Acoustical and metalworking techniques study of cornua, roman brass instruments, and their sound reproduction by physical modeling sound synthesis

Abstract

Under the musical instrument analysis project of ancient societies, combining musical archaeologists and research laboratories on materials and acoustic, a first technological study was conducted in the storage rooms of the Naples Archaeological museum. The five instruments were incomplete and consist of several pieces assembled on a plexiglass tube that does not allow the direct measurement of the bore. Two mouthpieces were associated with these instruments. Morphometric study was conducted and detached fragments of the Cornua were collected. The corresponding samples were then analyzed under a Bright Field Optical Microscope (BFOM) and a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) in order to determine the metalworking techniques. To determine the elemental composition of the Cornua (alloying and trace elements), analyses by means of Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) using the Ion beam facility AGLAE at C2RMF. From the morphometric data, the bore of the different cornua was reconstruct and their resonant frequencies calculated. Several possibilities of reconstituting the bore were tested and compared. Finally, the resonances obtained from the reconstructions of these instruments of the past will be compared with those of present instruments like French horn and trombone. The various reconstructions will also be compared from sound examples obtained through physical modeling synthesis.