Are you a slide puller?

[PWtuba]

On my CC horn, I have to pull the first slide out for anything above F (up at the top of the staff). The F and A and Bb are incredibly sharp, too sharp to ignore.

[eupher61]

B&S F---pull 1 for any 1-2 combo besides D, otherwise set and forget.

[kmshimfe]

For some reason, all of my partials come out in tune on my BBb horn. The only time I have to do any changing is when I play a middle line open D. This comes out horribly flat and depending how long the duration is, I will substitute 1st and 2nd valve instead of playing it open.

[jbeish]

A well known and excellent professional tubist has said to me about slide pulling:

"Those who pull slides can't buzz in tune..."

Not necessarily my view (however I seem to agree) since I do pull on occasion but I also think that it can be ridiculous to see someone holding a tuba yet playing a trombone...

[rocksanddirt]

not a big slide puller here, on trumpet throw the slides on a few low notes, but I learned to play in tune without much slide work, so there you are.

and with the embuchure range you get in a tuba mouthpiece....I use wrong fingerings and it still comes out ok.

it all comes of listening, however you do it.

[Rick Denney]

I push in the first slide for C on the staff, at least at times.

I don't do it for pitch, given that my pitch will be off anyway. I don't do it for tone--I can't even hear my tone.

I do it because it makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

Rick "joking less than one might suspect" Denney

[TubaRay]

I push in the first slide for C on the staff, at least at times.

I do it because it makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

Rick "joking less than one might suspect" Denney

Of course! Top priority.

[Sally Larsen]

Here in Vermont, the slide pulling has to do with whether you're sitting in the shade or in the sun.
I generally go for lipping it, bringing the band to wherever I seem to end up, and repairing any egregious errors between tunes.
It's fun. But after all, that's why I play.

[Sally Larsen]

Of course, in Vermont, if you play with any other tuba player, they are not only allowed, but obligated, to kick you and say "first valve!"
Works pretty well.

[adam0408]

I pull slides for these simple reasons:

I don't want to disturb my embouchure. This is the key to getting a consistent and even tone. As soon as you adjust intonation with your chops, tone and control over that tone changes.

Lipping notes makes me tired faster. Its simply more work.

It is easier to zero in on the intonation pulling slides. With embouchure adjustment I find there are sometimes too many variables in play to figure out what is going on. If I hear a note that sounds funny intonation wise and I push a slide and it gets worse, I know to pull. With embouchure adjustments its not that simple.

I only pull slides on notes that I can clearly tell are out of tune/I know ahead of time are out of tune. Mostly I think I make adjustments without even realizing it when I am close to being in tune.

On my CC, I push slide 1 in on ds in the staff. I have been pulling and pushing my fourth slide a lot on ds below the staff lately, trying to get them in tune with the band (somewhat unsuccessfully). I work my 1st slide differently from day to day on As at the top of the staff.

If its a complete disaster, I usually end up messing with the main tuning slide. At that point I am usually just trying to land in the ballpark of acceptable intonation.

On F, I generally don't screw with my slides because the horn I play doesn't require it. I will occasionally pull or push the first slide.


If you find yourself CONSTANTLY messing with your slides, I would say that you either need to work on developing a consistent and strong embouchure (always playing centered) or get a different tuba. The tuba's intonation tendencies could be working against you.

If you NEVER mess with your slides, I would say that you need to adjust your ears and start listening more.

I think the ideal situation is somewhere in between those two extremes.

[iiipopes]

By "constantly messing with your slides," do you mean always pulling for a particular note or notes, or constantly pulling throughout the range, and/or pulling one time and pushing another time for the same note?

Since all brass instruments will have intonation quirks, and all brass instruments suffer the physical limitations of linear valve tubing trying to play proportional pitch, all brass players at one time or another should pull, at least on some multi-valve combinations.

Since brass players will play with other instruments that have different pitch tendencies, like strings going sharp, it is not uncommon for an orchestral tuba player to be pulling and pushing to match the strings throughout a concert.

And since we tend to perceive "natural" pitch instead of equally tempered pitch, or any other temperament, as what is truly "in tune," the same mid line D that we may push 1 on a CC tuba for a lot of keys because it sounds flat by comparison, we may leave alone to lock in the 3rd of the chord on something in the key of Bb first inversion major chord. (C and Ab for a BBb tuba).

And then there is the whole realm of alternate fingerings and their attendent pullings for pitch, fluidity of line, technical ease, and other reasons that the discussion could take up a lot of bandwidth.

So, "constantly pulling slides" can be good or bad depending on the ensemble. I will agree that in a typical community band that will only rarely venture outside of a few sharps or flats, a good 4-valve BBb or 5-valve CC tuba should be able to function with minimal slide pulling. I have gone through entire rehearsals playing the alternate fingering of 12 instead of open on mid line D on my BBb 186, and thereby not pulled a single slide except setting the main tuning slide for the duration. Then again, I did more slide pulling at this last concert on a piece in an off key getting the line fluid than a lot of other concerts put together. And on a souzy, being a 3-valve, I have the top loop of the 1st valve tubing converted to a slide for routine pulling at least on all 1-3 C's and low F's in order to keep them solid.

I even pull for one instance on my beloved Besson 3-valve comp: pull 3 as far as it will go and remain stable when I want to drop down the Eb 1-2-3 pull, as the characteristics of this particular tuba make false tones problematic.

[TUBAD83]

I "set em and forget em" and make use of my alternates. If I wanted to spend time pulling and pushing a slide I would have taken up slide trombone!

[sloan]

I pull only the first slide, and only when I go below EE.

But then, I have tin ears.

[The Jackson]

Rather than make a new thread, I think I'll ask this here.

Do you use a different lubricant for the slides you pull? I pull my 1st and 4th slide frequently, and the oil treatment I use for all of these isn't cutting it speed-wise. This is for the 186 I use. I can hold the slide while playing, but I'd prefer the slide stay in place on its own.

[sloan]

I lube the slides normally, and then "cut" the first valve with valve oil - titrating to get the right level of "move when I want it to, stay still when I want it to".

[MaryAnn]

I admit it, I'm a lipper. I'm used to being able to adjust the pitch, if it's off far enough, by opening or closing my hand in the bell. My hand just doesn't reach very well into the tuba bell, to do that. And since I'm a string player....I was accustomed to adjust by sliding my finger the correct direction, or if an open string was off, play it on the next string down (except for G string, and then you're stuck until you can turn the peg.)

Tuba, to me, seems pretty flexible for lipping pitch, and yes I do understand that my tone is not going to be as good on the notes I lip. But my tone is nothing to write home about anyway, and I just have enough to do to hold the silly thing upright without letting go of it with my left hand to pull a slide. I'd be better off as a bass tbone player if I could find a way to hold it up and reach the change valve(s), because that would fit better with my existing habits...if you hafta move the slide to get the note, well it's no big deal to move it a little differently to get the note in tune. It doesn't add another dimension to an already-taxed physical process.

Nobody has complained yet, so I guess I'm playing at my level in the groups I'm in.

MA

[iiipopes]

Rather than make a new thread, I think I'll ask this here.

Do you use a different lubricant for the slides you pull? I pull my 1st and 4th slide frequently, and the oil treatment I use for all of these isn't cutting it speed-wise. This is for the 186 I use. I can hold the slide while playing, but I'd prefer the slide stay in place on its own.

Yes. I used to be a Vaseline user, but thanks to Dan Schultz and others commenting on various aspects, I have broadened my perspective. The following is subject to change depending on what may come along, but right now, on the 1st valve slide of my 186 I use UltraPure Light tuning slide grease. As all grease will inevitably do on a rotary if you are a slide puller, it will eventually migrate to the rotors. This is the only grease I have experience so far that doesn't gunk up the rotors. On the rest of the slides, including my main tuning slide, I use Zaja premium slide grease with TFBS. On my Besson, I use Spacefiller TS, because the slides don't have a mirror/see yourself in the slide/lapped to perfection finish, and its descriptive name really works for that application.

Pure lanolin is just too tacky for me, my style of playing, and the area of the country where I live where I play in mostly moderated temperatures.