Questions to owners of YORKBRUNNER

[Rick Denney]

Although I played it for only 30 minutes or so, I had impression that the way of playing the horn should be different.

I don't own a Yorkbrunner, though my Holton is similar in concept. But my reason for responding is to repeat some words passed to me by Mike Sanders perhaps a year or two after starting to play his Yorkbrunner with the San Antonio Symphony.

Mike said that the thing he had to learn with the YB was to relax and let the horn do the work. He had played an Alexander, which he sais could do anything, but it was up to the player to make it happen. He suggested that the Yorkbrunner did not respond to that sort of direction, and that it didn't need it. He added that it took him nearly a year to get used to that aspect of playing the Yorkbrunner.

Much later, he had the opportunity to play his old Alex again, this time with St. Louis in Powell Hall. He said that he abandoned it after ten minutes and went back to the Yorkbrunner. The reason he gave was that the experiment reminded him just how much work the Alex had been, and that the Yorkbrunner had a sound that worked better in Powell. But he added (partly as a joke) that he stopped the experiment because he was afraid the maestro would like the sound.

Try playing the low G 1-3. That's the standard fix for the flat third partial on Conn 20J's.

Rick "who compared a YB to his Holton two months ago, and, in that case at least, preferred the Holton" Denney

[glangfur]

I'll make a couple of comments on this from my perspective as a bass trombone player. I've recently done several gigs with an excellent tuba player who is switching from a Yorkbrunner to a much lighter but otherwise similar Nirschl.

All else being equal, the Nirschl is a much easier sound for me to blend with. There are more overtones to line up with, and an immediacy and vibrancy to the tone that seems to be difficult to get with the Yorkbrunner. The HB sound could be described as darker...but to my ears not really in a way I prefer.

Another thing I know from my experience is that heavier equipment, while it usually has an attractive weight and breadth to the basic tone, can be unforgiving. It needs to be played in a particular way ("relax and let the horn do the work") or it simply won't respond for you. If that matches your own playing concept, and you're willing and able to play the horn the way it wants, then great. But there are tradeoffs...