Posted by Frederick J. Young on January 19, 2003 at 10:45:13:
In Reply to: Re: Re: tall bell vs short bell posted by Tom C. on January 16, 2003 at 13:34:57:
The high harmonics in the tone come straight out of the bell along its axis. This gives the trombone tone its bite. The lowest harmonics come out of the bell perpendicular to its axis or even go behind the bell. This makes euphs, tubas and especially French horns sound more mellow. However, articulations depend on the high harmonics and thus the aforementioned instruments can become muddy sounding in the presence of the heavy curtains found on so many stages!
I agree about trombones sounding crappy, especially the large bass trombones that love to blat out tuba parts. Their tones are so full of harmonics that they become percussion instruments. Be it cheaper to hit a dish pan with a hammer!