The analogy between the human voice and brass instruments

There are many similarities between the principles of tone production of the human voice and brass instruments, but also some remarkable differences. In both cases the vibrator is human tissue and the air stream works as the excitation. A singer’s resonator consists of the oral and nasal cavities, the pharynx and the chest cavity. These organs have great individual differences. During tone production they are constantly changing their size and shape, for example, when singing different vowels on the same pitch. Singers’ vocal cords vibrate quite independently while brass players’ lips interact strongly with the resonator (air column).

Similarities and differences between brass instruments and the human voice

Differences between the sound channels

Tone production of brass instruments and the human voice is very alike in spite of the big differences in sound channels. We can often recognize the voice of a familiar person after one single word, but it’s much more difficult to recognize different players of the same instrument. Some experts can do that, but it happens more by listening to other musical parameters than just the tone production (for example phrasing, articulation, and vibrato). The sound channels of different people are very individual whereas differences between the instruments are fairly small. If the sound channel shape of a brass instrument is radically changed, for example by using a mute, we can then easily tell that a person is playing a muted instrument even though we can’t identify the player.