Nickels Brilliant

resonance of the trombone?

“The higher the copper content in the material, the darker and warmer the sound, so that yellow brass bells will be more brilliant and sound brighter with fewer overtones than gold and red brass bells. Nickel silver bells tend to produce an extremely clear sound, but without becoming excessively bright; notably when coupled with the right slide, tuning slide and leadpipe nickel bells can also sound dark, full and resonant particularly on our bass trombones.”

The fundamental tone is the lowest tone produced by the trombone and depends upon the speed of sound in air (about 1,100 feet per second) and the effective length of the path through the instrument based on slide position and bell configuration. When played the lips of the trombonist vibrate quite rapidly. However, in slow motion the lips initiate a pulse of air (sound wave) that travels (at the speed of sound) all the way to the bell of the instrument as a condensation and because of the momentum of the air column a rarefaction (partial vacuum) travels all the way back to the lips just in time for the next pulse. Of course the trombonist must ‘play’ the correct note for the length of slide otherwise the vibrations of the lip will interfere with the sound waves within the instrument and spoil resonance. As with a bugle of fixed length tones above the fundamental may be produced without the fundamental by increasing lip tension, reducing lip orifice, increasing air flow and even by directing the air flow toward the rim of the mouthpiece. This places more energy into the higher overtones without enough relaxation to play the fundamental. The lowest tones are played by directing the air flow into the bore of the mouthpiece.

That said, the configuration of the trombone including the bore size and metal (especially thickness and weight) can help reinforce or interfere with any of the overtones that are present with the fundamental. Overtones are of higher frequency and divide the air path such that two or three or more complete cycles of the tone travel to the bell and back just in time for a new pulse of air. A skilled trombonist can also change the color (dark/bright) of the tones as well as volume by emphasizing which overtones receive how much energy. Many trombone players would not have their instruments coated (with lacquer) to protect against corrosion because the extra weight on the bell may change its resonance and sound.

If you struck the different bell materials with the same object (drum stick?) they would sound different due to different properties including necessary thickness, density and ductility. For example compare a brass bell with a lead bell, etc. Different materials would likely support different harmonics (higher and lower harmonics) altering the quality of the sound.

JOE BONAMASSA LIVE AT THE MAGNA CENTRE 29/05/2010 – IF HEARTACHES WERE NICKELS GUITAR SOLO