Posted by MA on August 09, 2002 at 10:36:22:
In Reply to: Re: Silver-plated vs.Lacquer posted by Lew on August 09, 2002 at 08:43:53:
Walter Lawson (custom horn maker) did a scientific study on the difference between lacquered and raw brass. He found that lacquering a raw brass horn (french horn) took out about 5% of the high harmonics in the tone. On a french horn, harmonic content is easily manipulated by the postion of the right hand in the bell, so if a player wanted to accommodate, all that was necessary was to open the hand a little. I think that out in the hall, it would be very difficult to tell the difference anyway. He did not do any tests with silver plating, because horns generally don't get this treatment.