h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Brass Instruments, Tuning and Harmonics - A8921045
Author: Annie - Life is good, dying's a b*tch - U128652

Hello
This is a Flea Market rescue - my first, so forgive me if I don't understand the rules & regulations, but I really would like to see this superb entry by Jeremy in the EG. I'm willing to make changes but it's not my work remember, so don't get technical on me

Annie

Submitted Saturday 28 Jan 2006

I'm not sure about the wisdom of taking on a technical entry if you don't understand it, Annie.

I'm afraid I haven't time for an in-depth read now, Annie, but it seems to me that the subheaders shouldn't say 'First Question', 'Second Question', etc. in them.

I've seen this entry before, as I read it a number of times when Jeremy was writing it. It's pretty good in terms of accuracy, but some bits are not explained particularly clearly. I think the section on the equal tempered scale in the "Question THree" section could probably be omitted completely; it's not really relevant to brass instruments and is not well explained.

The introductory paragraph is also confusing, telling you what brass instruments are not, but not explaining what they are. I'll try and come up with a better version of that.

hz should be Hz wherever it occurs. Trust me on this one.

You're listed in the credits, Gnomon, which of course you can't see because I've put the correct code in.

I'm willing to learn, if you're willing to help, I can do things like change hz to Hz, and change the intro and remove the FAQ's.



I really want to see this in the EG - as I said - and it was going begging at the Flea Market. Paully stated there that its "so VERY NEARLY ready"
F74125?thread=1396080

I'll give it a very detailed reading through, then, and make some suggestions.

Thanks

I'll add you as contributing researcher rather than the credit, if you like

I remember the "additional research" I did now. Jeremy wouldn't believe me about the "divide by 2" thing although it is in all the books. So I went and measured all my musical instruments and proved it to him.

OK. Here are some changes.

The first paragraph is rather confusing and should be rewritten as follows:

"The brass family is one of the oldest families of musical instruments.
Confusingly, not all members of the family of 'brass instruments' are made of brass, and not all instruments made of brass are in the family. An instrument is a 'brass instrument' if the sound is produced by using the player's lips as a sound generator. The family includes instruments such as trumpets, trombones, tubas (which are in fact normally made of brass) and also a few odd ones such as the didgeridoo and the alpen horn."

Now for some more minor changes:

They differ from each other by the way -->
They differ from each other in the way

english horn --> cor anglais

lentgh --> length (in lots of places)

and a little mathematics is needed -->
and a little mathematics are needed

at a speed of app. 1,000 ft/sec -->
at a speed of approximately 1,000 ft/sec

Move the footnote from sec to approximately, so stop it looking like sec squared.

As I've said before, change hz to Hz everywhere.

THe paragraph which starts with "Tubes do not create sound" should be replaced in its entirety with the following two paragraphs:

Tubes do not create a sound, they just reinforce it. A tube of a certain length will not reinforce all notes of every possible frequency, but just notes of particular frequencies. There has to be an exact ratio between the tube length and the sound wave length. Brass instruments are open tubes, that is, they are open at each end, so the largest sound wave that will fit in them is one whose wavelength is exactly twice the length of the tube. To put it the other way around, the tube length must be half the length of the wave we want to produce.

Wavelength and frequency are related in that the wavelength times the frequency gives the speed of the wave. With a speed of sound of 1,000 ft/sec and a frequency of 440Hz (the 'A' produced by a tuning fork), the tube must be 1.136 ft in length. This calculation neglects some factors such as the width of the tube and its exact shape, but these don't have a huge effect on the result.

the resulting wavelength is exactly the same as the double length of the tube -->
the resulting wavelength is exactly twice the length of the tube

correllated --> correlated

are played simultaneously, they -- add "say on two different trumpets," after the comma.

the corresponding octave will always --> the note an octave higher will always
the corresponding fifth will always --> the note a perfect fifth higher will always

Prim --> Unison

have required artistic skills --> have required acrobatic skills

Cornett --> Cornet

The cornet has a wider bore which causes -->
The cornet has a wider bore with a slightly different shape, which causes

Louis Armstrong, who -- replace rest of sentence with

who was also an accomplished trumpet player.

tenor violin8, bass violin or violoncello -->
tenor violin8 and cello

Remove footnote 9 completely.

Harmonicas and mouth organs --> Accordions and mouth organs

That's enough to be going on with.

OK I think I got everything - thanks very much

In some places the "Hz" is immediately after the number, in others there's a gap, I presume they're all supposed to be the same so could you tell me which is correct please?

Another number has a line of question marks after it, is that supposed to be there?
Another major third brings us up to the F (137,5 x 5/4 = 171,875 Hz), and the last major third takes us to the A again (171,875 x 5/4 = 214,84375 Hz ???).

Should all the words in the headers and subheaders be in capitals?

I had another question, which now I've forgotten because I saw posts at the entry when I updated I'll just go through it again see if I can jog anything...

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Now, *I* know what QED stands for, but others might not, so do you think that requires a footnote of explanation? (if it was my entry I'd put one in, that's why I'm asking)

There are comments at the entry Gnomon, if you'd like to take a peek..

for all your help, much appreciated

As hertz are a unit of measurement, like kilometres, the 'Hz' should go directly after the number.

and updated, thanks EMR

I didn't correct the number with question marks after it, because I am going to suggest the removal of that section later.

will be 5ft. Two of those waves will fit exactly ('standing') into the tube, w

The tube is 5ft long, so it will be one complete wave

Please note that, as an example, Eb stands for D# as well. The same fingering is used on all three valve brass instruments (trumpet, flugelhorn, baryton, tuba, sousaphone, ...).

(footnote 6)

what's a baryton? a baritone?

flugelhorn frequently has 4 valves, same for tuba, and recent baritones as well.

also, tenor horns and baritones are not little tubas, their bore is straighter than a tuba's conical bore. Euphonium is spot on, however.

Tuba: normally Bb or Eb

valves to alter the tuning of an instrument (trombone, anyway) are the same as a fourth valve. and on a trombone (i play one) the slide is at the front, facing the same way as the bell.

oh, and flugelhorns are typically left handed played with the right hand. i don't know why.

oh and by pitch:

soprano cornet - Eb

cornet, trumpet, flugel - Bb

tenor horn - Eb

trombone, euphonium, baritone - Bb

tuba - Eb

tuba - Bb

oh, and sorry about the 4 posts, but great entry

EvilAl, since Annie, who took on the editing of this entry, is not a music expert, can you tell her exactly which words/sentences to replace, and what exactly to replace them with, please?