What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

The bulk of the musical talk
Post Reply
CooperBayliff
bugler
bugler
Posts: 67
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 8:55 pm

What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by CooperBayliff »

What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?
MW 195P Fafner - Doug Elliott MP
tubeast
4 valves
4 valves
Posts: 819
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:59 pm
Location: Buers, Austria

Re: What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by tubeast »

They are not hard to play.
Tubas are tools. They come in different sizes and shapes.

Like all other tubas, they´ll make A CERTAIN SET OF JOBS very easy to do.
Like all other tubas, they´ll be increasingly stubborn the more you get astray from that set of jobs.
As with any tuba, You´ll need good control of breath, a functional set of ears and a good sense of pitch to put them to good use.
Hans
Melton 46 S
1903 or earlier GLIER Helicon, customized Hermuth MP
2009 WILLSON 6400 RZ5, customized GEWA 52 + Wessex "Chief"
MW HoJo 2011 FA, Wessex "Chief"
Somarithedark
bugler
bugler
Posts: 42
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 1:11 pm
Location: South Eastern MA and RI, USA

Re: What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by Somarithedark »

This year, I bought and am learning to play my first 6/4 CC tuba.

All of my previous experience was 4/4 BBb/CC and one year of 4/4 Eb.

I will say that for me, the biggest difference is the lack of resistance in 6/4 horns. If you blow through the instrument without the exact right kind of airflow and breath support, your tone or pitch will suffer considerably more than other sized horns. A lot of the smaller horns have some level of resistance that can let you get away without being "exact" on your approach.

I personally believe this is the basis for the drama/controversy of 6/4 instruments. The highest skilled players can play them extremely well because they've poured hours and hours into developing their tone on them. All other novice and intermediate players see their idols playing on 6/4's and strive to get one. When they do, it's like trying to pilot a jet with no prior experience. I was extremely discouraged for months, but I can now say I've gotten very close to the sound that I want on my 6/4 and people have been complimenting my tone.
Like all other tubas, they´ll make A CERTAIN SET OF JOBS very easy to do.
Like all other tubas, they´ll be increasingly stubborn the more you get astray from that set of jobs.
This is also a major factor. IMO, 6/4 Instruments are essentially one-trick ponies: Great for supporting orchestras and other large ensembles. Trying to use them for soloing, chamber groups, or modern settings like jazz is much more difficult. The tone of a 6/4 instrument generally isn't flexible enough to keep up with these settings.

Hope this helps. Would love input or opinions on this, from those who play 6/4 instruments.
"Shouldn't we all be practicing right now?"

Reece Ashley
reeceash2000@gmail.com
Miraphone 283 "Norweigan Star" 5/4 Eb
Wessex "Chicago Presence" 6/4 CC
Boston Conservatory Tuba Performance 2025
User avatar
Sousaswag
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 317
Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:12 pm

Re: What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by Sousaswag »

I play an “almost” 6/4 instrument in the MRP-C. It’s not quite as big as the York copies but that’s a good thing. It makes a great sound and has great pitch, AND it’s just easy to play.

I don’t think the York copies are as easy to play. They’re stubborn. Some makes are stiff down low, others way too open like the 2165. The Eastmans are probably the “easiest” out of them all.

I don’t like moving slides when I play. Every tuba needs some, but every York copy I’ve played wants too much slide movement. I’m lazy.

I agree that they’re one-trick ponies. If you want one and want to do everything, well, you’d better have access to a small tuba. It’s for those extremely large groups most of us never play with after college.

So is my MRP, to be fair. It’s made for large groups. I could do what I do with a physically smaller instrument but I love the sound this one makes, so I keep it.
Meinl Weston 5450RA Tuono
Willson 3200RZ-5
User avatar
iiipopes
Utility Infielder
Utility Infielder
Posts: 8556
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:10 am

Re: What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by iiipopes »

What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play: trying to overblow it thinking you need more than you do to make it work.

The amount of air that a player can put through a 6/4 horn is no more and no less than the player can put through a 4/4 horn with the same or similar mouthpiece. Vital capacity and the throat/backbore of the mouthpiece determines the playability of any tuba. At the point the breath transitions the throat and backbore of the mouthpiece, Bernoulli's principal that makes the embouchure work with breath support yields to static wave theory taking over as the transition changes the velocity of the air which causes the embouchure to work into the static compression/rarefaction waves cause the resonances we call pitch.

Even though I have never owned a 6/4 tuba, I have played sousaphones all the way from a King .687 bore to the ancient Conn I have with .710 bore to a Conn 20K in college and a Conn 38K with the "standard" .734 bore I had the use of for a few years among others. These are the sousaphone versions of 4/4, 5/4, and 6/4 tubas. The antique Conn with a 24-inch bell could be described as a 4/4, and the Conn 20K as a 5/4, and the Conn 38K as a 6/4 due to the progressively larger diameter of the taper of the bugles. All played the same to me using the same custom mouthpiece that Jim New made for me especially to play souzys outdoors. The differences were the foundational tone, which the larger instruments tended to have more fundamental in the tone. When I played the ancient Conn, it sounded great. Additionally, when I played the 38K, it not only sounded great, but it was the only instrument that I could say actually made the floor joists of the house I used to live in resonate. Ironically, with its more efficient resonance, I could actually back off the 38K when I was the only tuba supporting a concert band, where sometimes I have to push the antique Conn to get the same support to the ensemble.
Jupiter JTU1110, RT-82.
"Real" Conn 36K.
arpthark
5 valves
5 valves
Posts: 1123
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:14 pm

Re: What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play?

Post by arpthark »

What makes a 6/4 tuba hard to play: filling up the inside with cement.
Post Reply