Energies released by music
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Dresden have photographed the instruments of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with a thermal imaging camera after they have been played.
Using infrared radiation, the thermal imaging camera recorded the surface temperature of instruments before, during and after a concert. The resulting thermograms show impressively and sometimes surprisingly which temperatures are generated at which points on the instruments. These are caused by touch, pressure or breathing air. For example, by placing a violin on the shoulder, playing a timpani or holding the baton.
The scientists at Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden discovered that the instruments heat up by up to 10 degrees when they are played. Of course, this also depends on the material. Brass instruments absorb heat faster, but also release it more quickly. Woodwind instruments, on the other hand, absorb heat more slowly, but retain it for longer. For example, the mouthpiece of a trumpet heats up to 30 °C, while the fingerboard of a violin only heats up to 25 °C in relation to the room temperature of 20 °C.
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