Trumpet lips act as a damped oscillator resonating near 95 Hz.

Evidence

The lips are a damped resonator operating above its resonant frequency when playing the trumpet. Closed lips don’t seem to be a very likely oscillator—how do we measure their frequency and Q? The author was once a serious student of the trumpet, though a rather mediocre performer. The following informal experiment may nonetheless have some credence: The author buzzed into a trumpet mouthpiece pressed lightly on the lips. The mouthpiece was then removed and, with no other change, the upper lip was repeatedly flicked up and the resulting sound was analyzed. A broad peak frequency appeared at 80 to 110 Hz, with a Q of 2 or 3, weakly dependent on the playing tension of the lips but, perhaps surprisingly, independent of rate of the airflow and the mouth cavity size. It is as if the author’s lips set to play the trumpet are a damped oscillator with about a 95 Hz frequency. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 1541

Categorization

• SEED: Could make an essay on the unexpected physics of the human body as instrument — the self-deprecating author-as-subject experiment is a great narrative hook.
• SHARE: Send to anyone who played trumpet or studies brass pedagogy — the 80-110 Hz lip resonance and Q of 2-3 is the kind of fact a brass player would love.