Mouth Air Pressure and Intensity Profiles of the Oboe

Abstract

MUSICIANS KNOW THAT some musical wind instruments take more mouth air pressure to play than others,, and that notes of higher ffequency on some instruments take more air pressure than notes of lower frequency. It is also known that the higher notes of some wind instruments are not as loud as lower notes, and that adjacent notes on the same instrument may differ in loudness. The literature reveals that there has been little precise measurement of these factors by performers and teachers. Of the literature consulted, there was only one account of a measurement made of the correlation between mouth air pressure and loudness.1 The unwritten estimates of air pressure and loudness offered by performers and teachers are not only equally lacking, but are inaccurate in estimating mouth air pressure. A number of performers, including professionals, have made approximations of how much pressure is required to play wind instruments. Their estimates ranged from 20 to 90 pounds per square inch (psi). However, of those tested on a pressure gauge, none of them could produce more than 3.5 psi, and some produced less than 2.5 psi. These estimates did not differ from those of nonmusicians. It is interesting to note that neither the musician nor the nonmusician would say he could inflate an automobile tire, although such is implied in a mouth air pressure of 20 psi or more. Given the basic role of mouth air pressure in playing wind instruments, it seems strange that so little systematic knowledge can be found, and that SQ much discrepancy exists between belief and substantiated evidence. In view of this, it was decided that a study of mouth air pressure and of loudness would be conducted, as these two phenomena are related.2 Mouth air pressure was easily measured by means of a tube