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bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:11 pm
by craig2000
Hi everyone,
I have recently purchased an f and a cc. I'm from the land of EEb and have therefore been taught and have freelanced exclusively with EEb since I was 18.
The f and Cc have been brilliant and I'm loving playing but I have one question for any pros out there.
What do you do when u get a work that is very high and very low and switches from huge orchestration to small almost immediately.
I have low E's at ff and also have high Eb's at pp on the same page, but within orchestration that is quite full.
Should I get the EEb out?

Re: bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:01 am
by craig2000
Thanks for the reply, I should probably have given more info but actually re reading my late night post has made me realise its a bit of a dumb question.

Re: bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 6:05 am
by imperialbari
craig2000 wrote:I have low E's at ff and also have high Eb's at pp on the same page, but within orchestration that is quite full.
Should I get the EEb out?
Not being a pro tubist I still tend to wonder, why you would consider the 983 the best compromise for the two sample notes mentioned.

The inherently weakest note on a compensating Eb tuba in most cases will be exactly that low E right above the open pedal Eb. 2nd valve pedal E would be much easier to belt out on most good F tubas.

Klaus

Re: bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:36 am
by Wyvern
Depends on the piece and the ensemble. However, I agree with Klauss that low E is a weak note on Eb tuba, so would probably use the F tuba.

Re: bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:08 am
by craig2000
Its a comfort thing. I haven't played EEb for ages but every time something comes up that isn't obviously cc or f I wonder whether its safer just to use what I know best. After a day of practise today it has all become much clearer. And your absolutely right the low e is great on my f. Happy days!

Re: bass or contrabass (f or cc)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:16 pm
by J.c. Sherman
Never had a problem with the low E on my Eb... my 3rd comp slide was out far, and on the B&H Imperial, it sat out fine. I'd whip out the Eb.

J.c.S.