Eb choice for great players over F?

The bulk of the musical talk
Post Reply
User avatar
bigboymusic
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 383
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:54 am
Location: Independence, MO

Re: Eb choice for great players over F?

Post by bigboymusic »

I wonder the routes great players such as Oystein Baadsvik and Pat Sheridan take to find their way onto Eb hooters??



Eb hooters?

mymymy.....
Paul Weissenborn
St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra (MO)
Spirit of Independence Band
SJSO Quintet
Alex 163 CC
YEB 321S
User avatar
Chuck(G)
6 valves
6 valves
Posts: 5676
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:48 am
Location: Not out of the woods yet.
Contact:

Re: Eb choice for great players over F?

Post by Chuck(G) »

bigboymusic wrote: Eb hooters?

mymymy.....
Paul, this is just another example of a common language separating two countries. An English friend of the female persuasion once related to me that on her first visit to the US, she caused the desk clerk at a major hotel to turn purple when she asked him to have someone knock her up at 6:30 the next morning...
User avatar
JB
pro musician
pro musician
Posts: 704
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:04 pm

Re: Eb choice for great players over F?

Post by JB »

Chuck(G) wrote:
bigboymusic wrote: Eb hooters?

mymymy.....
An English friend of the female persuasion...asked...to have someone knock her up at 6:30 the next morning...
That's good. Very, very good... :lol:
User avatar
bigboymusic
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 383
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:54 am
Location: Independence, MO

Post by bigboymusic »

Chuck, some of us tuba dudes just never seem to grow up....

I hope not at least!!!

:wink:
Paul Weissenborn
St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra (MO)
Spirit of Independence Band
SJSO Quintet
Alex 163 CC
YEB 321S
winston
pro musician
pro musician
Posts: 505
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 10:26 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

.

Post by winston »

.
Last edited by winston on Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Jay Bertolet
pro musician
pro musician
Posts: 470
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:04 am
Location: South Florida

Post by Jay Bertolet »

While I'm no Baadsvik or Sheridan, I can tell you why I ended up with an Eb and not an F. It's all about sound and feel.

Remember that when I was in college (when I made the decision to play Eb rather than F) the only really good Eb tubas out there were limited in number. The vast majority of Eb tubas (at least available in America) were intended for public school use. Only two models, the Boosey Sovereign and the newly created Yamaha 321, were creating any interest among the serious players here in America. Being a college student of modest means, the Yamaha's price tag of $1400.00 was very attractive. After trying one I was completely sold. It was one of the best bass tubas I had ever played. Of course instruments improved and more choices became available (as did more money to purchase a new and better horn) and I began to switch until I found the best match for me. I've stayed with Eb and never looked back.

Why didn't I go for an F, of which many fine specimens existed? Because none had what I would call a low range. F tubas in America at that time were all pretty much the same in that they employed the typical Germanic design and they came with the requisite intonation quirks and low range response problems. When I compared even a mediocre Eb (at least compared to today's Eb horns) to what was available in an F tuba, there literally was no contest in my mind. I could do more with an Eb. Further, the sound was (and is) more what I wanted with the Eb. I counted myself lucky that I wasn't sinking thousands of dollars into a horn that I had to work many hours on just to make marginally functional.

Today it seems completely natural to me that more quality players are ending up with Eb tubas. There was no tuba like the current Willson available even 15 years ago. Probably the best quality Eb available up until recently was the Boosey but it was a compensator and if you didn't like that you were stuck with instruments you're likely to find in public school storage lockers today. I think it speaks volumes that the Yamaha 321 (not a bad instrument but certainly qualifies today as a low-budget horn) was one of the better options in Eb. Today you can find an Eb of almost any design type and producing any number of different quality sounds. I think this greatly increases the likelihood that a quality player will have better odds finding exactly what he likes in an Eb, just as this same proliferation of choices has made the other keys of instruments so attractive. This process is happening even now, albeit on a smaller scale, in the Bb tuba market.

I've heard first hand what the players you've mentioned can do with an Eb. That seems testimony enough as to the suitability of an Eb tuba to the task.

My opinion for what it's worth...
tubatooter1940
6 valves
6 valves
Posts: 2530
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:09 pm
Location: alabama gulf coast

Post by tubatooter1940 »

In our trio,our lead singer likes the range of my King E-flat.He says it is
pitched near a bass geetar down low and thee high range is usually an
octave above his vocal.
I have never even played an "F"tuba but I can't imagine sacrificing any
of the low range I have on my E-flat.When I play most normal bass lines
I am right down on the bottom of what the horn can give me-no pedal
tones-only three valves.
The highs are so pure they some times make folks cry.
Gotta love it,
The Fartman
winston
pro musician
pro musician
Posts: 505
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 10:26 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

.

Post by winston »

.
Last edited by winston on Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
finnbogi
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 375
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 6:59 pm
Location: Iceland

Post by finnbogi »

According to the booklet with Tuba Carnival, Øystein plays an E flat Hirsbrunner with rotary valves (he doesn't say which model). The recording was made in June of 2002. Since then he has been working on an E flat tuba with Miraphone, so now he plays the new horn. I believe it is called Norwegian Star.

If I remember correctly, there was an article on choosing a tuba on Øysteins old Norwegian website (some years ago) where he said that he had started playing an E flat tuba and never seen a reason to switch to F, as the E flat worked well enough for him. Also, brass bands are a big thing in Norway, so E flat makes sense.
This article is, however, not on his "new" website. Perhaps it was out of date, or perhaps my memory isn't what it used to be.

According to an interview on ITEAonline last February, Øystein also has a 4/4 Hirsbrunner C tuba (probably since his orchestral days), but he hasn't touched it in three years.
winston
pro musician
pro musician
Posts: 505
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 10:26 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

Post by winston »

.
Last edited by winston on Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply