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90% of my pulling is just with the first valve slide. When I had my Meinl-Weston CC, the third line D had to have the first slide pushed in all the way, while Bb and F were sharp and had to be pulled out, F more so than Bb. On my Mack 410 - 186 Miraclone, that's still true, except Bb and F are pulled the same length. I'm still learning on what notes to pull the 5th slide.

One pushes/pulls slide NOT for intonation, but for resonance!

I've found that I need the slides moved a bit so that I'm not fighting the natural pitch of the instrument as I tune to the strings in certain keys. Not a tune-on-the-fly kind of thing, more something I adjust at the key change or start of a piece. Once set, I can generally leave them alone until the next key change.

I'll pull the 4th slide for each note when I get into that range, but that's not something I need to worry about often.

Edit - During rehearsal, I'm adjusting all the slides to figure out where they belong to match what's going on around me. I figure out the slide pulls during rehearsal and mark my music as needed so that I don't have to do that during performance. Once I have it figured out to the key and the strings, I don't need much pulling, except for accidentals.

No slide pushing/pulling is required for my Besson 981.
On the MW Fafner, the 4+2 is generally good, but for other 4th valve combinations I often need to pull/push the 4th valve slide.

As I said in another recent thread, on my 1965, 186 CC, I push in the 1st for 3 line D and pull the 4th for low Db.

For my CC sousaphone , which is a 3 valve, I pull the 1st for low D and Db.

For my Yamaha 621, I do the same as on my 186, plus some more manipulating the 1st slide.

On my BMB F tuba, which I rarely play, I move the 1st, 3rd, and 4th slide a lot.

On my Gnagey 4 valve CC, which is for sale here, I pull the 4th and leave it. I pull the 1st for A and E in the staff.

If the main thing you play along with is a tuner setting them and leaving them alone is probably fine but in my experience when you're in a group it's not "being in tune" as much as "getting in tune" with what's going on around you. Unless, of course, you're one of those who pontificate ad nauseum about INTONATION to everyone around until they just give up and tune to you. I've been around guys who will keep a tuner on their stand just to prove that they are right. Those who talk about tuning the most are, in my experience, the ones who have the biggest problems with it. Just use your ear and play in tune or go home, build a model railroad and town, and be in charge of everything right down to the FULLY COMPENSATING tubas in the bandshell and let the working musicians do their jobs in the workplace.Ed

EdFirth wrote:If the main thing you play along with is a tuner setting them and leaving them alone is probably fine but in my experience when you're in a group it's not "being in tune" as much as "getting in tune" with what's going on around you. Unless, of course, you're one of those who pontificate ad nauseum about INTONATION to everyone around until they just give up and tune to you. I've been around guys who will keep a tuner on their stand just to prove that they are right. Those who talk about tuning the most are, in my experience, the ones who have the biggest issue with it. Just use your ear and play in tune or go home, build a model railroad and town, and be in charge of everything right down to the FULLY COMPENSATING tubas in the bandshell and let the working musicians do their jobs in the workplace.Ed

Huzzah! Well said! I get so tired of those tuner guys who still manage to play out of tune WITH THE GROUP.

On my W900 I tend to only really manipulate the first valve slide, thus that is the only one that is vented. Pushing in mainly for longer held and or more exposed notes including second line Bb (and Bb above the staff) and third line D and pulling for F just below the staff and pulling a little more even for 4th line F (unless I play it 1,3 which is spot on). The rest of the time I leave it at about an inch out. Of note, the third space Eb is much better as 2,3 vs 2 alone which is considerably flat

What would be the ramifications of a tuning slide that is made for adjusting while playing, like a trombone slide? Seems to me that it would make more sense to pull/push one slide than many.

LibraryMark wrote:What would be the ramifications of a tuning slide that is made for adjusting while playing, like a trombone slide? Seems to me that it would make more sense to pull/push one slide than many.

That was the Marzan concept

No matter what tuba/sousa I play, I check the pitch tendencies and then set my slides. I only pull/push slides on certain notes if needed. But I also do some lipping and alternate fingerings if needed. Really depends which horn I'm playing at the moment

bort wrote:

LibraryMark wrote:What would be the ramifications of a tuning slide that is made for adjusting while playing, like a trombone slide? Seems to me that it would make more sense to pull/push one slide than many.

That was the Marzan concept

I've wondered why the BBb B&M design made under the Marzan name hasn't been copied? That was a solid BBb for general band usage.

The horn I own now has smooth and nicely aligned slides. It's important to remember that the tuba doesn't always play the fundamental of every chord. Sometimes you just need to slide into a better slot.

Main slide trigger with a spring return to the set point is darn handy also. Similar argument.

Well playing on a PT-6P has me pulling and pushing my first valve slide all of the time. Other than that I sometimes have to pull 3 and 4 for some chord tuning or if I'm not completely set in my pitch for that play session. 2 and 5 haven't moved since the last time I cleaned them and i usually never have to adjust my main tuning slide unless I'm not warmed up.