Brass instrument
The term labrosone, from Latin elements meaning "lip" and "sound", is also used for the group, since instruments employing this "lip reed" method of sound production can be made from other materials like wood or animal horn, particularly early or traditional instruments such as the cornett, alphorn or shofar.
Slides, valves, crooks (though they are rarely used today), or keys are used to change vibratory length of tubing, thus changing the available harmonic series, while the player's embouchure, lip tension and air flow serve to select the specific harmonic produced from the available series.
These terms stem from a comparison to organ pipes, which produce the same pitch as the fundamental pedal tone of a brass instrument of equal length.
Valves are used to change the length of tubing of a brass instrument allowing the player to reach the notes of various harmonic series.
This lengthens the vibrating air column thus lowering the fundamental tone and associated harmonic series produced by the instrument.
Designs exist, although rare, in which this behaviour is reversed, i.e., pressing a valve removes a length of tubing rather than adding one.
[9] For example, given a length of tubing equaling 100 units of length when open, one may obtain the following tuning discrepancies: Playing notes using valves (notably 1st + 3rd and 1st + 2nd + 3rd) requires compensation to adjust the tuning appropriately, either by the player's lip-and-breath control, via mechanical assistance of some sort, or, in the case of horns, by the position of the stopping hand in the bell.
When the third (or fourth) valve is depressed in combination with another one, the air is routed through both the usual set of tubing plus the extra one, so that the pitch is lowered by an appropriate amount.
This allows compensating instruments to play with accurate intonation in the octave below their open second partial, which is critical for tubas and euphoniums in much of their repertoire.
A later "full double" design has completely separate valve section tubing for the two sides, and is considered superior, although rather heavier in weight.
Initially, compensated instruments tended to sound stuffy and blow less freely due to the air being doubled back through the main valves.
Some euphoniums and tubas were built like this, but today, this approach has become highly exotic for all instruments except horns, where it is the norm, usually in a double, sometimes even triple configuration.
Trigger is used in two senses: A throw is a simple metal grip for the player's finger or thumb, attached to a valve slide.
Since the early decades of the 20th century, piston valves have been the most common on brass instruments except for the orchestral horn and the tuba.
Brass instruments, on the other hand, are highly directional, with most of the sound produced traveling straight outward from the bell.
These alloys are biostatic due to the oligodynamic effect, and thus suppress growth of molds, fungi or bacteria.
Brass instruments constructed from stainless steel or aluminium have good sound quality but are rapidly colonized by microorganisms and become unpleasant to play.
Most higher quality instruments are designed to prevent or reduce galvanic corrosion between any steel in the valves and springs, and the brass of the tubing.
[not specific enough to verify] The process of making the large open end (bell) of a brass instrument is called metal beating.
In making the bell of, for example, a trumpet, a person lays out a pattern and shapes sheet metal into a bell-shape using templates, machine tools, handtools, and blueprints.
Previously shaped bell necks are annealed, using a hand torch to soften the metal for further bending.
While originally seen as a gimmick, these plastic models have found increasing popularity during the last decade and are now viewed as practice tools that make for more convenient travel as well as a cheaper option for beginning players.
