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When we buzz our mouthpieces alone, how many of us have a playing 'angle' other than 90 degrees? ie - not at right angles to the face-frofile?

Our trumpet and trombone friends can hold their instruments at pretty much whichever angle they like but we tubists can't.

So if our natural playing angle doesn't fit the angle of the mouthpiece in the horn, what do we do?

Use of a stand can help but otherwise we adjust our physical setup or have the horn receiver modified to suit.

Any comments?

I understand exactly what you are talking about. I am currently having problems finding an optimum sitting position for my mouthpiece angle. When I buzz my mouthpiece it is very comfortable in all ranges and feels right. When I put it in the horn (a Gronitz PCM f.w.i.w.) its totally different and feels strange. I've tried everything from tuba stands, to holding in my lap, sitting on the chair. I love the horn, but its been weird trying to find the right position. Chester Schmitz was here at my school a few weeks ago and commented that the receiver seemed too high for me. I'm hoping to figure this out this summer.

On the other hand, my brother is a trombone performance major and I can get around on his trombone (felxibility wise) almost more easily than tuba, only b/c I can put the mouthpiece at an optimum angle to get a good buzz.

I would also be interested to hear thoughts on this issue. MC

Peach wrote:.... how many of us have a playing 'angle' other than 90 degrees? ..... Our trumpet and trombone friends can hold their instruments at pretty much whichever angle they like but we tubists can't.

So if our natural playing angle doesn't fit the angle of the mouthpiece in the horn, what do we do?

Any comments?

I know exactly what you are talking about. If the mouthpiece/leadpipe aren't at a comfortable location, just about the only options are: 1) a playing stand... 2) holding the horn in an awkward way... or, 3) move the leadpipe to where you want it.

I am a repairman and to me the only logical choice is to move the leadpipe to a location and angle that suits me. Also... on my sousaphones, I fabricate a one-piece mouthpipe that is custom made for me and eliminates the regular mouthpipe and bits.

Even if I didn't do my own work, I think a couple hundred bucks to make a tuba user-friendly would be a small price to pay.

So a couple of hundred bucks would be your estimate to get a receiver/leadpipe relocated? MC

Is the instrument that's giving you problems your own? If so, maybe it's time to look for a different horn. I had a 188 that I absolutely loved. But it just didn't fit me physically and eventually gave me unavoidable problems. Although it was hard to give it up, I eventually sold it and got a horn that fit's me better.

A school horn is a different story. You can't just replace it. Talk to your director. Hopefully it will fit in the budget.


Will

mdc2d wrote:So a couple of hundred bucks would be your estimate to get a receiver/leadpipe relocated? MC

It depends on the horn and how much the leadpipe needs to be moved. Could be simple... could be difficult... or could be next to impossible. I moved the mouthpipe/receiver down about 3 1/2" on my GDR stencil in about two hours. On other horns, I've had to remove the leadpipe, anneal it, fill it with pitch, rebend it, melt out the pitch (a nasty job!) and also had to move a strap attachment. Difficult job and it took every bit of eight hours. At $40 an hour you can do the math.