Posted by Sam I Am on January 09, 1999 at 16:08:09:
In Reply to: Recording Bell Size posted by Tom Caudron on January 08, 1999 at 15:27:23:
Some very interesting comments have been made on the origin of the recording bell, and it may not be right, but I have a theory;
I played an old Conn for a couple of summers as a kid, and while the forward facing bell was certainly the primary reason the horn was heard, there was another reason as well. It seems that the added mass of the bell affected the acoustics of the horn giving it a more distinctive tone. It dampened the vibrations of the higher partials in the horn, and emphasized the lower ones, adding more weight to the tone. It would be something akin to a woofer in a speaker. By adding weight to the tone, theoretically, you make it more audible. I would have thought the opposite would be true, especially on those old horn style wax recordings, but the recordings I have of myself in a concert band clearly have more of the recording tuba sound, even though we were using suspended ceiling mikes!
Might be right... I might be crazy.