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My school owns 5 or 6 of the horns. The one I play is the one with the problem. No matter what I do whether its messing with the slides or adjusting my embouchure, its registering a whole step sharp. I tried one of the other horns and I was in tune so I know its not me. The weather here in Raleigh was cold last week, and warm this week but I have never had this extreme of a tuning problem with this horn. I know of 1 dent in the horn that may be affecting the sound. It's above the bottom bow the side opposite the bell( I have no idea what that parts called) from when the guy who had it before me hit someone on the head about 5 years ago but its never really been a problem. Ideas?

That dent may be the culprit. I had that same issue in high school. Had the dent fixed and problem disappeared.

Sometimes a horn with a leak will act that way, too.

The dent has never been a problem but my private lesson teacher has one for the school he teaches at but he loaned it to another school. He's supposed to get it back whenever the tuba player there comes back for a lesson. I'll try emptying the bows today. I know I had a leak from my spit valve but changing the pad fixed that. My private lesson teacher thought the problem was me but now I guess I can tell him it's the insrument.

Tubamax7 wrote:My private lesson teacher thought the problem was me but now I guess I can tell him it's the insrument.

Even if the horn leaks or is "stopped," your teacher could still be right!

I had a similiar problem with an old 321. It had the wrong pad set on the valves. There are two different sets that go on these horns and if you miss match them you will create all sorts of valve alignment issues.

You can get more information here:
http://www.thebandroom.biz/01_item_acti ... hp?id=1349

Tubamax7 wrote: I know of 1 dent in the horn that may be affecting the sound. It's above the bottom bow the side opposite the bell( I have no idea what that parts called) from when the guy who had it before me hit someone on the head about 5 years ago but its never really been a problem. Ideas?

That must have really hurt that person. I have hit people with my sousa (unintentionally) and it hasn't gotten very rave reviews on comfort when coming in contact with other people's heads

First of all, I have disdain for this model as the valve guides are flimsy, the valve casings are too thin, and it's only an average copy of Besson, which it's modeled after.

Now, that said, I'm inclined to think valve guides are off in a big way. There may be something stuck in the horn or a leak, but it needs a complete and thorough valve job with new guides, appropriate thickness corks and felts, and a good scoping to bring it back to playable condition.

A few years ago I played a Memorial Day community gig, and we invited some talented students of one of the members of the band. All brought Yamaha 321's. EVERY ONE OF THEM HAD A VALVE ISSUE!!! And this was from schools who supposedly knew better.

Something else to look into is the size of your mouthpiece. If the throat is too large it will make a horn play sharp in the lower pitches.

Gilligan wrote:Something else to look into is the size of your mouthpiece. If the throat is too large it will make a horn play sharp in the lower pitches.

Hey, doesn't this go by the fancy pants name of "gap"? That was the selling point on the PS mouthpieces Dillon had out for a while, if I'm not completely insane with old age.

And too small a throat will make it play flat in the upper registers.

Regarding gap: gap is just that: the gap between the end of the mouthpiece and the end of the leadpipe when the mouthpiece is inserted in the receiver. There are some threads on how this is supposed to be a factor in intonation, response, and stuffiness. Trumpet players are much more worried about it than tuba players are. Some tubas, like some older Alex and other similar tubas, don't have a gap, because they don't have a separate receiver. The mouthpiece effectively goes into the end of the leadpipe.