Music

Still sounds like a trumpet to me. A trumpet being silly, but a trumpet nonetheless. A musician has as much control over any synthesizer with the ADSR envelope without touching anything else.

Didn’t mean to imply it didn’t still sound like a trumpet, only that the trumpet is capable of far more timbres than just normal playing (in this case a harsh-ish sound caused by half-valving, which also prevents the sound from locking into notes) despite never being able to escape its own shape.

So maybe this time I tricked you into saying it wrong? It’s actually more than ADSR-like function—the output sound is more than a function of volume and pitch, as a trumpet player has some degree of control over timbre. Among trumpet players, Arturo Sandoval is jealousy-inducing for his ability to change up his sound and impersonate other players without even changing horns.

Sadly, the science doesn’t seem to be all there, and it’s anyone’s guess how exactly certain players can manipulate the sound better than others, or why some children can pick up the instrument and sound good from day one while after over a decade my own playing could best be described as “like a dying waterfowl” despite many well intentioned teachers. Players almost universally describe the desired timbre as good “tone” (which can be easily distinguished by just listening but is scientifically meaningless), and producing it in terms of “air” and tonguing techniques.

Soooo at least I have tonguing techniques.