Measuring the effect of the reflection of sound from the lips in brass musical instruments

Jonathan A Kemp, Richard Smith

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

The lips of the player are often assumed to perfectly reflect sounds that strike them. Experimental and theoretical calculations of input impedance demonstrate the pressure that would build up if a flat, perfectly reflecting volume velocity source were used to excite the air into vibration. In reality the lips should project slightly into the instrument mouthpiece and absorb a small amount of the energy that strikes them and this study will quantify this effect using wave separation/impedance apparatus. For closed lips it is expected that the strength of resonances will be reduced, but that the correction will be small. The condition for reflection from lips that are not fully closed will differ more significantly from perfect reflection and it is anticipated that this data will be useful for integration into physical models of brass instruments.
Original languageEnglish
Pages1767-1773
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2012
EventAcoustics 2012 Joint meeting : 11th Congrès Français d'Acoustique and 2012 IOA annual meeting - Nantes, France
Duration: 23 Apr 201227 Apr 2012

Conference

ConferenceAcoustics 2012 Joint meeting : 11th Congrès Français d'Acoustique and 2012 IOA annual meeting
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityNantes
Period23/04/1227/04/12

Keywords

  • Reflectance measurement
  • Trumpet
  • Brass
  • Lips

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measuring the effect of the reflection of sound from the lips in brass musical instruments'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this