Selasa, 25 September 2012

The Best Trumpet Mouthpiece For You

By Patrice McCoy


A trumpet is a musical instrument dating back to the third millennium B. C., more than four thousand years ago. The earliest known trumpets come from the Oxus civilization of Central Asia. Fashioned out of a single metal sheet, these were technical wonders far ahead of their time. Silver and bronze trumpets were found in the grave of Egypt's King Tutankhamun. Today's trumpets are made of brass and shaped like a giant, tubular paperclip with a wide mouth. The best trumpet mouthpiece plays a critical role in coaxing musical sounds from the instrument.

Of the entire family of brass instruments, the trumpet is said to have the highest register. This refers to the range of pitch produced by the different sound wave patterns that result from blowing into the mouthpiece. A higher register can be achieved by a simple technique known as overblowing.

A characteristic called the 'embouchure, ' meaning the position of the musician's lips and their use of the muscles in the face, is one important contributor to the quality of sound that emerges from the business end of the instrument. The other critical factor is the construction of the mouthpiece.

The mouthpiece has four basic parts, the cup, the rim, the backbore and the throat, all of which make a discrete contribution to the quality of the embouchure. The shape of the rim, for instance, exerts control over the amount of freedom permitted of the lip muscles. A rounded rim will result in a fuzzy tone, while a rim with a sharp edge will produce a metallic tone. To narrow, and slurring becomes impeded by a constricted blood flow in the lip muscles. Too wide and flexibility becomes impaired. While the best sound is not necessarily the product of the best comfort, a medium wide rim will be the most comfortable, flexible and more endurable for the musician.

The size and shape of the cup influence the color, or timbre, of the sound. A deep cup mellows the high tones and enriches the lower register. A shallow cup, on the other hand, promotes a higher register by achieving higher frequencies leading to a bright, brilliant tone. However, the lower register will be less prominent. For general purposes, a medium gives the best result for both low and high registers.

The funnel shape of the entrance to the throat and the size of the hole controls air resistance. Too large, and the player will get worn out because the lips will get sucked into the cup; too small a throat will lower the high register. Like Goldilocks and her porrage, the middle ground is just right.

The backbone must be the last element that the manufacturer of the instrument engineers. It comes in different sizes and corrects a multitude of deficiencies. These deficiencies may be in the embouchure, which relies partly on the musician, or the instrument itself.

The musician is able to select the best trumpet mouthpiece for their purposes by manipulating each of the factors described above. Fr example, a small cup will favor rock or dixieland music. A larger cup will be more suitable for jazz or concert bands.




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