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im looking into getting an f horn and i cant decide on piston or rotary, im currently playing a Meinl Weston 2145 which is piston, I want to know if there is really a difference or if it is seriously just personal preferance. Thanks. -Joe

yes, there is a difference. and yes, it is just personal preference.

my personal preference is rotaries, because I like the sound. I think that pistons are easier to play but I like the sound of rotaries better.

I'm gonna mention this too, because I'm sure someone else will chime in with the same thing: CHECK THE ARCHIVES. There have been pages and pages and pages and pages and pages of discussion on the topic.

-ck

I prefer rotary horns over pistons for most types of music except Dixie. I'm not sure why, ... I just do. However... choosing a horn is a very personal matter and you need to play as many of each type as you can before 'taking the plunge'.

My personal preference in an F tuba (as if anyone really cares!), is the German style rotary horn.

My line of thinking is that, since European orchestral tubists traditionally use a rotary F, composers such as Wagner, and Mahler would have been exposed to that sound. It just seems logical that a rotary (read: German) horn would be the appropriate choice for that literature. The more German the better, I say!

Solo playing (which I do only infrequently) is another issue. A case could be made for either rotary, or piston.

Try them out and see which feels and sounds better for you. There is not a single answer. I actually prefer the feel of rotary valves, but all of my tubas have piston valves because the tubas that I preferred the playing feel and sound of happened to have pistons.

I grew up with pistons on my euph, but when I switched to t-bone, the rotary on my Conn 88H spoiled me for anything else. My first tuba was a piston (price and availability), but as soon as I could justify an upgrade, I went rotary and love it!

Tubaguyjoe wrote:im looking into getting an f horn and i cant decide on piston or rotary, im currently playing a Meinl Weston 2145 which is piston, I want to know if there is really a difference or if it is seriously just personal preferance. Thanks. -Joe

For reasons never fully explained, most of the rotary F tubas take a bit of getting used to when playing the low D, Db, and CC notes (1 to 2 ledger lines below the staff). I've never yet played the rotary F where these notes "felt" comfortable. The best I can describe the "typical" rotary F response on these notes is that it "feels" (not necessarily sounds to the audience) like I'm playing with an open water key (spit valve). I love the sound of rotary F tubas, but I strongly prefer the playing feel of the YFB-621 for a small F tuba, and the YFB-822 for a large F tuba. I've heard that the Willson F also has a very good playing "feel" in these meduim-low register notes. Other F's may have similar characteristics.

When trying out F tubas, be sure you are comfortable with the overall intonation of the horn, and the playability of the notes in the range mentioned above.

Good luck,

musician wrote: There are, however, some differences in mechanical characteristics. Rotary instruments tend to be a little slower on the valve action than pistons. The throw is shorter on a rotary than a piston. Maintenance is easier on rotaries than pistons. Finger position is more critical with a piston than a rotary-you must push straight down on a piston and with a rotary you can push any old way you want.

Very true--and I think there's another thing--the geometry of a rotary tuba usually necessitates a much longer leadpipe than on a piston model. On a contrabass tuba, this may not matter too much, but ion a bass tuba (Eb/F), I think the long leadpipe and the resulting placement of the valve cluster accounts for at least some of the stuffiness of the low register commonly found on rotary basses.

Tubaguyjoe wrote:I want to know if there is really a difference or if it is seriously just personal preferance.

Yes.

Rick "wondering how you can separate the two" Denney

I agree with Rick's response--yes.

Tubaguyjoe wrote:I want to know if there is really a difference or if it is seriously just personal preferance.

Rick Denney wrote:Yes.

Rick "wondering how you can separate the two" Denney

TubaRay wrote:I agree with Rick's response--yes.

And a third "YES." (But Mr Denney said it best...)