[Trombone-l] Leadpipe

[Jeff Albert]

On May 25, 2006, at 12:39 PM, Lars Kirmser wrote:

> A number of years ago I recall hearing of an experiment where a  
> smoker (with a lung full of smoke) played his instrument (a  
> Baritone I believe) to see if the smoke would come out of his bell.  
> As it turned out, the smoke took quite a long time to be expelled  
> from the bell; indicating that air movement is very much secondary  
> to the movement of the vibrating air column.

I agree that by the time the air reaches the bell, it is not flowing  
very quickly.  That airflow dissipates as the instrument increases in  
size.  i think airflow is still an issue at the leadpipe, even though  
it is much less of an issue at the bell.

> Air, of course, is a necessary element for humans to play any wind  
> instrument. In the early years of C G Conn's research, they  
> developed a mechanical embouchure which didn't involve moving  
> (flowing) air at all (called "Hot Lips Harry"). They wanted to  
> remove the human element from the testing of prototypes. - Lars

How did they create buzz if there was no moving air?


Jeff