Posted by Rick Denney on June 14, 2002 at 14:26:26:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Vintage vs. modern / thin vs. thick posted by Volker on June 14, 2002 at 13:52:16:
I'd rather see the thesis come from a physics major who is specializing in acoustics, though I suspect such students will choose topics more likely to earn them a good position after graduation.
If we were to rank the influence of various factors, I'd say that aside from the player, the shape of the instrument contributes between 90 and 99% of what the tuba will sound like out front, and the material and construction the remainder. This is entirely speculative, of course. Within that latter category, I'd suggest that the major differences will come from material preloads and residual stresses rather than from brass composition and thickness. And I'd also say that the differences are more felt than heard. For example, I've played several new King 2341's, and I thought one wonderful and two others not. What was the difference? I suspect that the latter two didn't vibrate in my hands the way the preferred one did, and therefore didn't feel as resonant. I wonder if there was any difference out front.
Of course, the feel of the instrument affects the player in ways that may be useful, so that effect should not be ignored even if it has no signficant direct bearing on the sound. It is entirely possible that the Danish player you mentioned thought a thick Thein prototype felt dead and a thin prototype felt lively. That would affect the way he heard the instrument (hearing and the feeling of vibration are related and even overlap somewhat, especially in lower frequencies), and it would also affect the way he played it. That interaction with the player is likely to make a bigger difference than the interaction between the vibration of the brass and the vibration of the air it contains.
But if fiberglass sousaphones approach the sound of brass sousaphones, then the difference between one brass sousaphone and another is likely to be quite small, and overwhelmed by other differences. The physical differences between plastic fiberglass and elastic brass is huge compared to the difference between thin brass and thick brass.
Rick "who thinks projection is a function of shape, not stiffness" Denney