Why a BBflat tuba????

[Rick Denney]

Has anybody taken into consideration that if you have two horns of the same bore size (lets say .787) that a .787 on a BBb horn will be less conical than a .787 on a C horn? This would allow for overall better tone quality and more free blowing, given that the instrument, mouthpiece, and player were all the same. Also, nowadays tradition plays a big part of what horns we have to play, I went to IU this past winter to audition for Dan Perantoni, and he said he wouldn't take me unless I actually went out and bought a C horn, seeing as I went in on my BBb Mira 186.

That has been mentioned (by me) on several occasions, and maybe once even in this thread or the similar thread from the same time to which this was the reversed question.

Furthermore, that faster taper is concentrated in a relatively short section of the main bugle. The first five feet or so of both the Bb and C Miraphones are the same, as is the last three feet or so of bell flare. So the faster taper occurs between a diameter of less than an inch to about 3.something inches. That 10 feet of bugle on the Bb is only 8 feet long on the C.

But I don't think you can say for sure which model (the Bb or C Miraphone 186) has the "better" taper design. There is nothing to indicate that a faster taper makes anything particularly better or even more free-blowing. But there is lots of experience to indicate that instruments with faster tapers are more likely to have intonation issues, though that experience is not related to the Miraphone. The taper design surely has an effect on the overtones produced and also on the intonation characteristics of the instrument, but there are lots of ways to adjust the taper here and there to offset other changes. Were it not so, conversions would be impossible rather than just difficult.

As to Parantoni's requirements, I suspect that is a test of commitment as much as anything, and someone of his stature can reasonably expect to fill his studio with only the most committed students. No performance student should expect to get through college without being at least competent on all tubas, and those who have difficulty in changing from one to the other maybe should consider whether they really should be pursuing that line. All the great musicians I've met seem to be able to make such transitions fairly easily.

Rick "not a great musician" Denney

[MaryAnn]

Personally, I think even "middle ground" musicians such as myself can make these transitions fairly easily. However, the ability to play different types of instruments is only one of the many that are required to be a "great" musician. I think often the pure athletic ability is ignored; the musical ability is sometimes ignored when great athletic ability is present, too. One needs all, plus the requisite slavery to the instrument for however long it takes.

So: what are the "types of abilities" that are needed to make a great musician? I've touched on a few....adaptability to different instruments; athletic ability; "musical" ability. What else?

MA

[Lew]

Is this thread still going? It seems that a lot of people are very analytical about this. As a qualitative social researcher my answer is, because I like the BBb horns that I have. They are fun to play and look cool. I especially like my King (Bill Bell) 1291 rotary, Conn 40K, Distin, and King 2341.

[dmmorris]

because I like the BBb horns that I have. They are fun to play and look cool.

This answer works for me also!

More Plumbing ~ Cooler looks!

[windshieldbug]

More Plumbing ~ Cooler looks!

[Tubaguy56]

if we're getting into how the horns look, I really like short FAT horns, but mostly fat, like, super wide bore.

[adam0408]

does it really matter what key of horn the common band rep was written for? Sure, there are some tunes that have passages that lie a little better on a Bb horn, and some that incidentally lie better on a CC horn. However, this is really a very small issue, since most music in the brass band catalogue has difficult parts that are scalar-based.

If you think about it, you are simply playing a different scale when you play the CC tuba. For example, you may have a four note, sixteenth based figure to play that starts on the note f just below the staff. On Bb you will be playing this as an F scale. If you play this on a CC tuba, you will be playing it as an Eb scale (relative to the Bb fingerings), which is only slightly less convenient. I hope that makes sense.

What the C does is simply make some scales easier to play and some scales harder. The difference evens out in the end. Speaking as someone who plays a CC on band literature, its not a big deal at all. The only time I really have problems is in the Eb scale, becuase I have to play those nasty 2&3 combinations that my fingers sometimes don't like. However, it is getting easier with practice.

My conclusion: I am with the guys that say "play what sounds good"

Joel "CC becuase the horn sounds better for me" Adams

[windshieldbug]

I agree completely, but you have to admit that owning a BBb, CC, rotary F, tenor tuba, euphonium, AND cimbasso would show a lot of commitment...

[windshieldbug]

I agree completely, but you have to admit that owning a BBb, CC, rotary F, tenor tuba, euphonium, AND cimbasso would show a lot of commitment...

I wanna make a joke about being committed (mentally), but sadly nothing comes to mind.

Why do you think we play the tuba? Because

sadly nothing comes to mind.

[tubeast]

OWNING all these horns proves wealth (either yours or somebody else´s) or foolishness (again, either yours or somebody else´s, as you obviously managed to talk some sucker into giving all that equipment to YOU, a freshman at college).

I can own all the Porsches, Cadillacs, and Kenworth trucks I want without a clue as to how to parallel park, let alone do so with a trailer.

[LoyalTubist]

You know, I was a Psychology Minor in graduate school and, I guess, the threads are right. There is something a little derranged about being a tuba player. I can remember in high school, when the other kids in the band would be singing the melody of a song, I would always accompany them with a bassline!

But the spirit of being a tuba player is a helpful spirit. It is the nature of our instruments to support whatever group we are with...

"Yeah... but Bill... What about those unaccompanied tuba solos you used to play all the time when you were younger... Huh??"

I guess I should listen to the voices in my head.

Never mind.

[windshieldbug]

You know, I was a Psychology Minor in graduate school and, ... I guess I should listen to the voices in my head.

Wait a minute! Are those the same voices as Schlep's voices!?

[tubatooter1940]

LoyalTubist wrote, "There is something a little deranged about being a tuba player."
I would never argue with that. One must be something of a masochist to pack all that weight around when a piccolo is available to toot.
In my vast experience, I found drummers-like kickers in football-to likely be flakes. What can you expect from people who make their living pounding on things?

[Joe Baker]

... flakes. What can you expect from people who make their living pounding on things?

________________________________________
Joe Baker, who pounds on a keyboard all day...

[windshieldbug]

What can you expect from people who make their living pounding on things?

[LoyalTubist]

... I found drummers-like kickers in football-to likely be flakes. What can you expect from people who make their living pounding on things?

When I used to do the circus and rodeo circuits all the time, we never could keep a steady drummer--he was always late to the arena. Being on time, that means getting to the job on time, has its advantages. You get to meet a lot of nice people and you can park almost wherever you want. A few trumpet players also had the same problem, but with them, it was only ego, nothing serious.