| Manny if I can attemp to fill in a few blanks.
Firstly, I'm not a physicist so this is my attempt in layman's terms.
There is an argument that what really matters in making a sound come out of a brass instrument is that your lips open and close at a desired frequency..the 'buzz' is incidental if you like...as long as the air column within the trumpet is excited. When I play I know that my lips vibrate but that is a function of both the air I'm pushing from my lungs, the compression of my embouchure AND the resultant feedback from the standing wave set up in trumpet. If you like (at least in part) the trumpet is playing the player rather than the other way around. It's tough to visualise so I guess that the way we teach and conceptualise ourselves is that we buzz and that's what's responsible for the sound coming out of the bell. I'm all for simplifying things.
Personally, I'm all in favour of just putting a mouthpiece in the skinny end and hoping that something pleasant comes out the fat end.
Regards,
Trevor |