[Trombone-l] How LOUD?

[Stan Brager]

Chris;

It's an easy matter to check the sound pressure level with a $40 Radio Shack
meter.

What are the conditions under which this test should be made?
Should we take into consideration the differences between trombonist A and
trumpeter B?
Would there be any effect due to the difference in frequency range?
Is there a physicist who could help setup such a test?

Stan
Stan Brager
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Tune" <crtune at adelphia.net>
To: "Chris Tune" <crtune at adelphia.net>; <dslide13 at aol.com>;
<sbrager at socal.rr.com>; <billdin at comcast.net>;
<TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 11:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Was Refill 'er up now On Topic - how LOUD?


> How's this for a, perhaps, better topic:
>
> Does this sound plausible?  Trombone, trumpet what have you in musical
> instruments. . .are really acoustic "systems".  And each acoustic system
> (even the powerful electronic ones. . .although these can top-out at very
> high points) has a theoretical MAXIMUM output that it can achieve.
> Therefore there is an absolute top volume of output that a brass
instrument
> can put out.  Sometimes we trick ourselves into believing that we are
> putting out a louder sound, when we try and play ffff or something like
> that, but in reality it generally is just a coarser version of the same
> volume we played when we maxed out at fff at some other time.
>
> Now, it seems to me that this sound pressure level is greater with the
> larger the instrument (depending a bit upon tonal character like the
> difference between the conical profile and the cylindrical profile), so a
> trumpet cannot put out quite as loud a top-level sound pressure output,
that
> the trombone can.
>
> It also seems to me that there should be some mathematical way of
computing
> the loudest volume of sound for each instrument in dB, based upon the
> instrument's specifications.  I'm going to see if there is anything in
> acoustics literature on this.
>
> Chris
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chris Tune" <crtune at adelphia.net>
> To: <dslide13 at aol.com>; <sbrager at socal.rr.com>; <billdin at comcast.net>;
> <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 5:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] OT: Refill 'er up
>
>
> > How can slide grease make the world a better place?
> >
> > Don't get me started. . .there is still enough sexual revolution
> > guy/hippie
> > guy (just about like me when I started bone in 1971) in me to get myself
> > in
> > trouble here. . . .
> >
>
>
>