Chapter 1
The Musician’s Experience of Brass
Instruments
This chapter presents an introduction to the study of brass instruments from the
point of view of the players whose lips waken silent horns to passionate musical life.
Section 1.1 takes a brief look at a few aspects of the rich and varied cultural history
of brasswind instruments. Section 1.2 reviews the different aspects of a player’s
interaction with a modern brass instrument, including the pitches of playable notes,
the range of dynamics which can be readily achieved and the responsiveness of
the instrument to subtle changes in embouchure or blowing pressure. Section 1.3
discusses the ways in which musicians verbalise their perceptions of instrumental
behaviour and some of the unsuspected complications that arise when performers or
listeners subjectively assess the musical qualities of instruments.
1.1 Creating Music from Lip Vibration: Labrosones
Through the Ages
For most people, the description ‘brass instrument’ conjures up an image of a
musical wind instrument with a shining brass bell. The brass band illustrated in
Fig. 1.1 consists of instruments, including cornets, trombones, saxhorns and tubas
(Herbert 1997), which are made from brass or a similar metal. The photograph
in Fig. 1.2 shows the swing band lineup of the famous Glenn Miller Orchestra,
including four trumpets and four trombones which are also made from brass. All
these instruments are classified both musically and acoustically as members of the
brass family. However although the three saxophones in the front row of the swing
band are made from brass, they have single reed mouthpieces and are therefore
considered to be members of the woodwind class. The distinguishing character
of the brass instrument family is not the material of construction but the fact that
the instrument is made to sound by buzzing the lips in the mouth aperture of
the instrument. The word ‘labrosone’, which has been adopted by organologists
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Campbell et al., The Science of Brass Instruments, Modern Acoustics and Signal
Processing, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55686-0_1
3
The Musician’s Experience of Brass
Instruments
This chapter presents an introduction to the study of brass instruments from the
point of view of the players whose lips waken silent horns to passionate musical life.
Section 1.1 takes a brief look at a few aspects of the rich and varied cultural history
of brasswind instruments. Section 1.2 reviews the different aspects of a player’s
interaction with a modern brass instrument, including the pitches of playable notes,
the range of dynamics which can be readily achieved and the responsiveness of
the instrument to subtle changes in embouchure or blowing pressure. Section 1.3
discusses the ways in which musicians verbalise their perceptions of instrumental
behaviour and some of the unsuspected complications that arise when performers or
listeners subjectively assess the musical qualities of instruments.
1.1 Creating Music from Lip Vibration: Labrosones
Through the Ages
For most people, the description ‘brass instrument’ conjures up an image of a
musical wind instrument with a shining brass bell. The brass band illustrated in
Fig. 1.1 consists of instruments, including cornets, trombones, saxhorns and tubas
(Herbert 1997), which are made from brass or a similar metal. The photograph
in Fig. 1.2 shows the swing band lineup of the famous Glenn Miller Orchestra,
including four trumpets and four trombones which are also made from brass. All
these instruments are classified both musically and acoustically as members of the
brass family. However although the three saxophones in the front row of the swing
band are made from brass, they have single reed mouthpieces and are therefore
considered to be members of the woodwind class. The distinguishing character
of the brass instrument family is not the material of construction but the fact that
the instrument is made to sound by buzzing the lips in the mouth aperture of
the instrument. The word ‘labrosone’, which has been adopted by organologists
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Campbell et al., The Science of Brass Instruments, Modern Acoustics and Signal
Processing, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55686-0_1
3