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Speaking of which tuba for the job ...

Band music program, medium size band of mixed abilities - for example, many treble instruments can't bring their volume down to pp when the music calls for it, and still make their notes come out. One tuba. The hall is medium large with a high ceiling and considerable echo. You can play a note and hear it come back to you. I bet this kind of hall is somewhat typical of larger churches.

I expect I will go bell up, because it will be more equally heard from everywhere on stage (including my ears.) (Also, it's more comfortable, sitting down.) But seated in the right place, bell front could reach most everyone directly, in front of the echos, which might be advantageous for tempo etc.? Hm.

As the only bass I'd probably go with the recording bell especially if the other horns can't get down to pp. Gotta keep the beat and be heard.

Not worried about being heard. It's more about whether I'd rather echo off the back walls, or the ceiling. I guess it depends on the hall.

Bell up

bloke wrote:whether-or-not the shell includes clouds

No shell, more of a dome ceiling over the whole space. The acoustics aren't as bad as maybe I make them sound, especially if there's a decent crowd, it's just kind of live.

I'd say, ALWAYS bell-front (if you can get away with it)

Two tubas - bell front is actually a Conn 40K sousaphone. It's kind of about coming up with excuses to play it, because it's the better of my tubas, especially on the low end, but with the usual sousaphone liabilities - awkward for seated performance, hard to hear myself from behind the bell and same for anyone else positioned behind, etc. Oh well, maybe sounding good is a good enough reason.

Last time I brought it was a nearby venue with a stage setup as described above, though somewhat scaled down - sound trap for upward pointing instruments. Then they switched the performance to the dining hall. It was fine, just had to make sure I wasn't over playing, and that everyone else was at least a little in front of me.

I would say bell up. Actually, I find that even on multipurpose stages that bell up is fine. You just have to play louder on a multipurpose stage. You won't have to play loud here it sounds like.

I'd say it depends partly on the music and the effect you want. If you just need a sonorous low-note sound, then bell-up is fine. But if the bass line would benefit from greater clarity (not volume, but clarity) then the bell front will help you noticeably.

Donn wrote:The hall is medium large with a high ceiling and considerable echo. You can play a note and hear it come back to you. I bet this kind of hall is somewhat typical of larger churches.

What is the name of the hall?