Forked Brass

November 18th, 2017
ideas, music
I was playing around with some PVC with my kids, and made something I can't figure out the physics of:

This is playing something like 120Hz (open), 90Hz (ii), 103Hz (iii), and 77Hz (i). The approximate lengths are:

 mouth
   |
   | 13.5"
   |         29"
   +---------------------  i
   |
   | 8"
   |     7"
   +------------  ii
   |
   |
   | 20"
   |
   |

  iii

With a standard brass instrument you have a single tube with no branches. Valves or slides change the length of that tube, and all the notes you play have frequencies that are multiples of the tube's fundamental frequency. The fundamental has a wavelength of twice the length of the tube.

What's going on here?

(It should be possible to make a cheap brass instrument out of PVC with no valves, just branches and holes you cover, but I don't understand the physics involved.)

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

On AI writing in 2026

I use AI to write a little bit: I ask it for high level feedback on blog post drafts, make mechanical edits, and sometimes use it to brainstorm options for wording at a paragraph level. It’s unusual that I accept its wording or changes without modificatio…

via Home April 16, 2026

Some considerations on whether my job is evil

I. On an average weekend, only 1 in 20 Americans go to a party.

via Thing of Things April 14, 2026

Microfictions

A few microfictions, very much inspired by Quiet Pine Trees. I hope to add more over time. No LLMs.

via Evan Fields March 27, 2026

more     (via openring)