music: Trumpet solo of “Maria”
You probably recognize this song, but can you tell that it’s being played on a trumpet that’s been frozen? I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont. “I don’t think that if you heard an instrument that had been frozen that you would say, ‘Wow, that instrument’s been frozen’. But what you would say is, ‘That’s a very, very nice sounding instrument.'” Robert Osmun is a brass musical instrument dealer in Massachusetts. He’s talking about cryogenics, a process of exposing things to extremely cold temperatures. It’s usually done to metal objects such as tools and engine parts, in an effort to make them last longer. At Applied Cryogenics, a company that makes a special freezing chamber, Bruce Norian says deep freezing seems to relieve stress in metal that occurs during the manufacturing process. He says all the drilling, banging and temperature changes a musical instrument is subject to can cause it to resonate unevenly. “Playing at what you perceive to be the same level of effort, playing up a scale, some notes will be louder than others, and a good musician will learn to make adjustments so that all the notes are the same approximate volume. A cryogenically-treated instrument will do that for you.” Some musicians also freeze violin, guitar and piano strings. Not everyone agrees that freezing metal improves the sound of musical instruments. But Robert Osmun says that he’s had several hundred brass instruments frozen, with excellent results. “After the instruments have been frozen, musicians very often report back that the instrument is generally easier to play, and the sound tends to be a little bit warmer, more complex sound, and very often people will tell us that they’ve added a note or two to their top range.” Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.