Physical and perceptual differences between two trumpets of the same model type

Adrien Mamou-Mani , Laetitia Placido (1, 2) , David Sharp

1 CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne
2 PSE - Paris School of Economics

For large-scale musical wind instrument manufacturers, the ability to produce instruments in a repeatable fashion is essential. In this paper, two mass-produced trumpets of the same model type are compared in terms of physical and perceptual differences. Input impedance and bore profile measurements show significant acoustical differences due to the presence of a tiny leak in the bore of one of the two instruments. Psychophysical tests demonstrate that these acoustical differences do not necessarily result in perceptible differences in the playing characteristics of the two trumpets. Only a small number of trumpet players successfully distinguish between the instruments when subjected to a playing test, although those that do are shown to be able to provide distinct and consistent quality assessments for each one.

Mots clés: trumpets; input impedance; psychoacoustics

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Adrien Mamou-Mani, Laetitia Placido, David Sharp. Physical and perceptual differences between two trumpets of the same model type. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00810662⟩