talcito

What type of sound quality should a 5 1/2 inch Bronze bell produce.

The bigger the bell the brighter the sound, is that right?

MUSICandCHARACTER

Not nearly that simple. Bigger bells tend to spread the sound -- depending and the design of the flair. If they get too big, the sound gets very diffuse (in the 1940s, a lot of the military trombones had 6 inch bells and now you can buy trumpets with 6 inch bells )

I have never played a bronze bell, but I have heard players say it is a bit brighter and focused. Therefore, it would make sense to have a bigger bell. Perhaps someone who has played a bronze bell can chime in.

Jim

Heavens2kadonka

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, usually mixed with other metals (Zinc, in the case of the trumpet).

Bronze is different, in that its heavy, yet bright sounding. The tin supposedly gives the sound a "sparkle," which would give the impression to some of a brighter sound. If you ever flick your fingers on a bronze bell, then a brass bell, you notice the bronze bell has a *much* ringier sound when pinged.

HERES a link to check out the sounds three different trumpets being pinged: A Bach, Benge, Besson, and Blackburn (ambronze, which is the same thing, pretty much).

http://www.whc.net/rjones/jlynch/cryo/index.html

Van

ronald wilk

Hi:

I read your posts with interest since my impression of the "bronze" bell is somewhat different.

I personally own a new Edwards large bronze bell Gen X and chose the bronze bell for its ability to produce a dark and warm tone as opposed to the "bright" tone produced by my large Yellow (Yellow brass) Eclipse.

It would seem therefore, that in order to verbally portray the tonal quality of a bronze bell, that all those interested would have to be in agreement with the various terms used to describe said tonal quality.

By the way, it is my understanding that a bronze bell has a higher copper content than the so-called brass bells. The increased copper content would tend to soften the bell, resulting in a warmer tone.

trickg

Monettes usually have very large bells, but I'm not sure what they are made of.

And which alloy are you talking about when referring to "brass" and bronze?

As a drummer, I know that for the most part there are 2 basic alloys of bronze that cymbals are made from. One is B8 bronze, the other is B20. I believe that the number has something to do with the amount of tin in the alloy.

Generally, it is accepted that B20 cast bronze is the superior cymbal alloy. Most of the B8 cymbals are made from rolled, sheet bronze, although Paiste makes their 2002 series of cymbals from B8, and those things sound pretty amazing.

So how does this relate to trumpet bells? Not sure because I don't know what alloy is used for trumpet bells, either brass or bronze, but I can tell you this: Brass cymbals sound like....well, not good. Of course the application is totally different (or is it?) because a cymbal is struck to produce the vibration, whereas a horn bell viabrates for a totally different reason and in a different way.