This has been a really great thread - thank you all for the insight.
True Confessions:
I've been coming back over the last year and half, from a long tuba hiatus, and doing so on an old BBb sousaphone in a rock and roll setting. I discovered that a snark guitar tuner on the lead pipe worked as an easy way to see the tuner when practicing, and started to adopt it as a handy, stage tool/reference point.
I am very much in agreement with the philosophy of tuning to the group and making things harmonious and tempered, versus going for "correct" at a price. However, I also have some insecurities around whether my horn is in tune with itself and know that I'm at a disadvantage playing in guitar keys like B and E all the time, so being able to glance at the tuner on longer notes and see where I was, felt helpful. The guitar tuned to a tuner, too.....right?
As much as I'd like to say I wasn't creeping towards the "intonation by sight" crowd; on a recent gig, it just so happened that the guitar wasn't in tune, and when I noticed the problem, I will admit I looked at my tuner to check my pitch to see where I was/which one of us was off. While that might be an interesting discovery, it's not going to make things sound any better.
This thread has inspired and reminded me to spend the time with the tuner at home, get my horn in balance, and leave it in the case on the gig (the tuner, not the horn), so my first instinct can be used to support the music with my ears and lips, wherever we may have strayed to.
Tubenet for the win.
You guys also helped me find Jeffery Funderburk's Tuning Chart http://www.uni.edu/drfun/articles/tuning.html
and I'm ordering the Tune-up System as well, to get it all dialed in. http://tuneupsystems.com/Home_Page.html ... t="_blank"
Thanks all!
Tuning does the room matter?
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Beervangelist
- bugler
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:47 pm
- Location: Fennville, MI
Re: Tuning does the room matter?
1926 BBb King Giant Sousaphone
1950's BBb "Metro - Lockie Music Exchange" stenciled "Spaghetti York" Sousaphone
1997 Carvin 5-String fretless bass
http://www.strappingowls.com
1950's BBb "Metro - Lockie Music Exchange" stenciled "Spaghetti York" Sousaphone
1997 Carvin 5-String fretless bass
http://www.strappingowls.com
-
imperialbari
- 6 valves
- Posts: 7461
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 3:47 am
Re: Tuning does the room matter?
Playing in the keys of E and B natural on a 3 valve BBb sousaphone calls for some very active slide handling, if at all possible via the 1st valve top slide.
What about tuning the sousaphone down to A?
That would make the said keys so much more friendly, because aside of pulling the valve slides to fit the new key you could give the 3rd an extra pull to make E and B in tune, when fingered 13. That would make the fifth step in both keys in tune without pulling. The leading note for B nat (A# fingered 123) would be sharp in the low octave, but that could be worked around except where you might have fixed octave licks with the guitar in its low range.
I haven’t tried this down-tuning on any of my BBb instruments, because they all have 4 valves, but I have for a period tuned my Conn 26K Eb sousaphone down to D to test whether a certain musical idea could be realised while the 26K was my only brass instrument below the bassbones.
That took some extra tubing, but not as much as one would expect, because one branch of the main tuning slide was long enough for the semitone pull.
This suggestion is not without problems beyond getting the extra tubing:
Your ears may be so engrained with the BBb tuning that playing by ear on a differently pitched instrument will confuse you totally. No shame to that.
The sousaphone partials may be skewed tuningwise. But that should not be a major problem, as this change of pitch very much equals locking down the 2nd valve and then pulling the 1st and 3rd slides accordingly. This step could be your first in a test ride of the idea.
I don’t know whether your sousaphone is the small or the big variant from B&M. If it is the big one, the next step in the testing could be using bits of a 3/4" garden hose as the extra tubing. If this works well, and if you find ways to secure your main tuning slide from dropping off and from clanging against the sousaphone body, you may even have found your final solution.
Klaus
What about tuning the sousaphone down to A?
That would make the said keys so much more friendly, because aside of pulling the valve slides to fit the new key you could give the 3rd an extra pull to make E and B in tune, when fingered 13. That would make the fifth step in both keys in tune without pulling. The leading note for B nat (A# fingered 123) would be sharp in the low octave, but that could be worked around except where you might have fixed octave licks with the guitar in its low range.
I haven’t tried this down-tuning on any of my BBb instruments, because they all have 4 valves, but I have for a period tuned my Conn 26K Eb sousaphone down to D to test whether a certain musical idea could be realised while the 26K was my only brass instrument below the bassbones.
That took some extra tubing, but not as much as one would expect, because one branch of the main tuning slide was long enough for the semitone pull.
This suggestion is not without problems beyond getting the extra tubing:
Your ears may be so engrained with the BBb tuning that playing by ear on a differently pitched instrument will confuse you totally. No shame to that.
The sousaphone partials may be skewed tuningwise. But that should not be a major problem, as this change of pitch very much equals locking down the 2nd valve and then pulling the 1st and 3rd slides accordingly. This step could be your first in a test ride of the idea.
I don’t know whether your sousaphone is the small or the big variant from B&M. If it is the big one, the next step in the testing could be using bits of a 3/4" garden hose as the extra tubing. If this works well, and if you find ways to secure your main tuning slide from dropping off and from clanging against the sousaphone body, you may even have found your final solution.
Klaus