OK maybe the moon made of cheese thing was unnecessary. Ok, maybe it was totally unnecessary and a tad mean-spirited. Heh. I stand by everything else. I did not even need to mention the M word to state that I disagree with the views expressed. We are still allowed to disagree with ideas presented in this forum, right?? If so, then there is no need to get upset. While the link I provided was from a mouthpiece manufacturer’s website, the understanding is that it applies to all makes and models. This discussion has nothing to do with brand A equipment vs. brand B equipment, so no need to make it into one.
“You wanna know how to sound beautiful when playing a solo at ppp??? Don’t let it go sharp.” - my undergrad teacher (Obviously, he wasn’t the first, nor is he the last to suggest this)
We (you, me, Mr. Reaben, B15m, etc) all wholeheartedly agree on this. Where we differ on this issue of eliminating tension and playing in the resonant center of the horn are the aspects of semantics and procedure. I don’t agree with your reasoning, but I fully agree with the goal. Because its my goal too.
We have both been told different things about how these issues work, and we both believe them. Again, the only part where we disagree is the question of whether hitting a mouthpiece with one’s hand can show us something about sound production (the setting up of a standing wave inside the horn) (when we play it) (with our lips).
So specifically, I have been told that hitting the mouthpiece with your hand and listening to the pitch of the resulting pedal C bears no relevance to how the system of mouthpiece + trumpet + player will work when making music. The reason is lip engagement. This is new thinking. Again,
http://www.grmouthpieces.com/questions4.htm
It boils down to this: when you play, the lips engage into the mouthpiece differently than the palm of your hand engages into the mouthpiece when you hit it. They both remove cup volume. They do not remove the same about of cup volume. Therefore, their pitch will be different. Since we don't play trumpet by hitting the mouthpiece, (although, I did play a new music concert the other day with that....ugh) the fact that the pitch is lower (since lips remove more volume than your hand) when you hit the mouthpiece logically has nothing to do with where the horn wants to go when the system of trumpet + mouthpiece + lips is in use. If you disagree with that, then we will have to agree to disagree. But,
“If we cannot agree on facts, our opinions are irrelevant” – Dennis Prager
I read everything on the link you provided. While everything there is correct and fine academically (as far as I know) nowhere on that page is anything about lip engagement. This issue is less of a “how the trumpet works in a physics lab setting” and more of a “how the trumpet works in the real world when played by real humans” (humans using their lips, powered by their lungs to set up the standing wave, and not their hand)
It seems every time I differ with you on such a minor issue, I suddenly become the enemy of relaxation, the champion of tension, and a xenophobic freak to any equipment set up not exactly mirroring that of mine own. It is so unnecessary and stupid. Again, I did not even mention anything at all about M’s life work. You brought it up. I don’t care.