Why move away from the Eb tuba to the F?

[windshieldbug]

I don't know how big the Eb's are any more, and I used a Miraphone Rose solo. The receiver was as built, as far as I know.

[iiipopes]

Mark Carter in England, Mr. Tuba, has both a 4-valve comp model and a 5-valve rotary Eb model being made for him by M-W for sale under his store name.

The new Norwegian Star is a promising candidate.

In England, with the Eb tradition, large bore Eb's are more common in orchestra than here. Even Besson 983's get used, and for a lot of guys the one tuba takes the place of having both a CC and an F.

Go surfing. A lot of companies are making Eb's with a 19 mm .748 inch primary bore and a sizable bell.

[NickJones]

As a UK based player , never had any problems with British Style 4 valve compensating tubas ( never even experienced any stuffiness which I think is preconception of these instruments), even the latest 980 Sov tuba with a 17 inch bell is a monster of an instrument , brilliant low register response.
I use Besson Sov 982 ( Lower mouthpipe) and pernantucci mouthpiece

[Steve Marcus]

I have only once seen a Besson 983 used in a UK orchestra, but big Ebs, such as the Besson 981, Yamaha YEB632, Miraphone 1261 and Melton/Mr.Tuba models can produce a much bigger sound than most American tubists would believe.

Indubitably. But brass bands value control of both extremes of the dynamic range, as do orchestras, smaller ensembles, and soloists. There are certain Eb and F tubas that ring beautifully, but make playing a soft passage (e.g. Mahler 1) a real challenge. How easily do the models that you named above play softly?

[tubiker]

How easily do the models that you named above play softly?

Practice


Andrew Murray