Small Tubas

The bulk of the musical talk
Post Reply
vespa50sp
bugler
bugler
Posts: 230
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:39 pm

Small Tubas

Post by vespa50sp »

Bloke pointed out to me that an Anthem A-5000 (Jinbao) has about the same dimensions as a Meinl-Weston 186:
Key : BBb
Bore : .630"
Bell : 15.0"
Height : 35.0"
Valve : 4 rotary valves

I recently purchased a 3-valve Conn 12J, waiting for it to come back from a service/cleaning at the shop. That has a .658" bore. I had a Besson 700 four valve non-comp, with a bore of about .730. It took a lot of air, I could never overblow that horn.

In comparison, a new Yamaha 621 Baritone has a bore of .504, a new Yamaha 621 tuba has a bore of 0.728-0.768 (fourth valve slightly larger) and a new Yamaha Sousa has a bore of .728.

It makes sense to me that you can move more air through a larger bore, but when is a bore to small and when is it to large? Where does everyone use their smaller horns and why? Just curious.
User avatar
Donn
6 valves
6 valves
Posts: 5977
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 3:58 pm
Location: Seattle, ☯

Re: Small Tubas

Post by Donn »

Don't forget that they all start at the same .520 or so, at the end of the mouthpiece, and a little ways down the line after the valves that 3/4 inch has become 2 inches, 3 inches, etc. I'm not denying anyone's experience with their large bore tuba, but for example I don't recall any complaints that the Cerveny CC piggy needs an undue amount of air - with a .833 bore. It seems to me possible that valve bore isn't a very reliable index in tuba acoustical design.
User avatar
SousaWarrior9
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 428
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:22 pm

Re: Small Tubas

Post by SousaWarrior9 »

Valve bore just depends on wherever in the taper of the horn one decides to put the valves. Smaller horns tend to have smaller bores just because it's proportional to the size of the horn. The amount of air a horn takes I think has more to do with the volume of the entire horn, and the bore is just one component of that.
As far as bores being too big or too small, that depends on the horn also. What would be too small for a 5/4 or 6/4 horn might be just perfect for a 4/4 or 3/4 horn. But at the two extremes of the spectrum, I would consider 'too small' any bore that's smaller than .600ish because the rest of the horn would have to be very small to accommodate that bore. As for 'too large' I know of an old rotary tuba (can't remember the maker, but someone can chime in) that had a .900 bore. Can't think of a standard sized horn with a bore bigger than that.
Personally, I prefer horns with a somewhat smaller bore for their size, but that open up rather quickly after the valves, giving the horn, in my opinion, the best of both worlds in terms of the characteristics of both smaller and larger horns. Generally, most would categorize such a horn as an 'American' type tuba, whereas a 'German' type would generally have longer leadpipe, larger bore and a less dramatic bell taper.
In other words, what makes a horn 'small bore'or 'large bore' depends on how big the rest of the horn is and how large the bore is in proportion to the horn.
"Some men are macho men. Others are Martin men"

It's that word "handcraft"...
vespa50sp
bugler
bugler
Posts: 230
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:39 pm

Re: Small Tubas

Post by vespa50sp »

Where would each of these be used, and why ?
Which one requires that the bassist hit their strings harder ?
I suppose there might be at least four components to choosing a tuba for the person, the design of the horn, technical/learned ability, the capacity of the player. and the need (the tool for the job).

I know that when I ride in a cycle class and we are working out connected to watt meters, I can feel like I am working really hard. Then I look over to the guy/gal next to me and they are putting out 50% more power. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much I work, I just will never have the VO max that some of the better riders do.
Post Reply