Posted by Leland on February 15, 2002 at 23:53:55:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Effect of temperature on tuning posted by Doug on February 14, 2002 at 22:33:51:
Trying to play with helium is quite funky, really. You'll usually produce a sound that's a partial or two higher than you'd expect.
Part of what's perceived as the horn warming up is also the player's lips warming up. I try to never "officially" tune until after my chops are good to go, because their pitch center will change as their flexibility increases.
And, no, the metal's expansion/contraction is never enough to counter the effects of temperature-related air density changes. If brass did change shape that drastically, then the horn would just explode into bits (which has happened to wooden clarinets, for example). Keyed percussion, though, does some weird things at temperature extremes...