Ok, not to start a war, but as I was wondering if freezing a horn with liquid nitrogen (cryogenics) had the same effect to the brass as work hardening (yes, I go curious places in my mind) I came across this study from Tufts.
http://www.tuftl.tufts.edu/musicengineering/research/cryo/cryo_paper_asa.pdf
Telling lines from the summary: The scatter of data (i.e. variation from trumpet-to-trumpet) overshadows any difference seen between the treated and un-treated trumpets. Further, variations seen between players and between sessions for the same player are also much greater than the variations found between the treated and untreated trumpets. Although it is possible that the cryogenic treatment does have an effect on the timbre of an instrument, the effect is subtle at best when compared to other determining factors.
FWIW, I do know the person at Yamaha that holds the patent for this. Probably fair to say he's not particularly aligned with this view. However, this is an available thing to do, some people swear by it, and it makes me curious if the point of the freezing is returning the metal to the same condition as a work-hardened state in a consistent way.
I have yet to find something that compares the crystalline structure of work-hardened brass vs cryogenically treated brass. Anyone have some thoughts on where to look?
http://www.tuftl.tufts.edu/musicengineering/research/cryo/cryo_paper_asa.pdf
Telling lines from the summary: The scatter of data (i.e. variation from trumpet-to-trumpet) overshadows any difference seen between the treated and un-treated trumpets. Further, variations seen between players and between sessions for the same player are also much greater than the variations found between the treated and untreated trumpets. Although it is possible that the cryogenic treatment does have an effect on the timbre of an instrument, the effect is subtle at best when compared to other determining factors.
FWIW, I do know the person at Yamaha that holds the patent for this. Probably fair to say he's not particularly aligned with this view. However, this is an available thing to do, some people swear by it, and it makes me curious if the point of the freezing is returning the metal to the same condition as a work-hardened state in a consistent way.
I have yet to find something that compares the crystalline structure of work-hardened brass vs cryogenically treated brass. Anyone have some thoughts on where to look?