Shofar Practice Guide

Shofar Practice Guide

Arthur L. Finkle

WE MUST WARM-UP! This should not be left to chance nor treated lightly by a serious musician on any instrument. If I do not warm-up properly, my performance certainly suffers. Most brass players have several routines. For Shofar sounding, I suggest warming up on the fundamental note. In simple terms, a noise from a musical instrument plays more than one note, called Harmonics, but the principal musical tone produced by vibration (as of a string or column of air) is the fundamental or most prominent tone. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fundamental Then, focus on your attack (how you articulate the note). Then play the Tekiah, Shevorim, Shevorim-Teruah, and Tekiah. Your warm up should be at home because the shul does not offer privacy. In shul, you should hold the Shofar between your arms so that the horn will become the same temperature as your body because the instrument should be the same temperature or more than the room. A cold note becomes flat (off-tune or atonal).



The shofar’s sound is similar to creation as that of a brass instrument b(Trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, etc) in that the lips vibrate creating a “buzzing.”


You should practice buzzing; (brass players do this by playing the mouthpiece alone. In the case of Shofar playing, you can buzz by shaping your thumb and forefinger in the shape of a mouthpiece and blowing into it to stimulate your embouchure. (See The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, The Complete Method by Milan Yancich, and Embouchure Building by Joseph Singer; there are many good resources out there.)


When Should I Warm-Up? How Much Should I Practice?


Professional brass players warm-up every time they get the instrument out of the case to play. The first warm-up in the morning is the most important, as it sets up your embouchure for the rest of the day. The second and third warm-ups are usually shorter, but need to be there to maintain and build the embouchure.


Related issues are how much to practice, and when. I feel, if time allows, the serious brass student or professional usually practices three times a day for no more than one hour apiece. A Shofar sounder, not being a professional in the brass instrumentalist sense of the word, should practice each day at the same time of day. Practice standing up; sitting down will change your embouchure.


Initially, practice the fundamental note until you feel your muscles get adjusted. Do not play too much beyond this level. If they tire, your muscles are telling you that they have had enough. By repeated playing, however, your musculature will develop into high quality sound and endurance. Ten minutes is the usual limit.


Once, you have mastered the one fundamental note, you should concentrate on the attack. The quality of an attack is determined by the position of the tongue’s touching the lips. In some cases, the tip of the front of the tongue can be the part of the tongue used to tongue the attack. In other cases, you can use the side of your tongue. Some use the side of their side tongue and move it back. The technique that is most effective for the Shofar Sounder – and still allows maintenance of the correct embouchure -- is the correct way.

Week 1





During the first week, work on your embouchure (muscle tone of your lip and surrounding facial muscles) by sounding the most prominent note (fundamental).


How long – start with no more than 5-minutes per day; gradually increase this practice time so you will build and tone your embouchure.






How long – start at 5-minutes per day; gradually increase this practice time so you will build and tone your embouchure.






SHOFAR RANGE

Week 2

Begin the play the sets






Phrase I - T-SH-R-T (3X) Tekiah-SHevarim-teRuah-Tekiah



Phrase 2 - T-SH-T (3X) Tekiah-SHevarim -Tekiah


Phrase 3 - T-R-T (3X) Tekiah- teRuah-Tekiah






You may sustain ‘lip fatigue’ – your lip will tire and will not respond the way you desire.

You should begin with phrase 1.






The tekiah – is one blast – some end it with a small ‘up’ not (but is not necessary)


The shevorim – three moaning sounds. In music we call these sounds slurs. It begins with a low note and slides up to the dominant note. You accomplish this by tightening the lips from the dominant note to the third above note.


The Tru’ah – nine staccato notes. To avoid confusion, count the nine Aas three triplets. This, xxx; xxx; xxx. The notes are articulated with the tongue touching the mouthpiece top tip for nine times.


Tonguing needs practice and repetition. Thus, it becomes part of the protocol.

Week 3






Continue practicing the phrases for as many times as you can In doing so, you will memorize the association of the sounds and their names . Also, you will build stamina and embouchure definition. Note that you are focusing on endurance athletics but you do need a certain amount of stamina and lip strength to beat fatigue.  







Learn Prayer To Be Recited On Rosh Hashanah

Praised are You, O Lord, Master of the Universe who has commanded us to hear the shofar




Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech


Ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b-mitz-votav


Vi-tzi-vanu Lish-moa Kol Shofar.







First Day Only

Week 4






Work from the prayer book to practice each series of sounds. Some congregations sound thirty note; others, ninety; most, 100 sounds. 


On a couple of the days, I suggest you work with the kri’ah (the one who pronounces the sounds so you can coordinate your activities. You also will ‘feel each other out,’ as so often happens in musical schemes.






On the day before Rosh HaShanah – do not practice. Although Jewish law forbids such practice, the musical reason is to enable your embouchure to rest on the day prior to performance, such as soloists do prior to musical recitals.

Special thanks for significant input of premier shofar Sounder Michael Chusid, RA, FCSI

Evidence of Shofar Usage in the Holy Temple

Evidence of Shofar Usage in the Holy Temple

Arthur L. Finkle

In the Mishnah, Arakhin, 2:3 provides evidence that the shofar was sounded never less than 21 blasts nor more than 48 blasts each day.

1) There are never less than twenty-one blasts in the Temple and never more than forty-eight.

There was a minimum of 21 daily trumpet blasts in the Temple and a maximum of 48.
The explanation of this section can be found in the Mishnah, Sukkah 5:5. The shofar sounded:

• one blast in the Temple
• three at the opening of the gates
• nine at the morning daily burnt offering
• nine at the evening daily burnt offering.

At the additional offerings, they added another nine.

At the eve of the Sabbath they added six more; three to cause the people to lay down their work and three to mark the distinction between the sacred and the profane.

The ‘Sound’ of Music

The ‘Sound’ of Music

Arthur L. Finkle

Any sound, whatever it might be, is caused by something vibrating. Without vibration there can be no sound. The vibrating body causes the air particles next to it to vibrate; those air particles, in turn, cause the particles next to them to vibrate. In this way a disturbance of the air moves out from the source of the sound and may eventually reach the ears of a listener. When we hear a sound, air vibrates against our eardrums causing them to vibrate also. These vibrations are detected and analyzed by our brains. Although it is usually air that acts as the transmitting medium, sound can be transmitted by other media, e.g. water, building structures.


Sound does not consist of air moving towards us in bulk; it travels through the air as a sound wave. A sound wave consists of a disturbance moving out from a source to surrounding places with the result that energy is transferred from one place to another.


As the wave passes, the disturbance of particles is in the direction of the wave travel.


The displacement of particles of the medium results in alternate regions of high particle density and low particle density. Regions of high particle density are called compressions. Regions of low particle density are called rarefactions.


Rarefactions and compressions both move in the direction of the wave travel. The particles of the medium do not move bodily in the direction of the wave movement; they vibrate about their normal positions. Each complete vibration of a particle is called a cycle ( i.e. from its starting position, to a maximum distance in one direction, back through the starting position, then to a maximum displacement in the opposite direction and back to the starting place).

 

The number of cycles completed in one second is called the frequency of the vibration. One of the most noticeable differences between two sounds is a difference in pitch (high to low). It is the frequency of a sound that mostly determines its pitch.


Frequency is measured in hertz, one hertz (Hz) being one cycle per second.


(One thousand hertz = 1 kilohertz = 1 kHz.) A high frequency vibration produces a high pitched note; a low frequency vibration gives a low pitched note.


The human hearing range (audible range) is about 16Hz to 16kHz. The frequencies of notes that can be played on a piano range from 27.5 Hz to just over 4kHz.


Any note played on a piano will sound different to a note of the same pitch produced by another type of instrument, e.g. a tuning fork.


The musical note produced by a tuning fork is called a pure tone because it consists of a tone of one frequency. A note played on a piano, or most other instruments, consists of several such tones all sounding together at different frequencies. These frequencies are related to the frequency (usually the lowest one) which gives the note its characteristic pitch.


In other words, when we hear sound from an instrument, we actually hear several sounds
(harmonics)


The tone with the lowest frequency is called the fundamental. The other tones are called overtones If the overtones have frequencies that are whole number multiples (x2, x3...up to x14) of the fundamental frequency they are called harmonics. It is the difference in the harmonic content of notes that gives each musical instrument its characteristic sound or timbre ("tam-brah"). Therefore although the highest note of a piano has a fundamental frequency of just over 4kHz, equipment used to record music must be able to handle much higher frequencies to preserve the harmonics associated with each note. (1.9 Meg) To set the mood, listen to Anthony Heinrichs playing part of the cadenza from the trumpet concerto by Joe Wolfe.
Overview
• The player provides air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere (technically, from a few kPa to perhaps tens of kPa: from a few percent to a few tenths of an atmosphere). This is the source of power input to the instrument, but it is a source of continuous power. In a useful analogy with electricity, it is like DC electrical power. Sound is produced by an oscillating motion or air flow (like AC electricity).
• Once the air in the instrument is vibrating, some of the energy is radiated as sound out of the bell. A much greater amount of energy is lost as a sort of friction (viscous and thermal loss) with the wall. In a sustained note, this energy is replaced by energy put in by the player.
• The column of air in the instrument vibrates much more easily at some frequencies than at others (i.e. it resonates at certain frequencies). These resonances largely determine the playing frequency and thus the pitch, and the player in effect changes the length of the instrument---and thereby the frequencies of the resonances---by suitable combinations of inserting extra pieces of pipe via the valves, or by changing the length of the slide in the case of the trombone.
Let us now look at these components in turn and in detail.
Sound
First something about sound. If you put your finger gently on a loudspeaker you will feel it vibrate---if it is playing a low note loudly you can see it moving. (More about loudspeakers.) When it moves forwards, it compresses the air next to it, which raises its pressure. Some of this air flows outwards, compressing the next layer of air. The disturbance in the air spreads out as a travelling sound wave. Ultimately this sound wave causes a very tiny vibration in your eardrum---but that's another story.


Frequency
At any point in the air near the source of sound, the molecules are moving backwards and forwards, and the air pressure varies up and down by very small amounts. The number of vibrations per second is called the frequency (f). It is measured in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz). The pitch of a note is almost entirely determined by the frequency: high frequency for high pitch and low for low. 440 vibrations per second (440 Hz) is heard as the note A in the treble clef, a vibration of 220 Hz is heard as the A one octave below, 110 Hz as the A one octave below that and so on. We can hear sounds from about 15 Hz to 20 kHz (1 kHz = 1000 Hz). A contrabassoon can play Bb0 at 29 Hz. When this note is played loudly, you may be able to hear the individual pulses of high pressure emitted as the reed opens and closes 29 times per second. Human ears are most sensitive to sounds between 1 and 4 kHz - about two to four octaves above middle C (See hearing curves). That is why piccolo players don't have to work as hard as tuba players in order to be heard. To convert from notes to frequencies and back again, see notes.
The Lips Control the Air Flow
Brass players can make musical sounds with just their lips, as you'll hear in the sound files below. This is one of the first things a brass player learns: you close your mouth, pull your lips back in a strange smile, and blow. The result may be anywhere between a low pitched 'raspberry' or a high pitched musical note, depending on the tension in your lips (how hard you pull them backwards in that smile, and other parameters).


'Buzzing' with the lips alone, and varying the tension.
How does that work? Lips are springy: if you pull your top lip forward with your fingers and let it go, it will spring back to its original position. Lips also have mass, and a mass and a spring together can oscillate, although lip vibrations are more complicated than the linear mass-and-spring oscillator that one finds in introductory physics books. What happens here is a cycle that converts the DC air pressure in your lungs into an oscillating air pressure and air current. The air pressure in your mouth (1) forces the lips open (2), which lets the air rush out. This lowers the pressure in the mouth (3), so the tension in the lips pulls them closed (4), and the cycle repeats. (This explanation is rather simplified: the Bernouilli effect due to the flow of air through the opening also acts to close the lips. Further, the internal motion of each lip is a little complicated.)


The more tension you apply to your lips (the harder you pull your lips backwards in a strange smile), the more quickly they spring back into position. If the whole cycle takes a time T (called the period), then there are (one second)/T cycles per second. So the frequency f, in cycles per second, is just f = 1/T. All else equal, high lip tension gives high frequency and so high pitch. In the sound files above (play them again), the lip tension is increased and decreased smoothly.
The film clip below was made using a transparent yidaki (didjeridu). On the left you see a high speed video of the lips, on the right schlieren images of the air jet from the lips. More details on our yidaki (didjeridu) site.
Adding (only) a mouthpiece makes relatively minor changes: it can reduce the amount of the lips that move, and it allows the pressure outside the lips to be a little different from atmospheric. We'll discuss mouthpieces in detail later, but for now here is a sketch of the lips and a horn mouthpiece. Many players position the mouthpiece asymmetrically, so that it covers more of the upper lip than the lower lip, as is shown here.


Playing Softly and Loudly
This simple picture already allows us to explain something about how the timbre changes when we go from playing softly to loudly. If we play softly, and especially if we play a high note softly, the lips don't move fast enough and don't have enough time to close completely. In this case we observe nearly sinusoidal vibration: the system is behaving like the linear mass-and-spring oscillator of physics texts. This means that the fundamental in the sound spectrum is strong, but that the higher harmonics are weak. This gives rise to a mellow timbre. Playing loudly, the lips do close, and may even close abruptly. This gives what physicists call clipping and nonlinear behaviour, which produces more high harmonics. As well as making the timbre brighter, adding more harmonics makes the sound louder as well, because the higher harmonics fall in the frequency range where our hearing is most sensitive (See hearing curves for details).
The Effects of the Bell.
Now there are (at least) two problems with a cylindrical pipe like this: first, the notes are too far apart to be musically useful. Second, it's not loud enough (and what's a brass instrument for, eh?). Adding a flare and a bell reduces both of these problems. The flared section of the bore in many instruments are almost conical. First let's look at what this does to the spacing of the frequencies. In the page about pipes and harmonics, we saw that closed conical pipes have resonances whose frequencies are both higher and more closely spaced than those of a closed cylindrical pipe.


In a Shofar, the bell is minimized and is usually as narrow as the bore so the bell has minmal effect.


The Effect of the Mouthpiece
The mouthpieces of brass instruments have a rounded section that fits comfortably against the lips, an enclosed volume of air, a narrow constriction, and a taper that widens out to meet the bore of the body of the instrument. The enclosed volume may be approximately conical, as in many horn mouthpieces or cup shaped, as in most other brass instruments.


The Shofar has a distinctive mouthpiece unique to the instrument because all instruments are custom made. Some mouthpieces are shallow (giving a blaring sound); some are deep (giving a mellow tone).


When placed against the player's lips, the enclosed volume is sealed at one end by the lips, and has the constricted part of the pipe at the other end. You might imagine it as a tiny bottle, with your lips at the base of the bottle, and the constriction representing the neck of the bottle. Now, just as the bottle has a resonance that you can excite by blowing over the top, the mouthpiece has a resonance that you can excite by slapping the wide end against the palm of your hand. When shopping for mouthpieces, brass players sometimes do this to compare what they call the 'pop tone'. It is much easier to hear the pitch if you compare two: say a trumpet and a trombone mouthpiece. As you might expect, the larger the volume (all else equal), the lower the pitch of the pop tone. This is an example of a Helmholtz resonator, whose frequency depends on the enclosed volume and the geometry of the constriction.


The mouthpiece does a few things. First, it allows you to connect the pipe to a comfortably large section of lips. Then there are the acoustic effects of the enclosed volume and constriction. One effect is to lower the frequency of the very highest resonances opposing the effect of the flare (bell), which tends to raise all the resonances.


Another is that to strengthen some of the resonances.
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/brassacoustics.html




For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments, we have written extensively on the Shofar and have three websites






1) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid, an expert Shofar sounder and commentator


http://www.hearingshofar.com
2) Shofar Sounders WebPage


http://shofar221.com
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com

Shofar Sounding: Medical Issues

Shofar Sounding: Medical Issues

Arthur L. Finkle

Shofar sounding is akin to Trumpet playing is the sense that the two principal attributes are the embouchure (musculature of the lips and facial muscles), the wind generation and the agility of the tongue.
Insofar as wind generation, we come upon the Valsalva maneuver – a physiological response to holding one’s breath and bearing down (as in childbirth).
The trumpeter’s Valsalva is modified because air is released through the resistance of a .144-inch-diameter hole at the mouthpiece throat and through 5 feet of brass tubing. The respiratory tract pressures generated by trumpet players have been measured and are impressive. Mouthpiece pressure on the lip during normal playing has been measured at 5 to 10 pounds. Higher-register playing produces greater pressure.

In the case of a shofar the aperture is materially less than .144 inches but not as many feet does the wind have to travel unless the shofar is Yemenite.
Brass Instrument Pathology
Problems inside them mouth such as canker sores, braces or “bump” can sideline a player for days. Playing with a cold or worse is also not good for the wind generation. And it may lead to dizziness, decreases the velocity of air generation (decreasing the tonality of the instrument)

Mucous is not the only possible pathological hindrance to a trumpeter’s airflow. Asthma decreases the volume and velocity of exhaled air. Smoking-related obstructive lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis create similar difficulties.

In 1973, a volley of letters to the New England Journal of Medicine described wind parotitis. The typical story of these patients was inflammation of the parotid gland, similar to that occurring in mumps . . . Although one writer postulated that the pressures generated within the mouth forced bacteria from the mouth through the tube that drains saliva into the mouth from the parotid gland, most writers believed the symptoms were caused by trapped air within the gland.
Transient dizziness, as a result of thoracic cavity pressures decreasing blood flow to the head, can occur. In addition, a peculiar syndrome called facial dystonia is the wind instrumentalist’s version of writers’ cramp. This malady causes lips or cheek muscles to lock or stiffen after a period of playing. The cramp disappears with rest but naggingly returns when playing resumes.

The tongue is the precision part of a brass instrumentalist’s anatomy. The tongue needs agility. Anything that swells, cuts, or slows the tongue, such as canker sores, lacerations, and allergic swelling, blurs the attack and can even trigger an unwanted half-tone.

Accordingly, although there are medical consequences inherent in brass instrument playing, one should take care of their health and be very careful when a cold, sore or cramp develops.

Ideas for this article came from Charles R. Meyer, M.D., “The Perils of Trumpeting,” Minnesota Medicine, Minnesota Medical Association, February 2003/Volume 86
http://www.mmaonline.net/publications/MNMed2003/February/Meyer.html. Accessed June 14, 2006
For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments.

We have three websites

1) Shofar Sounders WebPage

http://shofar221.com

2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid, an expert Shofar sounder and commentator

http://www.hearingshofar.com

3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.

Shofar as a Temple Instrument

Shofar as a Temple Musical Instrument
Arthur L. Finkle
The Shofar is the only musical Jewish musical instrument that survived two millennia in its original form and is still used to the sounding of the Shofar. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (11th century) stated that the sound of the Shofar raised awe and emotion in the hearts and souls of the people. Maimonides interpreted the sounding as reminding humankind of its duties to God. The mystical Zohar holds that the sound of the Shofar awakens the Higher Mercy.
The Shofar is the most-mentioned instrument in the Bible (72 times). It held a special religious and secular role in the life of the Jewish people. Only Priests and Levites (as Levites) were allowed to perform the religious function of sounding the Shofar in the Jewish Commonwealth.

The Shofar is first mentioned in Exodus 19:16 at the theophany on Sinai. It was used to proclaim the Jubilee Year and the proclamation of "freedom throughout the land" (Lev. 25:9–10); this verse is engraved upon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was to be sounded on Rosh Ha-Shanah, which is designated as "yom teru'ah" ("A day of blowing"; Num. 29:1). It was also used as an accompaniment to other musical instruments (Ps. 98:6), in processionals (Josh. 6:4ff.), as a signal (Josh. 6:12ff., II Sam. 15:10), as a clarion call to war (Judg. 3:27), and in order to induce fear (Amos 3:6).
When used in the Temple, the Shofar was usually sounded in conjunction with the trumpet (hazozrah). The Talmud (RH 27a) states that the trumpet was made of silver while the processed horn of one of the five species of animal—sheep, goat, mountain goat, antelope, and gazelle—was used to fulfill the ritual commandment of the sounding of the Shofar. It further declares (ibid. 26b) that the Shofar should preferably be made of a ram's or wild goat's horn, because they are curved. Rabbi Judah states "the Shofar of Rosh Ha-Shanah must be of the horn of a ram, to indicate submission." Traditionally a ram's horn is sounded on those days because of its connection with the sacrifice of Isaac (the Akedah), the story of which is the Torah reading for the second day of the festival. Conversely, a cow's horn may not be used because of the incident of the golden calf (RH 3:2). The Shofar may not be painted, though it can be gilded or carved with artistic designs, so long as the mouthpiece remains natural. A Shofar with a hole in its sidewall or a chip in its mouthpieceIN ITS SIDEWALL is deemed halakhically unfit, though it may be used if no other is available (Sh. Ar., OH 586).

The Shofar had several religious roles recorded in the Tanakh (the Bible), such as the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6:15; Chronicles 15:28); the announcement of a New Moon (Psalms 81:4); the beginning of the religious New Year (Num. 29:1; the Day of Atonement (Lev. 25:9); the procession preparatory to the Feast of Tabernacles (Mishnah Hullin 1:7); the libation ceremony (Mishnah: RH 4:9); and the Havdalah ceremony marking the end of a festival (Mishnah, Hullin 1:7)

In addition, the Shofar had a number of secular roles, such as coronating a king (2Sam, 5:10; 1 Kings 1:34; 2 Kings 1:13) and signaling in times of war to assemble troops to attack, to pursue, and to proclaim victory (Num. 10:9; Judges 6:4; Jeremiah 4:5 and Ezekiel 33:3-6)


Sacrificial Cult

After King David supervised the building of the first Temple (1000 BCE), he dedicated holy building as a sanctuary to house the written law (10 commandments) and to practice the sacrificial cult (which was how people in the Middle East worshipped.)

The Sacrificial Ceremony

The Priests consecrated five different sacrificial types preponderantly involving animals or dough. When the Priests stood on top of the ramp holding the parts of sacrifice, placing them into the fire as he carried them up. He then throws the sacrifice into the great fire; he walks over and places it neatly on the burning logs.

Accompanying this ritual were a choral group and a small orchestra. Special lyrics and songs played according the time of the week and the type of sacrifice (the Bible counts 5 different types of sacrifices in Leviticus 1:1).

Leviticus 1-7 gives the most detailed description of Israel's sacrificial system. Rituals performed after childbirth (Leviticus 12:6-8), for an unclean discharge (Leviticus 15:14-15) or hemorrhage (Leviticus 15:29-30), or after a person who was keeping a Nazirite vow was defiled (Numbers 6:10-11) required a burnt offering, as well as a sin offering..

1. Burnt offering (olah). The burnt offering was offered both in the morning and in the evening, as well as on special days such as the Sabbath, the new moon, and the yearly feasts (Numbers 28-29; 2 Kings 16:15; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Ezra 3:3-6). was defiled (Numbers 6:10-11) required a burnt offering, as well as a sin offering.
The animal for this sacrifice could be a young bull, lamb, goat, turtledove, or young
pigeon; but it had to be a perfect and complete specimen. The type of animal chosen for this sacrifice seems to be dependent on the offerer's financial ability.
2. Grain offering (minchah; “meat offering” in KJV). An offering from the harvest of the land is the only type that required no bloodshed. It was composed of fine flour mixed with oil and frankincense. Sometimes, this offering was cooked into cakes prior to taking it to the priest. These cakes, however, had to be made without leaven. Every grain offering had to have salt in it (Leviticus 2:13), It may have symbolized the recognition of God's blessing in the harvest by a society based to a large degree on agriculture. The bringing of a representative portion of the grain harvest was another outward expression of devotion.
3. Peace offering . This consisted of the sacrifice of a bull, cow, lamb, or goat that had no defect. As with the burnt offering, the individual laid a hand on the animal and killed it. The priests, in turn, sprinkled the blood around the altar. Only certain parts of the internal organs were burned. The priest received the breast and the right thigh (Leviticus 7:28-36), but the offerer was given much of the meat to have a meal of celebration (Leviticus 7:11-21).
4. Sin offering was designed to deal with sin that was committed unintentionally. The sacrifice varied according to who committed the sin. If the priest or the congregation of Israel sinned, then a bull was required. A leader of the people had to bring a male goat, while anyone else sacrificed a female goat or a lamb. The poor were allowed to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons.
5. Guilt offering. This is hard to distinguish from the sin offering (Leviticus 4-5). In Leviticus 5:6-7, the guilt offering is called the sin offering. Both offerings also were made for similar types of sin. The guilt offering was concerned supremely with restitution. Someone who took something illegally was expected to repay it in full plus 20 percent of the value and then bring a ram for the guilt offering. Other instances in which the guilt offering was prescribed included the cleansing of a leper (Leviticus 14:1), having sexual relations with the female slave of another person (Leviticus 19:20-22), and for the renewing of a Nazirite vow that had been broken (Numbers 6:11-12).
The burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offering composed the basic sacrificial system of Israel. These sacrifices were commonly used in conjunction with each other and were carried out on both an individual and a corporate basis. The sacrificial system taught the necessity of dealing with sin and, at the same time, demonstrated that God had provided a way for dealing with sin.
Although the Prophets excoriated the sacrificial rites because the people seemed to be more impressed with ritual than the reason why the rituals were offered, the Prophets, conceding the collective mores of the people, did not want to abolish the sacrificial system.
Interestingly the sacrifice system is found in the New Testament. The New Testament consistently describes Jesus’ death in sacrificial terms. Hebrews portrays Jesus as the sinless high priest who offered himself up as a sacrifice for sinners (Leviticus 7:27). The book ends with an encouragement to offer sacrifices of praise to God through Jesus.
After the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple, the sacrificial cult terminated. During this time, moreover, the early Church also disbanded the sacrificial rites because Christianity began to differ materially form Judaism.

Thereafter, two Priests stood atop of a marble stand near the altar signaling trumpet blasts: tekiah, tekiah and teruah. A long note followed a series of short notes; then another long note.

On Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays (Full holidays are generally a Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and the three pilgrmage fesitvals – Sukot, Pesach and Shavuot) a single Priest perfected two sacrifices in honor of the full holiday, Note that festivals such as Hanukah and Purim), are not considered full holidays requiring an extra sacrifice. On Rosh Hashanah, something special occurred during the special sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar Sounders played the long notes and one Trumpet player played the short note. Accordingly, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom Teruah (the day of the blast) Otherwise, the Trumpets had “top billing.” Rosh Hashanah27a, supports this claim: “Said Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi: What is the scriptural warrant fore this? – Because it is written, “With trumpets and the sound of the Shofar shout ye before the King in the Temple, we require trumpets and the sound of the Shofar; elsewhere not.” See also Sidney B. Hoenig, Origins of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy, The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 57, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp. 312-331. • Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1453499. Accessed December 31, 2009

Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce the Jubilee Year (every 50-years, Jews were granted freedom, forgiveness and debts and reclamation of sold lands. Shofar first indicated in Yovel (Jubilee Year - Lev. 25:8-13). Indeed, in Rosh Hashanah 33b, the sages ask why the Shofar sounded in Jubilee year. Further support is found in Rosh Hashanah 29a, where the Talmud talks of trumpets for sacrifices but Shofar in the Jubilee Year does not apply to priests who are exempt from the obligations of the jubilee. Perhaps, we have the first mention of Shofar Sounding by non-Priests. Perhaps the first distancing away from the Sacrificial Cult.

Otherwise, for all other special days, the Shofar is sounded shorter and two special silver Trumpets announced the sacrifice.

When the trumpets sound the signal, all the people who are within the sacrifice prostate themselves, stretching out flat, face down and on the ground.

Indeed, the idea that rabbinic prayer modeled itself of that of the
Temple is supported by:

• Jeffrey H. Tigay. On Some Aspects of Prayer in the Bible, AJS Review, Vol. 1, (1976), pp. 363-379, Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies

• Holman Bible Dictionary: http://www.studylight.org/

• Arthur L. Finkle, , Easy Guide to Shofar Sounding, Torah Aura, Los Angeles, CA, 2002.

Further support for this occurrence come from Alfred Edersheim, a 19th century biblical scholar:

The Shofar was blown at the temple to begin the Sabbath each week. There was within the temple an inscription on the lintel of the wall at the top of the Temple that said, "To the house of the blowing of the trumpet (Shofar)". Each Sabbath 2 men with silver trumpets and a man with a Shofar made three trumpet blasts twice during the day. On Rosh haShanah, this was different. The Shofar is the primary trumpet. According to Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29, Rosh HaShanah is the day of the blowing of the trumpets. The original name is Yom (Day) Teruah (The staccato sound of the horn, which also means “Shout”). According to the Mishnah (Rosh HaShanah 16a, Mishnah RH 3:3), the trumpet used for this purpose is the ram's horn, not trumpets made of metal as in Numbers 10. On Rosh HaShanah, a Shofar delivers the first blast, a silver trumpet the second, and then the Shofar the third.
Alfred Edersheim, by boldly setting out his aim: It has been my..." published in 1874, republished by Gregal Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI 1997.
Another source bespeaks this conclusion:
According to rabbinic tradition, “In the Temple on Rosh Hashanah two men blowing silver trumpets stood on either side of the one who blows the Shofar. Citing the Gemara, referring to verses [Psalms 47:5; 81:3; 98:6; 150:3] requiring trumpets along with the Shofar,”we also read that, “A community beset by calamity is under a Rabbinic obligation to...[be] assembled for supplication and prayer, and this is always accomplished with trumpets, as written in Numbers 10:2”
And they shall be yours for summoning the assembly....we sound the trumpets in order to stir the hearts of the people and bring them to repentance by causing them to realize that the disaster resulted because of their sins. In the Temple, Shofars were blown along with the trumpets. The Shofar [blows] short...and the trumpets [blow] long...for the primary commandment is with trumpets.”
In these rabbinic statements, the word “Shofar” is footnoted: “The use of two Shofars, one on each side, is a Rabbinic innovation, to publicize that the special mitzvah of the day is with trumpets (Rosh HaShanah also called Yom Teruah).” (Schottenstein Gemara, chap. 3, “Rosh Hashanah,” pp 24b2, notes 21, 24, 27,28,) “Trumpets” is footnoted with: “The purpose of sounding an instrument on a fast day is to assemble the people for supplication and prayer....blowing the trumpets is more important, for it is mandated by the Pentateuch, whereas the Shofar accompaniment is derived from the aforementioned verse in Psalms” (Schottenstein Gemara, chap. 3, “Rosh Hashanah 24b2, notes 21, 24, 27,28, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, NY.) Also see The Writings of Flavius Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” Bk. 3, Chap. 12, www.bible.crosswalk.com.)
It is also noted that we have confusion as to wher there was a Shofar with two trumpets or two trumpets and a Shofar. This is underastandsable because Rosh HaShana 27a notes trumpets (plural) and Shofar (singular). On the other hand, in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Musical instruments) p 172) the trumpets (chuzotzrot) were the the ususal Temple instruments and the Shofar was used only for special occasions.
Moreover, the word for trumpet is used interchangeably with Shofar (See Maimonides, Yad. Hilchot Shofar 21.1; and the baraita in Rosh Hashanah 33b.

For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments.

We have three websites

1) Shofar Sounders WebPage

http://shofar221.com

2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid,an expert Shofar sounder and commentator

http://www.hearingshofar.com
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask

How to Clean a Shofar

The easiest method is to use a diluted acid (vinegar) or base (soap). Some use hydrogen peroxide or ethyl alcohol. Other reagents can destroy the keratin and thus, threaten the integrity of the horn.

1. Use a long coffee brush; aquarium brush; test tube brush or whatever can fit into your Shofar without hurting its walls.

2. Dry your horn with the brushes. In the case of alcohol it will dry itself. You can also hair driers and such.

http://www.shofar221.com