The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Sandy:

Taps and Reveille can be played on a Trumpet without using the valves (I think; using Trumpet of the Swan for reference material). It would make sense; use a bugle without those complicated and expensive valves for the basic military songs.

So, yes, it has to do with natural harmonics and such. The frequencies that will be naturally accepted and/or amplified by a simple structure are simple ratios of each other.

Haven't read all the comments -- I'm amazed at the number and detail -- but one I do have to answer.

Why do authors who could be making money write stuff they can't legally sell?

Sometimes it's because they want to keep it fun. If they write stuff they can't sell, there's no rejection letter, and no pressure to actually make that sale.

But the bigger reason is the community.

We start out playing in a universe we love and want more of, filling in holes, telling more about our favourite characters (and, yes, doing the Mary Sue thing).

Along the way we meet other fans, some of whom write. We discuss Mary Sues and the true purpose of beta readers and should we be bother to read authors who don't use standard English.

We pass along links and favourite episodes and help with details of the canon. We mention when the baby is due, or how work is going. We become friends.

Some fanfic authors go on to write stuff that can be sold, but many of them keep coming back to their old friends -- literary and real.

At least that's how I see it.

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