3/4

The bulk of the musical talk
Post Reply
User avatar
Lew
5 valves
5 valves
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 4:57 pm
Location: Annville, PA

Post by Lew »

It is a scale that some mannufacturers use/have used to differentiate sizes of tubas. In particular Rudolph Meinl uses these designations for their tubas. 4/4 would be full sized, while 3/4 is smaller, 5/4 is larger, etc. There is no consistent meaning for these terms across different makers, but for Rudolph Meinl the bell size, main tubing diameter, and overall height/size of the horn increase as the numbers increase.
Lee Stofer
4 valves
4 valves
Posts: 935
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:50 am

Post by Lee Stofer »

Yes, this is a take-off from the fractional sizes used by stringed instrument makers, although the size of tubas is not nearly as standardized as stringed instruments.

The standard string bass today is a 3/4, but a standard tuba is a 4/4, and a Rudolf Meinl 3/4 tuba is nearly as large as other manufacturer's 4/4 tubas, and has a larger bore than one instrument maker's 5/4 tuba. there is one maufacturer who has marketed a 7/4 tuba, which is smaller than Rudolf Meinl's 6/4 tuba, which is the largest production tuba on earth - how's that for confusion ?!!
Lee A. Stofer, Jr.
TubaRay
6 valves
6 valves
Posts: 4109
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 4:24 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Contact:

3/4

Post by TubaRay »

I'm 3/4 confused!
Ray Grim
The TubaMeisters
San Antonio, Tx.
User avatar
Lew
5 valves
5 valves
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 4:57 pm
Location: Annville, PA

Re: 3/4

Post by Lew »

sjra wrote:So, mine kalison ds cc tuba=???????4 or wat :oops:
4/4 In my opinion (and according to Kalison). It's interesting how they consider their DS F tuba to be 3/4, when based on the dimensions I would consider that a 4/4 size for a F tuba.

http://www.kalison.com/it/prodotti/index.htm
TubaRay
6 valves
6 valves
Posts: 4109
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 4:24 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Contact:

3/4

Post by TubaRay »

Then there is always "Twenty-five or six 2/4."

Omigosh!
Ray Grim
The TubaMeisters
San Antonio, Tx.
Post Reply