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I will be getting a BMB J-845SP around early June, which I am stoked about (it is currently getting its rotating leadpipe sautered on to be fixed before it is shipped); however, I also have two back-to-back summer camps I will be attending (IET Festival in Georgia and FSU's Chamber Winds Camp) not far after the tuba will arrive. My question is: should I dive head-on into these camps with the new tuba, with only around a week or two to try to learn the fingerings, or should I play it safe and continue playing my school's BBb?

Take the new one and it'll be your CC tuba boot camp.

Also, a lot of times, summer music camps focus a LOT on fundamentals, breathing, etc... so it really wouldn't make a difference at all.

Take the BBb. If you go while you are still figuring out the fingerings you could have a very discouraging experience. You won't lose anything by taking the BBb. But you could lose your mind if you take the CC.

What everyone REALLY wants to know is; how did you convince your parents to buy it for you and will it fit in the car they got you for your 16th birthday??

Three Valves wrote:What everyone REALLY wants to know is; how did you convince your parents to buy it for you and will it fit in the car they got you for your 16th birthday??

My parents saw it as a worthy investment seeing as I am majoring in tuba performance in college... and I will be paying them back once I acquire a job, lol
Edit: I also got a showroom demo which lowered the price further

bloke wrote:lacquer or silver...??

It is silver

Take the new CC. The fingerings come faster than you think. I got my CC 2 weeks before my high school senior final concert and i played it. I had my parts down with the fingerings but i did struggle a bit with pitch admittedly.

use the summer to learn the CC tuba.... you wont forget the BBb tuba....

I had a wonderful (and tough!) tuba teacher back when I went to band camp. He had me switch to CC two weeks prior to camp! He even lent me his Conn 2J for it. It forced me to get those fingerings down darn quick, especially since I had to prep audition material for placement on that first day.

Bring the CC. You'll be glad you did.

I disagree. Take them both, or just take the BBb. It's not just the fingerings - intonation differences could be quite daunting if you care about matching others around you. It takes time to learn the tuning quirks of any horn - a learning curve that could be even steeper when switching from BBb to CC.

Take on the challenge - you can do it!

Take the CC-- it will really help you learn the fingerings, and you'll be motivated to keep learning them as you'll have a reason to! Good luck, you can do it!

Sousaswag wrote:Take the CC-- it will really help you learn the fingerings, and you'll be motivated to keep learning them as you'll have a reason to! Good luck, you can do it!

It'll be better than showing up at college on day one, and being handed a CC tuba "here, play this." (Which is what I did... and was actually not that difficult.)

BTW, learning a new key of tuba should not be hard, it's just a mind game. The nice thing is, you KNOW what it's supposed to sound like!

This is for your own good, rather than just being a snarky comment. Learn to spell "solder."

I still disagree with this advice. It's not a question of 'can you do it', it's rather, 'should you do it'. CC tubas can so easily sound brighter and stick out in comparison to our BBb brethren. I frankly think that if you're going to be playing with BBb tubas (I'm making an assumption), you should look for a mouthpiece that will help you blend better, and not just be the 'hot shot' who sticks out. That's just one person's opinion, based upon my own experiences.

Also, you can stare at a meter all you want. That's not good intonation. You need to make your tone and tuning fit in with those playing around you, whether you think you're better than them or not. The conductor will be happier if you're not sticking out, or if there isn't an obvious discrepancy within the section. It's called making music. If you believe you can do all this on the fly, give it a shot. Personally, I'd wait.

I learned to play CC tuba last year, and gave myself 6 months to get up to speed before I used it in a quintet.

Having said that, if I was the student going to camp, I would find a trumpet playing classmate and play with that person on my BBb until I was blue in the face, reading their music. After doing that for enough time, you will not feel so uncomfortable doing the fingerings.

If you want a music career, these are all skills you need. The treble clef, the transposing, the whole shebang. Have fun and go for it.

Bloke said: Since we disagree, I'm going to label your post as "mocking", "mean-spirited", and "bullying"

Actually Bloke, I was trying to be a bully first, then "mean-spirited", with "mocking" bringing up the rear to just mop up. How 'bout this: FATHEAD!

By the way, TubAnthony, the person who sold me my mouthpiece that really matches the the BBb players around me, is none other than Bloke! He knows his stuff.

TubAnthony wrote:I will be getting a BMB J-845SP around early June, which I am stoked about (it is currently getting its rotating leadpipe sautered on to be fixed before it is shipped); however, I also have two back-to-back summer camps I will be attending (IET Festival in Georgia and FSU's Chamber Winds Camp) not far after the tuba will arrive. My question is: should I dive head-on into these camps with the new tuba, with only around a week or two to try to learn the fingerings, or should I play it safe and continue playing my school's BBb?

So an update on what I think I'll do...
1) Take the CC if I feel as though I am prepared enough for the solo competition/recital they offer at the camp.

2) Practice the solos I am preparing for the solo competition for BBb just in case I end up not feeling good enough on the CC by the time camp rolls around.

3) Until the CC arrives, practice the solos on the BBb tuba with CC fingerings, but buzzing with a BERP (and a drone or recording) to lock in the mental link between buzzing old notes with new fingers.

4) Another option could be to take both tubas, although that would kind of be a hassle... I could bring the CC to most of the instructional time of the camp and then perform on BBb; however, I feel like switching between the two would be counterintuitive to me learning CC.

swillafew wrote:I learned to play CC tuba last year, and gave myself 6 months to get up to speed before I used it in a quintet.

Having said that, if I was the student going to camp, I would find a trumpet playing classmate and play with that person on my BBb until I was blue in the face, reading their music. After doing that for enough time, you will not feel so uncomfortable doing the fingerings.

If you want a music career, these are all skills you need. The treble clef, the transposing, the whole shebang. Have fun and go for it.

My sister plays trumpet; how convenient!