Can you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth at the same time?

Have you noticed? You can't breathe in through your nose while exhaling through your mouth, but there is an invention that allows us to breathe through our mouth and nose at the same time - the bagpipe. Bagpipes are a traditional Scottish musical instrument, which is the country where men love to wear skirts.

The magic of circular breathing

The inspiration for my invention came from the international soprano saxophone player Kenny G, who has a very famous talent: circular breathing. In simple terms, circular breathing is exhaling through the mouth and inhaling through the nose at the same time.

The method of circular breathing is to accumulate air in the mouth, then contract the facial muscles to squeeze the air out of the mouth and blow the instrument. At this time, the chest cavity participates in the performance, and at the same time, the air is inhaled into the lungs through the nose. So with this method, Kenny G can play the instrument without breaking the breath. The bag of the Scottish bagpipe also plays the same role. The player injects air into the bag and squeezes the bag with his arms to make the flute sound. Before the air in the bag is used up, the player can inject air again, and the cycle continues. The bag is equivalent to Kenny G, and the flute is equivalent to the saxophone.

Reproduction of the principle: homemade "organ"

Prepare these three things, gloves, straws and tape. Take out a rubber glove and put it on your hand, and then put another glove on your hand. I chose PVC gloves. There will be no excess powder after wearing this kind of gloves, and there will be no allergic reactions. After putting on the gloves, take it off your hand and blow it up so that they fit tightly together. Take out a specific straw and bite one end of the straw flat. I believe you must be good at this step. Use scissors to cut off the left and right corners of the straw. If it sticks together, pinch it, adjust it, put it in your mouth and blow it, and you can hear it. We call the sound you hear noise.

Cut the thumb off the glove, take a new straw and insert it through the thumb opening, take a piece of tape and secure the straw and glove together, like this. OK, now blow it up and see if it leaks. If you make an extra hole in the noise tube, it will make a different tone. Cut the pinky finger off the glove, then insert your noise tube, adjust the edge of the glove and secure it with tape. Now blow it up and your invention is done.

Loosen the noise tube and see if it makes a sound. It sounds scary, but it does help you achieve circular breathing. I can continue to blow air into the glove until the air is exhausted, and the nightmarish sound will continue. How about it, doesn't it sound like a Scottish bagpipe and Kenny G?

The article is produced by Science Popularization China-Creation Cultivation Program. Please indicate the source when reprinting.
Author: "Look! My Discovery" Beijing Yami Culture Media Co., Ltd. Science Creation Team Reviewer: Zhou Xiaoliang, Senior Engineer of Physics Laboratory, Beijing Jiaotong University