https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2 A Breakdown of the mechanisms behind the trumpet and how the sound is interpreted by the ear. By Serena Sanghera en-us 2022-04-03 07:08:45 UTC 2025-11-09 11:57:55 UTC hello@padlet.com ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138256271 It all started when humans discovered vibrant sounds by blowing into hollow object such as conch shells, to around 1500 BC when craftsmen learned to create trumpets from metal. The trumpet was used for religious and military purposes before it was ever intended for musical purposes.


It was until the late Middle Ages when the trumpet was designed into a musical instrument instead of a signaling device

Photo unattributed

]]> 2022-04-10 20:48:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138256271 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138257810 The modern trumpet was created shortly just before 1800, Anton Weidinger invented a design that includes keys to change the trumpet pitch.

This design exemplified a chromatic scale of notes that allowed composers to create musical pieces that featured work with trumpet solos.

The keys were not enough due to tuning issues, therefore two German horn players: Heinrich David Stolzel and Friedrich Bluchmel created valves with different tube lengths that fixed the pitch, allowing the trumpet to be in tune with other instruments.

Photo unattributed]]> 2022-04-10 20:51:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138257810 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280420 The auricle (pinna) collect the musical note sound wave and funnels it into the external acoustic meatus, where the sound is amplified.

The musical note then travels down the ear canal all the way to the tympanic membrane where the musical note will hit the membrane causing the eardrum to vibrate]]> 2022-04-10 21:33:01 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280420 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280483 Eardrum vibrations cause the motion of ossicles to activate. The ossicles are a set of three bones; malleus, incus, and stapes.

These bones work together to transmit the sound through a chain reaction of vibrations which connect the eardrum and cochlea. The ossicles set framework for further sound amplification.

The stapes is attached to the oval window which is the divider between the middle and inner ear, the Eustachian tube which is the middle ear opening will work to equilibrate the pressurized air in the outer and middle portion.

Photo unattributed]]> 2022-04-10 21:33:09 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280483 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280526 The musical note enters the inner ear into the cochlea, which is a snail shell shaped structure filled with fluid that swishes in motion in response to the vibrations received from the oval window.

When the fluid moves, specialized nerve cells send hairlike projections into the gel, and the hairs on the end of the cells bend which causes the nerve cells to send electrical impulses to the auditory nerve then into the brain where the sound wave can be interrupted as sound, acceleration, or a position.

Photo Attribution:
Title: "Figure 7. the inner ear (cochlea)"
Author: B. Holt
Source: Noise induced hearing loss
License: CC by 2.0

]]> 2022-04-10 21:33:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138280526 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870269 As your lips vibrate against the mouthpiece, form is crucial in the creation of the musical note that will carry through the trumpet. Buzzing against the mouthpiece creates sound oscillations that travel through the lead pipe in consistent wavelengths.

This mechanism creates "tone" which can be altered into a different frequency creating a lower or higher pitched sound by utilizing the valves.]]> 2022-04-11 08:48:57 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870269 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870453 The three trumpet valves each individually have holes placed on the pipe which differ in size and placement, which results in altering the musical note.

The holes are altered in a way that when they are pushed down, the length of the tube changes and the longer the tube is, the lower the note. The valves, when pushed down will direct air through additional tubing on the valve block, and fill air gaps in the holes creating unique pitches.

The sound wave travels from the lead pipe to the valves, passing through each individual valve until it reaches the bell.]]> 2022-04-11 08:49:10 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870453 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870678 Once the sound wave hits the flared bell, it harnesses the wave which was produced from the buzzing at the mouthpiece. This acts as a node of the wave, and the flaring leads to a drop in resistance.

This activates the wave to travel back in the trumpet all the way to the lips, changing the shape of the mouth to match the pitch of the sound.

The creating of a standing wave is formed and releases the musical note as energy in the atmosphere which ends up being detected by the ear.]]> 2022-04-11 08:49:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138870678 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138871466 Spiral ganglion neurons are the first nerve cells activated in the auditory nerve by the hair cells in the cochlea. They transmit an electrochemical signal to the brainstem where neural impulses travel to the brain in the temporal lobe where sound is interpreted and we can hear the musical note.

Photo Attribution:
Title: "Figure 1. The cochlear implant (Cl)"
Author: J.P Rauschecker
Source: Sending Sound to the Brain
License: CC by 2.0

]]> 2022-04-11 08:50:13 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2138871466 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139679830 Overview of the musical note's journey from the mouthpiece of the trumpet all the way to the brain]]> 2022-04-11 18:51:16 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139679830 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139785215 The ear is divided into 3 portions in which the musical note travels through.

-Outer Ear
-Middle Ear
-Inner Ear


Photo unattributed]]> 2022-04-11 20:17:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139785215 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139879081 Wearing headphones, you can see how when you start to listen to the video with frequencies that your body will start to feel the sound waves from 20Hz to 70Hz before it really becomes a sound, overall you should be able to hear from 20 Hz all the way to 20 kHz as that's the average range of frequency the human ear is able to detect. However sensitivity will decline to the maximum of 15-17 kHz due to maturing age in adults]]> 2022-04-11 22:01:17 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139879081 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139885049 The most ancient part of the ear is the inner ear, which is also the most important part as it controls the nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.

 History tracing back all the way to the earliest fish. Neurons inside the gel called hair cells have exclusive special features. These neurons have a fixed orientation in the inner ear and a fish's neuromast organ.

In the middle ear, only mammals have the three bones; stapes, malleus, and incus. These ear bones are derived from gill arches, as the stapes represents the first arch with malleus and incus representing the second arch.

This disovery happened when German anatomist Karl Reichert was comparing mammals and reptiles to better understand their skull forms. The middle ear carries a record of the great transformation of a jaw support bone to the ear bone when fish first started to adapt to the land.


The outer ear is the newest evolutionary attachment because reptiles, amphibians, and bony fish do not have external ears, only mammals have the pinna.

Content of this section derived from "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shush


]]> 2022-04-11 22:09:23 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139885049 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139922024 Ossicles evolved from the skull bones in tetrapods

The quadrate, articular, and columella bone developed into the incus, malleus, and stapes

In mammals over time, one bone from lower and upper jaw lost developmental purpose and shifted into the middle ear, with the shortened columella connected to the bones formed the chain of the three bones "ossicles"

Photo Attribution:
Title: "Figure 1. Evolution of Ear"
Author: Simone Hoffmann
Source: Lend an ear to a classic tale of mammalian evolution
License: CC by 2.0

]]> 2022-04-11 22:58:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139922024 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923080
Reptiles can't hear music. Most reptiles are able to detect noises from 400-1500 Hz and when they detect sound, their tympanum vibrates in response to the sound waves and they vibrations will transmit to the stapes.

Inner ear consists of semicircular canals, ovoidal, spheroidal chambers and a small outgrowth of sacculus. The tubes are suspended in fluid and when the stapes is activated because of the tympanum, vibrations occur in the fluid.

The vibrations then activate cells in the lagena, which is the primary control of their sense of hearing where the sound is quantified.


Photo Attribution:
Title: "Figure 1.4.2 A comparison of the ears of reptiles and mammals"
Author: Douglas Theobald
Source: "29 Evidences for Macroevolution Part 1: The Unique Universal Phylogenetic Tree"
License: CC by 2.0]]> 2022-04-11 23:00:21 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923080 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923361 Amphibians lack an external ear and usually have a internal ear.

Frogs and toads have an external membrane called a tympanum which will transmit sound to the inner ear, meaning they are able to hear music or sounds in general and it's more pronounced in these species. They are able to perceive a wide range of noises that allow frogs and toads to communicate with one another.

Salamanders and caecilians will detect sound in forms of vibration as they lack an ear cavity and eardrum unlike frogs and toads. However, salamanders and caecilians are only able to detect primary vibrations, and are unable to hear high-frequency sounds. Meaning they would only hear the trumpet vibrate but not the musical note]]> 2022-04-11 23:00:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923361 ssanghera5 https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923441 Fish have ears on the inside of their body and detect vibrations through their earstones called "otoliths". They hear music through rate of pitches and the structure of the music note. 

Utilizing different frequencies and pitches they are able to communicate with other groups for reproduction and territoriality purposes through their own sounds]]> 2022-04-11 23:00:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ssanghera5/b13xzkbgvt2ko3b2/wish/2139923441