Posted by John Swensen on August 21, 2002 at 11:53:34:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Horn-Size Relative to Player-Size posted by Clarification... on August 21, 2002 at 11:22:08:
The late, great, Arnold Jacobs reportedly had a vital capacity around 2.5 liters towards the end of his career (as opposed to an average young male capacity of around 5 liters), and he did most of his playing on a 6/4 York. I have heard reports that Roger Bobo's vital capacity was as high as 7 liters, yet he did much of his playing on tiny, 3/4-sized Miraphones. I believe that these great musicians chose their instruments based on the sounds that the instruments produced for them, rather than the match between the instruments' volumes and their vital capacities.
As Arnold Jacobs said, you don't fill the horn with air, you fill it with vibration. Air is just the means to get the lips to vibrate.