The importance of horn feedback (how much you hear behind the bell) has become increasingly obvious to me. This has resulted from extensive playing in a heavily sound proofed studio. The room is so dead, in fact, that sound is immediately absorbed. As a result, playing in this room requires much more effort than normal. In experimenting to see what could be done to make the experience more pleasant, I started playing through a system with a digital sound processor and headphones for better feedback. With this setup, a little reverb can be added back in to make the sound less "dry" and obviously, the feedback is greatly increased. The surprise has to do with just how much less effort is required to play. Technically, I suppose this is related to sound reinforcement of the pressure waves being produced in the horn. The other thing I believe this illustrates is the importance of a horns ability to provide feedback to the player. Much attention has been given to the projection quality of a horn but this points out the much overlooked feedback quality, at least, this appears to be the case for me. Just an interesting observation...Ken B.

The room is sound-proofed to prevent sound from leaving the room.
That same sound-proofing is preventing your sound from bouncing back at you?
That would indicate that the sound-proofing is exposed on the walls rather than inside the walls?
If you put a 4 foot by 8 foot piece of paneling on one wall and play facing that wall, you will receive significant feedback from your instrument's sound bouncing off that one wall.
Put paneling on all 4 walls and you will probably deafen yourself as I did when attempting a Double High C in the bathroom with the door closed

Dean

Yes, the room was "Auralex'd" and was designed both as a recording studio and practice room. Out of ignorance, I didn't realize all the insulation on the walls would make it so poor for practicing. Fortunately, I found an electronic solution which works quite well.

The point I was trying to make had to do with the realization of the importance of horn feedback. I'm sure many others already have discovered this but frankly, I was surprised as just HOW important feedback is and how much effect it has in making playing harder or easier. --Ken B.

Many fine instruments were designed to sound best in decent rooms. They are built differently than the ones that give us an easier time when we have no real feedback. Remember, our ears are part of the sound production cycle. No sonic clues or electronic ones are not what builds a top player.

Experience the joy of decent acoustics. It will do wonders for your playing. Making the room work is often a big part of a "musical" performance!