I left college in the 70's I know little of
them.  <g>  

As it turns out, the idea that the brain learns to hear a set of harmonics
as a tone and has to "unlearn" it is bogus.  The brain has separate areas
for processing pitch, rhythm, timbre, and melody.  There is no learning
involved, it is hardwired.  Of course musicians become more sophisticated,
but everybody does these things to some extent.    

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Tune [mailto:crtune at adelphia.net] 
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 16:43
To: Richardson, Timothy Mr. DAC USAG Franconia DPW;
TROMBONE-L at server5.SAMFORD.EDU
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Acoustics of brass instruments

That is Psycho-Acoustics.  A related item for sure.  I think it is very good
to attempt to hear harmonics and so on.  And I know that the actual size of
the horn, the shape of the horn's various parts (e.g. the bell, the 
materials. . .shape of the bows) can affect the harmonic content.   I'm 
pretty sure there is a very different structure to my .509 bore Bach 16 and
my .500 bore Conn 6H.  I'll have to record some simple material and look
carefully at the spectra on a recording.

Chris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richardson, Timothy Mr. DAC USAG Franconia DPW" 
<timothy.a.richardson at us.army.mil>
To: <TROMBONE-L at server5.SAMFORD.EDU>
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 5:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Acoustics of brass instruments


> I'm not sure this is anti-technology.  This is experiment, measurement and
> data collection.  The data is qualitative (we hear the 5th but don't 
> assign
> a number to how much) but that doesn't change the process.  The ears ARE
> laboratory instruments.
>
> But that aside, there is a potential trap here that's not easy to avoid 
> (not
> just for the case of hearing harmonics but for similar cases as well.)
>
> It is this:  Through this type of effort it is possible to learn to hear
> sounds that ARE there.
>
> And, unfortunately, it is possible to learn to hear sounds that are NOT
> there.  And it can be difficult to tell the difference.  Sometimes
> impossible.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sabutin [mailto:sabutin at mindspring.com]
>
> <snip>
>
> Can't hear 'em? You've been too well trained by society. They're up there.
>
> Two ways to predict them so that you CAN hear them, and one way to test 
> for
> them.
>
> #1-Just play them on a keyboard instrument. You KNOW what hey are, right?
> Same proportions as the overtone series above pedal Bb.
> Octave, P5th, P4th, Maj 3rd, min 3rd, funny min 3rd, funny Maj 2nd, maj 
> 2nd,
> etc. on up.
>
> The easiest ones to hear and isolate are usually the 5th, 6th and 7th
> partials. That is, the 2 octaves plus a Maj. 3rd, P 5th and min 7th above
> the note being played. Play them on a piano, get them in your ear, and 
> then
> try to hear and isolate them above whatever note you are playing.
>
> #2-Learn to isolate them with your voice. This is the best way, because it
> is physical and organic. You FEEL them.
>
> <snip>
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