Posted by Rick Denney on November 07, 2003 at 13:07:56:
In Reply to: Re: Silver or laquer posted by A BETTER ANSWER on November 06, 2003 at 21:15:01:
Do you know the thickness and vibrational damping characteristics of different types of lacquer? If not, then how can you say what you say with such assurance? You can base an assertion on subjective opinion, and then we can argue about what the cause might be contributing to the perceived effect. You are suggesting a physical cause, though, and despite having searched (and done some testing of my own), I can find no data to support it.
The old air-dried cellulose lacquers are actually quite thin and hard. It is obviously weaker and more brittle than the brass, because when you bend the brass, the lacquer cracks and flakes. Silver is so thin as to have no possible mechanical effect on the vibration of the brass.
But a bigger question is how much the vibration of the brass affects the sound. I submit that for a tuba that does not have harmonic content in the range where the brass rings, lacquer affects the vibration of the brass so slightly as to be nearly unnoticeable, and the vibration of the brass affects the resulting sound so slightly as to be nearly unnoticeable. Thus, you have a tiny effect on a tiny effect. If a 1% effect can be heard, then what about a 1% adjustment to the 1% effect? That would be a .01% effect. Can you hear that? I can't.
A while back I tested the damping characteristics of adhesive tape, which is dramatically thicker than even the thickest epoxy lacquer, and also dramatically softer and more plastic than ANY lacquer. Yes, it affected the resonance of the base metal audibly when it was rung, but not in the range of frequencies that contribute to tuba sound. Applying lacquer is not like covering it with paper.
That doesn't mean I refute those effects that sensitive people notice. I just am not convinced that the lacquer's presence or absence is in and of itself the cause of those effects.
Rick "waiting for persuasive data and not seeing any" Denney