Trumpet design and acoustical characteristics

Historically, designs for brasswind have been developed by instrument makers rather than scientists; until recently bore profiles have been arrived at by trial and error rather than through engineering. With only a handful of exceptions, all patents relating to brass instruments have been for mechanical features such as valves rather than features of the bore profile, although the importance of the latter has long been recognized. This paper outlines the authors' approach to an objective historical study of the acoustical design of instrument models through acoustical and physical measurements.