The volume of air depends on the length of the tube; a longer tube means a larger volume of air, hence lower pitch. By buzzing the lips faster or slower, the player can cause the air in the tube to resonate at different harmonics.
- Which brass instrument does buzzing your lips make a sound?
- How fast do the lips vibrate when playing a brass instrument?
- Do brass instruments require you to buzz your lips to produce sound?
Which brass instrument does buzzing your lips make a sound?
French Horn Demonstration
The French Horn is a brass instrument. Other brass instruments include the trumpet, trombone, and tuba. To make sound, the player “buzzes” their lips against the mouthpiece, which makes the air inside the horn vibrate.
How fast do the lips vibrate when playing a brass instrument?
For a high trumpet note, the lips may vibrate at more than 1000 vibrations per second. This is fast, but remember that the muscles are not contracting at that rate: the muscles in the brass player's lips exert almost constant tension, and it is the elastic and aerodynamic forces on the lips that produce the vibration.
Do brass instruments require you to buzz your lips to produce sound?
It is merely a sensation felt on the lips due to air pressure changes. An effective experiment one can try is to simply blow air into a mouthpiece while inserting it in a brass instrument. The result is the Aeolian tone Mouthpiece Effect. No buzzing is ever needed.