The first "brass" instrument (the vernacular Western term for any wind instrument sounded by buzzing the lips into it, regardless of the material used to make it) was certainly a found object, and a conch shell with its tip broken off is a likely candidate since it required no further modification to make it sound. Other contenders include hollow bones and animal horns, but the physical properties of the conch gave it particularly strong musical potential. Its gently expanding interior spiral forms an ideally proportioned windway for producing a strong, clear tone.

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