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Forgive me if this question has been posted before, but I wanted to ask as to your preference when it comes to either piston or rotary tubas.

I've got lots of both! I used a piston horn for a Dixie gig Thursday morning and I'll use a rotary Mirafone for a German gig tonight. Tomorrow morning, it's back to the King Eb piston horn. Sunday afternoon, it'll be the piston Marzan BBb. Overall, I think pistons are more prone to problems with lint and dirt. I can blow saurkraut through rotors!

Do you prefer a crossbow or a recurve bow? Compound or longbow? Pistol or rifle?

It's all a matter of personal preferrence. Playwise, it doesn't make a darned bit of difference to me.

I consider the whole instrument. But my PT-606 and PT-6 are both pistons.

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I think it is easier to get the water out of rotary valve horn.

I prefer rotories for their smoothness and speed - of course, the move from Amati piston to Cerveny rotory also was a big shift up in quality all around. Never managed to play the piston horn without wanting to swear at it, and got tired of holding that all in. Since I play in a church orchestra, I figured I better upgrade or stop alltogether!

what about viennas?
disc?
hagmann?
Thayer?
CR?
CL?
Bach K?
Axial flow piston?
Berliner Pumpen?

Now, if I can only find at a reasonable price one of the HB experiments of a generation ago in rotary compensators. Until then, it's me...and my 3-valve....

Would this article shed some new perspective onto this argument?

http://aswltd.com/rotary.htm

They discuss about trumpets, but would the same subtleties be noticed on a tuba?

pulseczar wrote:would the same subtleties be noticed on a tuba?

They might, but then, they're trumpets, so they're better than you!