Why does timpani damage your face?

[GC]

For absolute lack of sympathetic amplification of resonance, lead (Pb) tympani and tubas.

[windshieldbug]

Balancing even a single timpani with your face can cause significant chop damage.

[peterbas]

deleted

[Leto Cruise]

I have experienced what felt like air pushing back against my lips during very loud bass drum and timp parts. It was really weird feeling.

Yes. This.

[Mike C855B]

To the original question, "Why does timpani damage your face?"

Well, in my case it's because we rehearse on a small stage and the percussionists move all their crap around during breakdown and in dancing around their machinations I smack the mouthpiece into my face. That'll leave a mark...

[iiipopes]

Wow! This thread certainly throws a new perspective on the old phrase, "Face the music"!

[Leto Cruise]

Oh man that’s funny

[gwwilk]

I have experienced what felt like air pushing back against my lips during very loud bass drum and timp parts. It was really weird feeling.

Yes. This.

Yes. A tuba amplifies the buzzing of our lips. Similarly, as the horn article proves, sudden high pressure sound waves can be amplified back into our embouchure thus disrupting it. I've experienced this many times, especially with my Rudolf-Meinl Bayreuth. Less so with my Miraphone 191 with its smaller bell and more rapid taper.

[GC]

Vibrations from the lips are amplified by the horn and create pressure waves outside the instrument. It's only reasonable that intense pressure waves from other instruments can be funneled back through the horn to the the lips, interfering with lip vibrations. Sometimes playing intervals with other tubas, I can feel interference in my lips, like when tubas are playing in fifths.

[Leto Cruise]

Very interesting; the tuba works both ways. How do you counter the interference when it disrupts the buzz? Sounds like conflicting info with timpani and he’s bigger. It’s hard to win and yes it can hurt your face hence the OP title

[timothy42b]

This is described somewhat in Benade's Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics.

He talks about the effect of two similar instruments playing close together interfering with each other, like tubas or trumpets in a section. IIRC he thought the buzz would be okay once established, but there is an initial period where the first few sound waves are reflecting off the impedance change at the bell flare and haven't fully stabilized the buzz. Interference from the other horn can disrupt that and make it very difficult to articulate the note. He also mentioned that poorly designed horns could have a good tone but be difficult for all but the strongest players to start a note.

[Three Valves]

...and those are just loud blanks. I can’t imagine the sound of real combat.

[Three Valves]

I’m deaf, blind, fat and ugly.

I’d sue the Symphony if it were still in business....