Man’s Arm Vibrated As Trumpet Played

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31007, 12 March 1966, Page 1

Man’s Arm Vibrated As Trumpet Played

The great Caruso could break wine glasses with his voice, big choirs can make the rafters ring—and Eddie Calvert’s trumpet can cause extreme discomfort to one Christchurch man.

He is a member of the staff of “The Press” who attended the Vera Lynn show at which Mr Calvert was performing on Thursday evening. As the famous jazz musician went from one resounding trumpet solo to another the listener became increasingly aware of his right arm. The arm was broken in a motor accident several years ago, and is held together by a metal plate, screwed to the bone.

First it started to tingle, then it seemed to burn—so fiercely that, with all due respect to Eddie Calvert’s virtuosity, the man could not get out of the auditorium quickly enough. He is convinced that the piercing notes from the golden trumpet, amplified by the sound system, set his metal plate vibrating and caused his trouble.

Mr Calvert was fascinated when he heard about it yesterday. “I’ve shattered lots of light-bulbs,” he said, “but this is the first time I’ve vibrated a human being. Look, I’ve got a matinee on Saturday afternoon. Would your man come around afterwards and we'll conduct some experiments.”

“Nothing doing,' said the man from “The Press.” Once was enough for him. A scientist at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research suggested that Eddie Calvert may even have done his uncomfortable listener a favour. “If, by some chance, his metal plate has come loose, the trumpet notes could have been on just the right frequency to make it vibrate,” he said. “Perhaps he should go and have it X-rayed to make sure."

The scientist said it depended on how the plate was fixed to the bone. If it was pinned at each end it could vibrate like a piano wire; if it was pinned in the middle the ends could vibrate with a note of the right frequency. But the owner of the plate says that not only is it firmly secured with four screws right alorfg its length, it is also held in place with bone which has grown around it.

The D.S.I.R. would like to try some electronic equipment on him to discover exactly which frequencies affect him, but he is firmly rejecting all experiments—and watching the radio suspiciously for trumpet solos.