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A BASSic newbie question here. How the heck do I tune my Eb Mirafone 183-4? I recall a million years ago at Stone Age Secondary School moving slides to a note someone else was playing, maybe a trumpet. How do I know my daughter's trumpet is correct? Perhaps relative tune is all that matters? I bet I can take a note off of our piano. But what slides to move?

Tried playing notes to an electronic bass guitar tuner and the way that needle was jumping around, it just horrified me. I sure hope those devices are not thought of as being practical. Or I have a lot of practicing to do.

Thanks in advance. Googling, unexpectedly, was no help at all.

Cheers,
RBG

That's the 'disadvantage' of a fast tuner. You actually have to be able to hold a sustain tone

If it doesn't has a 'slow' mode you can get an app on your smartphone.
Most electronic tuners are so crappy they make even the worst play in tune

tuben wrote:1 - Get a quality tuner....

Korg CA-1. Less than $20, top quality, versatile, can be calibrated to a fixed instrument, like a rehearsal piano, that may not be at A=440, and inexpensive. I have several: one in each case of every instrument I play regularly. They also make a combination version with metronome that I find useful in personal practice.

What tuben said. Period. One reason I play Miraphone tubas: they have the horizontal main tuning slide so I can easily adjust on the fly and work with certain combinations and notes in the staff by listening to the rest of the band, not look at the tuner.

The best use of a tuner is so you can get to know the idiosyncrasies of your particular instrument so you can adjust accordingly when you play in ensemble. For example, most Miraphones have the dreaded flat 5th partials. So it is with my 186. For middle line D; I use 1+2 instead of open. But because of the way the detachable upright bell is shorter than the recording bell, and having a different main tuning slide to accommodate, my 2nd space C is right on instead of flat as you might expect, probably because of the displacement of one or more nodes or anti-nodes that affects pitch. That is just one example.

Thanks a mill everyone for all the detailed help. This should keep me going for a while. I have a KORG CA-40, but take it it is too fast for tuba. Will look at all the alternatives.

One final question: I see a lot of reference to adjusting the main slide, and I believe that is all I ever had to do against the rest of the concert band in high school. So what's the deal with the other three top slides? Presumably they are adjusted in some fashion at some point?

RBG

Arbeegee wrote:One final question: I see a lot of reference to adjusting the main slide, and I believe that is all I ever had to do against the rest of the concert band in high school. So what's the deal with the other three top slides? Presumably they are adjusted in some fashion at some point?

RBG

Paragraph c. of tuben's post covers it. Basically, once you've tuned the Eb with the main tuning slide, adjust the 2nd valve slide to tune the D. Then adjust the 1st valve slide to tune the Db, 3rd slide for the C, and 4th slide for the Bb. (Or work from Bb to A, Ab, G and F as tuben suggests.)
That should get you in the ballpark. Then try various combinations of valves and tweak the slide positions as needed.
Remember that because every instrument has tradeoffs, some notes will tend to be flat and some will tend to be sharp. Once you figure out the tendencies of your instrument (after some quality time in the practice room) you can set the valve slides to the best compromise positions.
Once you've got the valve slides dialed in, adjust the main tuning slide to get in tune with the band, as you did in high school. That should be enough most of the time, but sometimes you might have to tweak a valve slide to get the horn "just right". Pay attention to what the horn wants to do that day.
You might also have to adjust a valve slide on the fly now and then. For example, on your 183 you might have to push in the 1st valve slide when playing top line F. Or, different fingerings may help. For example, on your 183 you might find that it works better to finger top space G as 12 instead of open (due to the notorious Mirafone flat 5th partial as iiipopes mentioned).
In any case, use your ears to decide what sounds right, and use tuners, drones, etc. as tools to help you get there.
For another take on the subject, check out Jeff Funderburk's article here:
http://www.uni.edu/drfun/articles/tuning.html" target="_blank" target="_blank
Hope this helps.

Arbeegee wrote:

Tried playing notes to an electronic bass guitar tuner and the way that needle was jumping around, it just horrified me. I sure hope those devices are not thought of as being practical. Or I have a lot of practicing to do.

First, you must be able to produce the same note, repeatedly and held over a significant period of time.

THEN you can worry about being in tune.

I am reminded of a member of my high school rifle team who would "sight in" by firing one shot and then adjusting his sights. The problem was that his spread was about the size of the target.

From the perspective of someone who's played several different Eb horns over the past decade: on most of the old horns I've played, Eb in the staff is often strongly sharp, Eb the first ledger line below the staff is usually moderately flat, and the Eb the second ledger line above the staff is usually a little flat. You're better off tuning from the Bb's, but your mileage will probably vary. A bunch.

Modern Eb's are much better in tune, in my opinion, and display far fewer quirks than older horns. The ear is still the best judge of what you should do in adjusting pitch. The tuner is a tool, but NEVER adjust slides on a horn by only one note and a tuner.