screamingmorris

I am just an amateur who played trumpet in Junior High, then I laid off trumpet for 30 years, then I returned to trumpet about 5 years ago.
So until last year I had never even heard of "slotting"
(and "water keys").

This morning I was using my Bach 7E piccolo mouthpiece on my .485 bore Conn 5A cornet (I *love* saying that because it sounds so strangely perverse, like putting a Bill Chase trumpet mouthpiece on a trombone) and I realized that until I was warmed up I could not easily lock onto any note above High C.
It was like trying to drive a car on wet ice.
After I got warmed up I was able to lock onto the notes up to High F pretty well.
Which led me to believe that it is my lips and not the cornet / mouthpiece which is doing most of the slotting above High C.

Question:
What is the main cause of the lack of instrument / mouthpiece slotting above High C?

The huge .485 bore of the Conn 5A cornet?
The fact that it is a conical-bore cornet rather than a cylindrical-bore trumpet?
The open backbore of the Bach 7E mouthpiece?
The combination of the Conn 5A bore with the Bach 7E backbore?
A characteristic of the Conn 5A that is unrelated to its .485 bore or conical bore?

I have read several times in the past that when playing trumpet *above* a High G (G above High C) or so most of the slotting comes from the player's embouchure control, because the notes are so close together in the instrument's falsetto range that the instrument itself cannot slot adequately in that range.
On the other hand, I have read numerous reports of people having to use alternate fingerings in the Double C range in order to get their trumpets to slot correctly.
Those 2 claims seem to contradict each other, yet both are common claims, so I don't know what to make of it.

But when using my Conn 5A cornet with a Bach 7E, it is as though I am hitting that no-slotting falsetto range a half octave lower, just above the High C.

If anyone can offer insights, it will be appreciated.

- Morris

IAmBrassman

Very tough question. Lots of variables involved. I wouldn't think any of the singular variables you list causes the 'slipper' partials, but I'm not a vibrations / sound expert. One thing I will say is that there are horns that slot very securely to double C and beyond, and they are typically built with that task in mind.

Consider visiting Nick Drozdoff's website - he's a trumpet-playing physicist who loves questions like this. Another resource is Dr. S.W. Theil (Thiel?) - another trumpeting scientist, on staff at Indiana University (I think.. my apologies SW if I cited the wrong school).

rowuk

Slotting technically is simply the ability of an instrument to "resonate". The stronger the resonance, the more pronounced the slot. In physics we call this variable "Q".

The efficiency of the player/mouthpiece/horn is in fact something that develops with practice. The most efficient horn and mouthpiece does not help if we for instance are not playing on the center of each note. This can easily happen when you switch mouthpieces. Depending on the volume of the mouthpiece and backbore, the pitch could be slightly different than another combination (blow across the tops of different shaped beer bottles, the volume inside determines the pitch for irregular shaped objects, not the physical length). If you compensate for pitch with embouchure, you are not playing "centered" and it seems like you are "driving on wet ice". I'll bet that your tuning pitch changed (or the position of the tuning slide) during that practice session - allowing you to play closer to the resonant center.

This is why we MUST teach our students to be sensitive to pitch and ALWAYS tune carefully in ensembles. We can increase endurance, quality of sound and volume of sound by letting the instrument do more of the work!

Dale Proctor

For what it's worth, my Conn 5A isn't a particularly tight-slotting horn, either. In fact, it's a little "loose", in my opinion and others' who've played it.

Newguy

I don't care how many slots you can't find -- you ain't gettin' it back!!

Bernie
1960 Holton Super Collegiate Cornet

screamingmorris

I get the last laugh, though:

Since you got the cornet for half of what it's worth,
I didn't include a $3 bottle of valve oil in the case.

That'll teach you...

- Morris

Newguy

Oil? You mean you're supposed to oil these things?? No wonder the valves are so slow on my other trumpet!! Next I bet you're gonna' tell me I need grease on the slides, too!!

Bernie
1960 Holton Super Collegiate Cornet