bttmbow wrote:Remember the 80s?
I forgot the best one:
Strips of duct tape inside the bell.
What was that supposed to do?
Jeff "Roll of Duck Tape: $2.49" Benedict
Deaden the bell vibration on instruments that tended to "frack out" a little too easy at high volumes. Kind of related to the whole Monette heavy trumpet, heavy mouthpiece craze, but much cheaper.
It was actually recommended to me by one or two reputable teachers and it did work, to some extent. In my case, I used clear packing tape so as not to stand out from a distance. Lee Stofer will be happy to tell you just how difficult it is to get the residue off the horn.
Hey! That one works! Not only that, but I used a narrow strip of golfer's lead tape, like a miniature Miraphone garland, around the rim of my Conn/Cavalier souzy to deaden the overring. Worked absolutely well -- no out of tune overring, better pitch, better centering and intonation, easier to play -- hardly a fad.
djwesp wrote:(no, I wasn't the one doing the cryo freezing. I'm not a proponent of it, as I'm poor and have enough things I can work on personally to get better.)
Now, that is a disclaimer I would be proud to call my own.
Rick "wondering at the effects of cryogenically treating polyester resin and glass fibers" Denney
From long ago . . . .
Posted by Steve Inman on February 01, 2001 at 21:40:32:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: cryogenic tuba freezing posted by Rick Denney on January 31, 2001 at 22:45:21:
A while back on the tubaeuph forum, there was a lengthy thread about heating/cooling/annealing instruments. I think I was supposed to contact a metalurgist at my place of employment and provide some final, definitive answers to several questions. I half way succeeded, providing some feedback, but never a final summary statement to several follow-up questions. It was all getting rather technical.
I do recall that the statement was made that deep freezing/thawing of brass metal does not change the property of the metal at the atomic/molecular level. Only heating/cooling will do this (annealing) and this requires careful control of the time/temperature profile to get the results you want. This of course carries the risk that you'll melt the solder in multiple places and end up with a nice collection of various sized/shaped brass tubes when you're done.
My personal "research" in talking to a guy with a BS in physics and an MS in metalurgy leads me to conclude I won't ever bother wasting my money with a freezing treatment. I would predict you'll notice a more significant change in the performanc of your tuba by simply buying that new mouthpiece you've always wanted to try. Probably quite a bit cheaper as well.
(or as was previously suggested -- perhaps simply giving it a bath -- cheaper still ....)
Steve Inman
Yamaha YEB-381 Eb
Conn 56J CC
Willson-Marzan CC Solo Model
Kokomo Chamber Brass
Well, OK. I wasn't going to post this because I knew it would be ridiculed. But ...
If you take your horn to the opera and have the fat lady sing into the bell, the vibrations will entrain the molecules into a more musical alignment, the result being a major improvement in the tone. That's the truth. You skeptics can just take your naysaying to Ray Nagin.
SplatterTone wrote:
If you take your horn to the opera and have the fat lady sing into the bell, the vibrations will entrain the molecules into a more musical alignment, the result being a major improvement in the tone. That's the truth. You skeptics can just take your naysaying to Ray Nagin.
One of the bigger laughs I ever got was when the lady I bought my horn from told me it had been "cryogenetically" treated. I still don't know what that word means....and fortunately it was via email so she couldn't hear me giggling. It should go into Bloke's "online pronunciation" somewhere.
I also did the lead tape on the bell thing, with a tinny bell. It helped a lot, but not nearly as much as putting a new bell on helped. Not only the sound, but the tapers of the new bell locked in the pitches much better, and in tune too.
The ever popular in the late 90's - The PT6!!! I saw more of those appear at colleges than anything else (and they are really impressive, esp if you get a really good one)
