Pneumograph Bands

[Jesse Brown]

Hello Tubenet,
I have been looking for ways to mechanically measure the amount of air in the lungs while playing. I ran across a short paragraph in Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind about pneumograph Bands which Mr. Jacobs would put on students to measure where they were expanding while breathing.
I have been unable to find very much information about these devices. Does anyone here have any ideas or knowledge about pneumograph bands or their modern equivalent? thanks!
Jesse

[fairweathertuba]

I think he also had a weird contraption that was basically a foot operated bellows with a plastic tube that you could put in the corner of your mouth, this amounted to foot operated breath control. I'd really like to have one of those weird contraptions.

[Alex C]

I think if you want to measure the amount of air in the lungs that you have to have some type of Spirometer. Measuring the outside expansion doesn't get you the information you seek.

There's a chart posted on WindSong Press (a Tubenet sponsor) here for the most general sort of information:

http://www.windsongpress.com/breathing% ... evices.htm

and WindSong sells an inexpensive incentive spirometer fairly cheaply here

http://windsongpress.x-shops.com/store/home.php?cat=253

Hope that helps.

[Jesse Brown]

Thanks for the information fairweathertuba and alex CC. I have never heard of the foot operated breath control, but it sounds interesting. Was it something he would use in lessons?
The spirometer is not exactly what I'm looking for. The pneumograph bands were used externally around the participants chest and could measure the amount of expansion when breathing. Apparently it helped identify were students were breathing from (abdomen, chest, back, etc)... I thought it would be fun to be practicing and have a visual reminder for when my lungs get too empty (lower than say, %40). Now that I give it more thought, it does seem quite silly, and I can see why they are not as well known.

[imperialbari]

I think he also had a weird contraption that was basically a foot operated bellows with a plastic tube that you could put in the corner of your mouth, this amounted to foot operated breath control. I'd really like to have one of those weird contraptions.

Don’t remember having heard of such thing used in the US, but it has been documented in Germany some hundred years ago. Hasn’t this been discussed on TN within the last few years? I seem to remember photos shown, but I cannot come up with the right searches neither on TN nor via Google.

Klaus

PS: I hadn’t heard about the pneumograph bands before. They may not give exact measurements, but to me it sounds like they are useable for a player in working with the optimizing of specific sections of his breathing apparatus.

[brianf]

I have Mr. Jacobs' old Pneumograph bands but have no idea what he plugged them into or how he used them. He used these way before my time. Any suggestions??

[imperialbari]

What do they look like?

From general measuring experience I would assume they would be able to indicate maximum and minimum perimeter values of the given torso segment during breathing cycles.

Klaus

[Alex C]

I have Mr. Jacobs' old Pneumograph bands but have no idea what he plugged them into or how he used them. He used these way before my time. Any suggestions??

ebay

You'll get a million dollars for them from some trumpet player. (tuba players don't have a million dollars)

[ScottM]

The bellows thing was a bellows operated by the players foot and the tube ran up to the corner of the mouth of the player. The theory was when playing long or loud passages and the player needed extra air they could stretch what nature gave them through the use of the device. I don't recall the name of the device, but believe it was a German design. ( I think it was called an Aerophon) There was an article on it in a TUBA Journal many years ago. I have never seen one other than the picture and write up in the Journal.
ScottM