In this video lesson, Nick Drozdoff starts a minimally technical discussion about how beats frequencies work in both tuning and in the general sound of music. He uses this to dovetail into the idea of mixing two notes together to get a third tones as is done with multiphonics on a bass trumpet. He demonstrates the so called Tartini tones or difference tones in which two notes a whole step apart are sounded at the same time and a third note three octaves under the lower note is clearly heard. The process in multiphonics is slightly different from the beats, in that it involves mixing in a non-linear transfer function, but you can get the general idea of how this works from a visceral level. This will also be included on Nick Drozdoff's Science Olympiad page.

There is one slight “faux pas” on the bass trumpet segment. You say that you're going to play a low Bb. Then you say that you're going to sing the G (hum it) above it. That was a Bb trumpeters transposition slip-up. In Bb speak, you play a low C and hum the G over it. An E above that is now audible. However, you started out not transposing, So if you’re keeping track, in concert pitch, the notes are Bb, F and D. When you slide the hummed note (announced as an A), you're sliding up to a G concert. In the contemporary parlance, “my bad.”

1. Why do Light-Weight Trumpets "Play Brighter"?
2. How Does a Trumpet Work?
3. Beats and Multiphonics on a Bass Trumpet
4. Timbre and Harmonics and Pedal Tones as Applied to Trumpet and Flugelhorn
5. On Trumpet Mouthpieces and Tone (Part One)
6. Shattering Glass with the Un-amplified Sound of a Trumpet

Ever wonder how a musical brass instrument such as the trumpet works in terms of physical and scientific phenomena?

In this course, professional trumpeter and Physics teacher Nick Drozdoff gives 10 video lessons explaining the beautiful connection between Physics and Music, focusing on the mechanism behind the trumpet.