How do Brass Instruments Make Music?
Brass instruments must abide by the same basic law of physics that woodwind instruments must: the further air must travel, the lower the pitch of the sound produced. Unlike woodwinds, however, brass instruments must make use of a principle of sound waves known as “harmonics” in order to make different notes. Brass instrumentalists have far easier control of the frequency of their music than woodwind instrumentalists, because of the way a brass mouthpiece works. This is why a trumpet player can play all of the same notes as a flute player, even though the trumpet only has three valves as opposed to the dozens of keys on a flute. Valves and slides on brass instruments restrict the air flow to a certain pre-measured length of tubing. Within that length, a certain base pitch and all of its harmonics are available, depending on the frequency of the note being played by the musician. By skillful use of valve and slide combinations and different frequencies, brass instrumentalists from piccol
