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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000001.txt from 2006/12

From: Hinrich <hlmuller@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Gold brass/rose brass staples?
Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2006 11:14:48 -0500

Angela,

I know red brass mainly from the harpsichord angle; it's being used for
strings on the bottom octave, where the string scale is shortened.
Quite different considerations there, having to do with tension.

It is softer than yellow brass, for that reason it may not be suitable
for staples; given the same wall thickness, it may be subject to
deformation.

I am thinking about aluminum staples.

Hinrich

On Nov 25, 2006, at 08:22, Angela Wells wrote:

> Hello List-
>
> I've been thinking a lot about staples and metals lately. I'm sure
> we're all familiar with the brass v. nickel brass v. silver plated v.
> gold plated debate. What I've never seen or heard of, though, is gold
> brass (aka rose brass or red brass). Why is this? Has it been tried?
> Does anyone know?
>
> All I know about gold brass is that it has a higher copper content
> than "regular" yellow brass, which gives it a more redish color. It
> does not contain gold. Some musicians believe gold brass has a darker
> sound than yellow brass (oh, no, here we go...). It is also softer
> than yellow brass, but only to the degree that the copper content is
> increased. So, maybe a concern is that it could be too soft? Or maybe
> it's more expensive? Harder to work with?
>
> From yellow brass, oboists tend to depart in the opposite direction of
> gold brass and go to nickel brass (aka nickel silver). It has a
> greater reduction in the copper content than it does in the zinc
> content in order to make room for the nickel. It's more brittle than
> yellow brass and supposedly has a brighter sound. Oboists have said
> that it projects more, has a more focused sound, etc. If gold brass is
> supposedly the opposite of this, I wonder what the results, if any,
> would be.
>
> If nothing else, gold brass is prettier than yellow brass. This, of
> course, is deeply important to the reedmaking process. ;-)
>
> I would be interested in trying some gold/rose brass staples if anyone
> knows of a source. Thanks!
>
> ~Angela

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