by Kevbach25 » Thu Dec 05, 2019 8:38 pm
Weird for a tuba forum as well as lengthy, but...
An alto (tenor) horn with a larger bore than cornets and tapered accordingly for the larger bore. I'm thinking around .485"-.500". Cornets and baritone horns seem to be growing in size while the tenor horn is not. Why this is could be left for a separate discussion.
The main idea of this is there should be more separation between cornet and alto horn, and less between alto and baritone horns.
If we're taking this to the extreme, however...
The return of the compensating tenor horn. I've seen one online (a Boosey if memory serves, may have been a Besson) and I thought it was the coolest alto/tenor horn I had ever seen.
Specs could be .500" bore, bottom-sprung compensating valves, ~8" bell, wrapped more like the Geneva tenor horns that have a straighter leadpipe.
I'm not saying this should be done, but I think it would be a nice change in a market that, honestly, appears to be somewhat stagnant as far as design is concerned. They're all too similar!