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Has any experimentation been done using Miller or Hagmann valves on tubas?
I understand the bore size problem and the layout problem (Axial flow- Thayer) but I can't see why a 5th valves couldn't be of a different and improved type.

The Miller valve system, I think, could be laid out or stacked close enough together to avoid too much bore disruption or funky linkage.

Just a point of discussion...

Sylvain

I have wondered this also. I created a couple of drawings with new valve designs for the French Horn a few years back, with the goal of free blowing even bore ( ie no crimps or sharp bends ). But horns provide a added difficulty with being double and needed 2 of everything basically. One thing I did come to realize, is that a free flowing path is not necessarily a better acoustical path. And the crimps and bends that are associated with some types of valves are what gives a particular instrument its unique playing characteristics.

Franz Monschau (Haag) successfully designed a cimbasso using Hagmann valves. I don't see why a tuba wouldn't work...




This horn is for sale at hornguys.com

When I saw the Miller valve and the way they were stacked on a bass trombone, I thought of applying it to a tuba. Its angle would work great for a natural hand position as opposed to the strait line of standard rotary valve tubas.

http://www.millervalve.com/" target="_blank

I've been playing Hagmanns on my Besson Bass Trombone for 5 or 6 years and absolutely love them for trombone. I'm not so sure they are the answer for conical bore instruments though. It seems to me that the resistance normal valves bring to the table are a good thing for conical instruments. Just how open do you want your Thor to be?

The Miller system is new to me, but the drawings on their site look interesting.

Which brands of brasses employ Miller valves in production models?

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

"It seems to me that the resistance normal valves bring to the table are a good thing for conical instruments. Just how open do you want your Thor to be?"

I don't know about the Thor but I noticed you play a Miraphone 184 Bb. I remember my time with the Infantry Band playing a 186 Bb and the resistance it had. I'm sure a horn like that would benefit from less resistance. Mind you, the Besson Bb tubas are hard to beat for being stuffy.

I don't think Miller is "working for" brass instrument maker. I'm thinking of buying an older single valve bass tbn and replacing the valve with the a Miller type.

Sylvano wrote: I'm sure a horn like that would benefit from less resistance. Mind you, the Besson Bb tubas are hard to beat for being stuffy.

I'm thinking of buying an older single valve bass tbn and replacing the valve with the a Miller type.

I wouldn't characterize the 184 as stuffy but it is hard to make it speak at low volumes sometimes. It often makes me work harder than I would like. I'm not sure that less resistance would fix it. Somebody smarter than me would have to answer that one. I can speak to the low resistance valves on the Bass Trombone. They are a necessity in my mind. Anything to lessen the difference when you pull a trigger is sent directly from Heaven. I can only compare it to playing a bugle call open on tuba with a single 1&3 C in the middle of it. The change is so dramatic as to be troublesome. Most of the time on Tuba I don't notice it because the difference between most valve combinations is so slight.

Once before I bought my Bessson I was so close to ordering a double Hagmann setup from the factory and having it installed on my single trigger Holton. I still think that would have been a sweet horn. Maybe not as nice as my Besson though. I really, really like the Besson.