Trumpet Intonation Differences Due to Bell Taper

Abstract

A trumpet was made up so that a series of different bells could easily be alternately attached. Seven bells were made up such that there were six different tapers one of which was duplicated in different materials. The internal tuning differences due to these bells were determined for every chromatic pitch from F♯3 to C6 (written) by an electrical method and by five different players over five trials. These data were analyzed as to variance technique to determine the relative variability between players, trials, bells, and pitches. The analysis showed the statistical variance between players and bells to be highly significant whereas the trial and pitch variance was not significant. The results also indicate that the electrical measuring device is in the same statistical population with the five players. The conclusions indicate that the bell taper of a trumpet does appreciably alter the internal tuning of an instrument, and that although any one player is fairly consistent from trial to trial the differences between players is great.