Why brass bands should feature compensating BB/Eb tubas

[marccromme]

How often are the Willson and Miraphone offerings for 3+1 compensating horns seen? They are the only other brands I can think of off hand that make them currently.

I know only of one Willson 3+1 BB being played in a British style brass band in Copenhagen. Most others are Neo or Sovereign compensators, but there are also a fraction playing a happy mix of 5 to 6 valve F rotaries and 5 valve Cc piston or 4 valve MW, Yamaha or other BB in use.

After all, tubas are very pricy, and one plays what one can grab,loan or buy for the money you have. I know only very few amateurs having the funds for a new Neo or Sovereign compensator in EB or BB, and professionals, especially those who went to conservatory, seem to prefer German F and CC tubas, front action or rotary. These can be found second hand here as often as compensators,if not more often.

So, I guess it is also a question of used market supply.

[tbonesullivan]

I know only of one Willson 3+1 BB being played in a British style brass band in Copenhagen. Most others are Neo or Sovereign compensators, but there are also a fraction playing a happy mix of 5 to 6 valve F rotaries and 5 valve Cc piston or 4 valve MW, Yamaha or other BB in use.

After all, tubas are very pricy, and one plays what one can grab,loan or buy for the money you have. I know only very few amateurs having the funds for a new Neo or Sovereign compensator in EB or BB, and professionals, especially those who went to conservatory, seem to prefer German F and CC tubas, front action or rotary. These can be found second hand here as often as compensators,if not more often.

So, I guess it is also a question of used market supply.

I will say that most of the Brass Bands in NJ have a mix of instruments as well. I'm not sure how that works out for transposing though, as all the music is in Treble Clef Bb, right?

[marccromme]

Nope, its treble clef EB and Bb, except bass trombone, which is plain bass clef.

People do always think that transposing is difficult, but if you have a CC tuba for Bb parts, or an F tuba for EB parts, that is what you use and get used to. You brain adapts easily to this callenge.

Sight transposing to an unfamiliar key instrument combo is another thing. ..

[cjk]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

[eeflattuba]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

For a few years back in the mid 1990s besson made a front action bb flat tuba..993 was the model number.They only made them for a few years.Extremely rare.Trying to find a picture of one to provide more information.Lots of spare time on my hands.

[tbonesullivan]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

The problem is getting all of that tubing in there. With an Eb tuba, there's a lot less to worry about. Even with an Upright valve BBb things get a bit tight in areas.

[cjk]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

For a few years back in the mid 1990s besson made a front action bb flat tuba..993 was the model number.They only made them for a few years.Extremely rare.Trying to find a picture of one to provide more information.Lots of spare time on my hands.

here you go:
https://www.brassatelierdewilde.nl/prod ... reign-993/" target="_blank

[cjk]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

perhaps...but (being redundant, here, admittedly) British style brass bands are very traditional, and appearance a huge portion of the tradition.
The players wear band uniforms (not tails, not black suits, not matching T-shirts) with shiny black shoes.
With very little variation, and all of the other instruments are fashioned (nearly) identically to each other.
Further a top-action and a front-action - side-by-side - will either take up extra space (as these bands' seating arrangements are quite compact) or their bells may end up clonking against each other.

I get the impression (whether accurate or not) that British style brass bands are kinda like sports for musicians.
Unpaid community music in the US seems like a "leisure activity" while British brass bands appear to be a vastly more competitive pursuit.

[tbonesullivan]

I get the impression (whether accurate or not) that British style brass bands are kinda like sports for musicians.
Unpaid community music in the US seems like a "leisure activity" while British brass bands appear to be a vastly more competitive pursuit.

Well, there is a lot of drum corps going on in the United States, so maybe that niche is somewhat filled by Brass Bands in the UK. There are some PHENOMENAL brass bands however, in terms of musicality and playing skill. I'm not sure I can say the same for drum corps, where the choreography is just as important, if not more, than how they actually sound.

[Wyvern]

If only they could design some compensated Bb's that didn't require you to be a certain size (decidedly taller and with longer arms than me) to play effectively, and that didn't leave you in serious pain from a contest run-up.

https://wessex-tubas.com/collections/sp ... sior-tb570

[Jess Haney]

In agreeing with the concept of uniformity Pikes Peak went a different route with the same brand and model of horns for tubas. Since a lot of players in the US gripe about 3+1 we chose matching Willson BBb and Eb. I like 3+1 tubas but we had to keep the entire sections in mind and someone jumping in for contest learning a new horn plus transposing proved difficult even for high level players especially when money was not involved.

[hup_d_dup]

So there's that Besson 983 E-flat thing which has 4 front action compensating valves.
Is there not a B-flat sister to the 983? That might be ergonomically preferable for some folks.

For a few years back in the mid 1990s besson made a front action bb flat tuba..993 was the model number.They only made them for a few years.Extremely rare.Trying to find a picture of one to provide more information.Lots of spare time on my hands.

Here they are, side by side. Aside from the size difference, the designs are quite similar. My understanding is that Pat Sheridan had a hand in the development of both horns. At some point in the future I will shoot another picture against a simpler background so that the tubing can be seen more clearly.

Both horns are wonderful, by the way.

Hup

Besson 983 & 993 - 3.jpg

[eeflattuba]

If I could trade my bb flat Yamaha 632 neo tuba for a besson 993 I would do so in a heartbeat. The sound that comes out of my neo is fantastic,very warm and dark,but there is something about the sound that comes out of a besson tuba that really grabs my attention.

[oedipoes]

For this video I used the Besson for looks, but found it sounded better on the Miraphone Norwegian Star, so that's the one I used for the sound recording... good compromise?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TjldJfBlelI

[Adam C.]

If you want something more recent, but equally as valid, this is our performance from last year's British Open:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SBOU-_R55s

Thanks for sharing this Andy, really beautiful playing!