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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Macondo 2.0?
Post Subject: I would have posted the same answer even without you asking the question as your view very much struck a "nerve"Posted by rowuk on: 11/20/2022
This is a very good question, but there is a lot involved.
Tying "expressive/drama" factor to frequency range is very real. With a trumpet (and a soprano voice for instance) I would say that we change from dramatic to spectacular above the soprano staff, that means with the fundamentals starting at A=880Hz. This transition is also very much composed into the literature that we play. The purpose of a trumpets high C or D in a Bach composition, is very much like the same notes in a Mahler, Strauss or Stravinsky symphony. The function of this range is generally outside of the orchestral fabric - blending is less important than spectacular. I think that the violin however has more than an octave more of "drama" before the intention becomes spectacular (perhaps >1500Hz).
In the case of Bruckner, we have a mixed field for playback however. The vintage german rotary instruments were built with a very sonorous low register (below C=512) Hz, clear midrange between 440Hz and 880Hz, and above that the instruments were very bright - and directional. Modern trumpets have pretty much homogenized color up to maybe 800-1000 Hz above which they get far more spectacular. Bruckner composed for the characteristics of the vintage instruments and the results still hold true. Even American orchestras are using rotary trumpets for this literature today.
So, what is the drama part? Well, it is color (instrument and performer based), it is the "elegance" with which the musician plays, it is also the "dispersion" of the sound. Lower notes out of a trumpet have a much wider pattern of dispersion - something missing in many recordings. This dispersion makes the room sound a larger part of our total "tone". As we ascend, the room becomes much less of a factor because the radiation pattern becomes much more directional. The drama is also very much influenced by our ability to modulate tone, vibrato, and volume (I am leaving expressive factors like tempo or intonation out of the equation here as the playback is helpless to change these).
So to answer your questions:
1) No, I can not bring complexity to E6 like with F3. We are playing on the partials and the length of the instrument and shape of the bell limit what is available. I can change articulation to change how spectacular the upper range is launched into the room. As pitch increases, the palette of color decreases.
2) Increasing pitch and lowering volume are simply increasing lip tension and blowing less hard - which changes the overtone spectrum (softer means less overtones). If we need a high, soft tone with brilliance, we insert a mute in the bell to lower the fundamental strength. Strings have "mutes" to do similar things.
I would like to add here, that probably the violin is the "best case" acoustically. It is certainly in many respects the most developed instrument with the least limitations. The string length and body size is optimal for the frequencies being produced. I believe that the violin has the greatest expressive possibilities because of this. Great range, great spread of articulation - consistent over that range, ample dynamics and color. As most of a live violins sound is reflected from the ceiling, "real" reproduction could be more diffuse and more forgiving if the recording engineers did a better job.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281076380_Directivity_of_musical_instruments_in_a_real_performance_situation
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