Re: Question for you scientific types.


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Posted by Don Shirer on August 26, 2003 at 23:01:31:

In Reply to: Question for you scientific types. posted by Tom C. on August 26, 2003 at 17:52:54:

Calculations by different early workers suggested that with a tube of radius R the pressure decreases to zero for the fundamental mode of vibration at a point from 0.58R to 0.82R from the end depending on the amount of flare, so Rick's estimate of 2/3 R is well within the ballpark for normal use.

The end effect is different at higher frequencies. Conical horns presumably have the property of having the higher overtones approximate the harmonic series, but of course tubas and baritones are not strictly conical, especially near the mouthpiece end, and solutions to the wave equation for such instruments do not fit ideal mathematical models and can only be computed numerically from a knowledge of the exact shape. Here we should pause and pay due respect to the makers who designed these wonderful instruments long before computers became available.


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