Hot answers tagged valves
15
A typical 3-finger valve cluster only has 7 useful combinations. Brass instruments combine that with vibrating the lips at different speeds so that notes in the harmonic series of any one of those valve combinations are sounded.
In contrast, reed aerophones only vibrate best at the resonant frequency of the instrument as it is configured with the current ...
3
The simple answer from a historical perspective is that valves on brass instruments were an addition to simple coiled horns like the bugle and hunting horn. It's kind of counterintuitive to add something in order to take away something; why not add something that adds something? Add the valve, and add its pipe; with the valve not depressed, the instrument is ...
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