Between art and science… the shape of sound

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University School of Music (Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana) - SUPSI

SUPSI’s School of Music promotes the dissemination of music culture in Southern Switzerland, with theoretical and practical teaching, and by

organising artistic events and research projects. Since its foundation 25 years ago, the Conservatorio has grown from being well estab-

lished in the region into an institution widely recognised nationally and internationally. In part this was built up on the basis of its increasingly international studentship and of its teaching body (musicians of world

prestige), but also by promoting active exchange programmes with re-gional, national, and international institutions. In 2006 the Conservato-rio della Svizzera italiana became affiliated to the University of Applied

Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI).

web:

www.conservatorio.ch

www.artisticresearch.ch

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Think of the sharp, pure, and powerful sound of a wind instru-ment, a trumpet for instance. Regardless of whether one is playing jazz, pop or classical music, whether one is dealing with a trumpet, or what-ever other instrument, the execution of a sound, or of that sequence of sounds that we call music, is the fruit of a delicate combination of technique, passion, but also of the laws of physics, physiology, and math-ematics. Such is the complexity of this phenomenon that we struggle to understand it as a whole. Most of all, we are still uncertain as to the best tools to apply to get to the bottom of it. This is precisely the objec-tive pursued by one of the research projects conducted at the Univer-sity School of Music. Entitled “Shape the Sound: trumpet mouthpiece manufacturing and tone quality”, this study is coordinated by Massimo Zicari, deputy head for Research and Development at the Conservatory. The project will analyse an apparently insignificant but in fact rather es-sential feature: the shape of the mouthpiece of wind instruments, more specifically the trumpet. With the financial support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF - Dore), the project relies upon a whole vari-ety of skills and professional expertise: engineers specialised in turbines and fluid-dynamics modelling, along with instrumentalists, sound-tech-nicians, and manufacturers of musical instruments.

«What was still missing was research on the living practice of art: it isn’t enough to study the text or the historical aspects; we must analyse the methods

and the mechanisms of artistic performance as a ‘live event’.»

Massimo Zicari, University School of Music - SUPSI

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We need more than experience and tradition to manufacture an excellent instrument. We need mathematical models, fluid-dynamics experts, musicians and engineers co-operating closely. This is coming together at SUPSI, where researchers of the University School of Music and engineers of the Department of Innovative Technologies are working together on a project researching into the design and mechanics characteristics required to produce mouthpieces for wind instruments.

From the standpoint of mechanics or of the materials used, mu-

sical instruments have, over time, undergone changes of varying impor-

tance. Often, though, these have been based simply on experience and

instinct. The research project conducted at the Conservatorio, stage

two of the study launched a few years ago, “will analyse”, Zicari explains,

“some design and mechanical aspects of the instruments, in particular the

mouthpieces of brass instruments, those of the trumpet and the trom-

bone. Our aim is to understand, in terms of musicality and acoustics, what

exactly determines the sound that is produced and how it is perceived.”

The earlier study had already highlighted a number of key variables in the

design of mouthpieces, for instance the form, its sharp edges, and the kind

of bearing surface. All of these influence the effort made by the player as

well as the quality of the sound emitted. “We have managed”, Zicari tells

us, “to define some parameters and to quantify some aspects which had

up to now remained as if suspended in the limbo of experience, of the

good practice of musicians or of instrument manufacturers, remote from

scientific inquiry. This new project goes one step further. Attention switch-

es to another design parameter, the convexity of the cup of the trumpet’s

mouthpiece, which is the first resonator of the vibration produced by the

musician’s lips, and therefore plays quite a major role.”

The project brings together researchers and instrumentalists of

the University School of Music and of the Orchestra of Southern Switzer-

land (known as ‘OSI’), engineers of the Department of Innovative Tech-

nologies at SUPSI, besides the Basle manufacturer of instruments, Rainer

Egger, who in the previous project was responsible for the design and

construction of the mouthpieces to be studied. In the new phases, the

Department of Innovative Technologies researchers will try to convert

characteristics such as the contour of the internal cup of the mouthpiece

into parameters. From this, they will be able to develop a fluid-dynam-

ics simulation and pinpoint the sort of turbulence occurring inside the

mouthpiece, which can undermine the quality of the sound. That is a cru-

cial role that OSI performers will be playing, as they are entrusted with

testing the instruments. The concern will be to assess different aspects:

the perception of the musicians, prime beneficiaries, but also the qual-

ity of the sound produced through sampling and quantitative data. In the

final phase, researchers will seek to ascertain to what degree the differ-

ences produced may be perceptible. “Having done that”, Zicari concludes,

“we will try to collate all these data, and so check if different geometries

of the instrument, in particular of the mouthpiece, are reflected in the

acoustic behaviour of the instrument.” “All this”, Zicari goes on explain-

ing, “is helping us climb out of the limbo of an experience which, though

centuries-old is not always borne out by objective data; indeed it may oc-

casionally feed on stereotypes which, if tested, may well be disproved.

One of the tasks of applied research in the arts domain is to pro-

vide a greater understanding of the artistic phenomenon, without de-

meaning the musician’s sensitivity, but on the contrary making the most of

his experience and his personal life-story.” This project, but more generally

research into musical instruments, strives to understand the mechanisms

so as to be able to utilize those instruments more effectively, regardless of

the specific nature of each one. However, talking about scientific research

in the artistic sphere may engender some confusion, caused by the termi-

nology used: so we need to clarify what we mean by scientific research

as distinct from artistic research. “Artistic research”, Zicari explains, “is ex-

perimentation, something which artists have always been busy with, in

search of new expressive horizons. It is not to be mistaken for scientific

research applied to art; the latter in fact, follows the epistemological para-

digms of science and pursues demonstrable hypotheses, empirical test-

ing and repeatability, and whose field of application can be art”. In this

respect, the University School of Music meets the criteria set out for this

investigation, and applies them to different contexts: from studying the

connections between the conditions of production of an artistic object, to

performance or to its fruition, from teaching to human physiology, all the

way to aesthetic or historical research, which are closer to the humani-

ties. “Until ten years ago”, concludes Zicari, “an artist was trained to be an

artist; today we are confronted with an education system that has intro-

duced new, scientific skills, next to traditional artistic talent. What we are

living through at the moment may be defined as a period of transition;

only the next generations will feel be comfortable with the idea that it is

possible, yes, but also legitimate to deal with art using resources cognate

to scientific research, rather than to art”.

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SUPSI - University School of Music (Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana)

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Art seen through the lens of applied scientific research: the exquisite features of instruments.

Project Head:

«Plenty of wisdom goes into the making of musical instruments. Yet, few scientific studies have looked at the link between specific design parameters and the quality of the sound produced.»

Mas

sim

o Zi

cari

Massimo ZicariDeputy head of research di istitutoUnivesity School of Music - SUPSIConservatorio della Svizzera italianavia soldino 9CH-6900 Lugano+41 91 960 3043massimo.zicari@conservatorio.ch

Graphic design, pictures and text by fabio.meliciani@usi.chEnglish version by Prof. Simona Cain PolliFocus on research can be downloaded from: www.ideatorio.usi.ch