5-valve or 6-valve tuba?

[eupher61]

My opinion....6 valves doesn't give a lot over 5 valves, esp for technical passages.

You're comfortable with Eb, I'd assume...nothing wrong with that!

[MartyNeilan]

My opinion....6 valves doesn't give a lot over 5 valves, esp for technical passages.

Depends on the horn and the register. Most 5 valve F's require a fair amount of slide pulling in the low register between low C and pedal F. 6 valve F's virtually eliminate that.

[The Big Ben]

When I buy a new tuba, would it be much better to get a 6-valve F tuba for technical, fast passages, or would a 5-valve E flat (I play a 4-valve compensating E flat now) be just as good?
Thanks for your opinion.

I am just an amateur although I have friends who are professional tubists. They play 4-valve compensating E flat tubas and say that I should just stick to that type when I buy a new one.
Bill

Oystein Baadsvik uses one of the 'new' Miraphone Starlights for his solo work and worked closely with Miraphone to develop both the Starlight and the Norwegian Star. They are both EEb instruments and, before you make your final purchase decision, I'd suggest trying one or both of these horns. The Starlight is designed for solo work and the Norwegian Star is an all around tuba. "The Reviews" (there are a few here) suggest both are winners.

[armytuba]

Scroll to the top of the page, then click Ensembles > Musicians and select Oystein's link. On his website he discusses the differences between the SL and NS.

I hope to see one or both at the Capitol Tuba Conference next week. 'May have to make a reservation in advance to playtest either, though.

[iiipopes]

The 6th valve is more for intonation than speed. On fast technical passages, the Jacobs quote comes to mind about we're all 3-valve players when it comes down to it.

Focus more on the intonation quirks, the response, and the consistency of tone from register to register rather than the number of valves or whether it's Eb or F.

In other words, try out as many as you can so you find the horn that works best for you.

[tubeast]

For one thing: If you´re already used to a 4-valved compensated Eb, I don´t think you can go wrong with sticking to that system. I tried those out for too short a time to make any substancial judgment.
If it has to be a non-compensating tuba, though, here are my thoughts:

I own both a 5- and 6-valved horn, and our band owns different setups still.

The 5-valved CC-tuba makes use of the right thumb for the large whole step 5th valve. The 4th valve slide is very well accessible, so I can tune the low D (2-3-4-5 + large slide pull) and Db (all valves down + large slide pull) very nicely. All other combinations using 5th valve don´t require any slide pulling (on MY horn), says my tuner.
- Advantage: Great intonation all over your range.
- Disadvantage: sudden change in fingering pattern of the right hand as you go down chromatically from partial 4 down to 1, as you enter the range between partials 2 and 1. This slows ME down quite a bit.

My MW46 F-tuba has a 4+2 configuration, valves 5 and 6 operated by the left hand. It works MUCH more fluently between partials 1 and 2 than the CC does, but it does so with minor intonation issues.
- advantage: fingering pattern can remain the same throughout your range, you just have to think in terms of applying "little", "more", or "most" compensation
- disadvantage: slight intonation issues cannot be dealt with.
This doesn´t matter that much when the passage is fast, but it can´t be denied, either.

A B&S F-tuba my band owns has a 4+1 setup with a long whole step valve operated by the left hand. THIS combines the DISADVANTAGES of both systems described before.
This can only be dealt with using an additional slide trigger mechanism. That´ll be more expensive than the "5 valves on right hand" solution.

Did this help any ?