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So I want to know what you all think about having your valves vented.
Vented Valves vs Stock valves.

I have two rotary horns now, one vented one not. The only thing i prefer about the unvented horn is that half-valving exercises are easier. The vented horn slurs easier, feels more "open" (if that makes sense), and eliminates the annoying puff and pop of air when you pull slides without the valve depressed.

TheHatTuba wrote:I have two rotary horns now, one vented one not. The only thing i prefer about the unvented horn is that half-valving exercises are easier. The vented horn slurs easier, feels more "open" (if that makes sense), and eliminates the annoying puff and pop of air when you pull slides without the valve depressed.

Does that puff and pop hurt the tuba?

Skaman wrote:

TheHatTuba wrote:I have two rotary horns now, one vented one not. The only thing i prefer about the unvented horn is that half-valving exercises are easier. The vented horn slurs easier, feels more "open" (if that makes sense), and eliminates the annoying puff and pop of air when you pull slides without the valve depressed.

Does that puff and pop hurt the tuba?

Not sure, but it is very distracting when youre playing and audible to listeners on some horns.

The way I understand it, that pop comes from pressure building up and then releasing. The negative effect is that it can drag dirt that was in the slide closer to the piston/valve. Thus, if you pull slides and you don't clean your horn regularly, the valves are going to get dirty quicker. Having vented pistons allows you to pull ahead of playing a note or to push in after.

I'd at least like for our 2J to have the first and fourth valves vented. I do quite a bit of adjusting with the first valve in the middle register, so having the option of being able to set that slide where I want it before I get to a note I need the adjustment for would be nice. And, having both of them vented would make it easier to pull both slides out to get rid of water.

Skaman wrote:So I want to know what you all think about having your valves vented.
Vented Valves vs Stock valves.

I have vented the valves on my piston tubas so that I can pull and dump water out of slides without having to reach around and push in the piston. Popping sounds don't hurt the instrument but unintentional percussion effects should be left to the percussion section, who are experts at them.

On tubas where I manipulate a slide for tuning, the venting also makes it possible to avoid uninentional pressure releases when moving the slide without the valve button being depressed.

My Miraphone 186 is vented on the first valve, and my B&S F tuba is not vented at all. But all my piston tubas have vented valves.

Rick "wondering why factories don't vent pistons valves, especially on tubas that require contortions to empty water" Denney

Some good things to think about thanks guys.

I've owned one horn with vented valves. It made an already 'liquid' horn even more so. I personally prefer to preserve all the 'valve articulation' and compression that can be had(for the sake of clarity), and make use of strategically placed spit valves that can be depressed while moving a slide.

Perhaps I'm being pedantic but I can't help but feel that valves should really just be valves... on/off. Futzing with that equation and creating selective leaks in an otherwise well designed valve is an overly complicated solution looking for a problem to solve. It's not hard to depress a valve to pull a slide for spit and if you *really* must move a slide while playing then add a spit valve to that crook that you can depress while pulling.

I understand that. I was speaking in hyperbole because I don't have a very strong position to argue from. A vented piston is a selective 'leak' only in the sense that it is allowed to 'vent'. I should have just written, 'I think venting is silly' and left it at that.

Since I'm already caught:
Other than ease of moving slides while playing, the primary supposed benefit of venting is 'ease of slurring'. I have not experienced that benefit... perhaps it is real... I have experienced an already liquid slurring rotor horn made more so(to my perceived detriment). It is true that unlike pistons(which I rarely play), rotors are made a bit leaky when vented. That is an anecdotal data point of one but enough to make me a strong skeptic of the whole process.

In my musical value system clarity is king. Anything that detracts from clarity is the enemy. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what people mean when they say that slurring is easier but I've always thought one of the genuine benefits of a piston horn is that 'pop' valve articulation when moving between notes. Why would you take that away?

joh_tuba wrote:In my musical value system clarity is king. Anything that detracts from clarity is the enemy. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what people mean when they say that slurring is easier but I've always thought one of the genuine benefits of a piston horn is that 'pop' valve articulation when moving between notes. Why would you take that away?

If valve venting causes a loss of clarity, it was done wrong.

Rick "noting this is likelier with rotary valves than with piston valves" Denney