Miraphone Bruckner opinions

[bort]

I was thinking the other day... now that the Miraphone Bruckner has been out for a little while, I haven't heard very much about it recently.

To the Bruckner owners out there, how is it going? What do you like/not like? (Still a tuba that I am very curious about, but didn't particularly like when I tried it...)

[tubahero300]

it is a very even playing tuba, very clear and even in all registers. one thing i noticed in the low range is you hit a wall and you cant get out much of a clear sound at a point, could just depend on the player, but a friend of mine and i both noticed that when we played it. hope this helps

[ckalaher1]

I have one, and it responds great in all registers. Solid intonation up and down the tuba. Handles like a 186, but comes with a bigger sound, and a low register that doesn't back up on you. Probably, in my opinion, the best blowing large 4/4/small 5/4 on the market.

I played it against a friend's good 1291 recently, and felt that both tubas offer some of the same strengths. The Bruckner blew better and was a bit more accessible in all registers, while the 1291 responded a bit quicker.

I played about 6-8 Bruckners during a couple of all day playing sessions in South Bend, and found the Bruckner to be pretty consistent from horn to horn.

[tubalex]

I like mine very much. It's not a particularly large tuba, and this summer when I used it with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra I did miss my PCK a little bit, but with several other smaller professional orchestras it has done wonderfully. The low register is absolutely killer and the response is even, immediate and velvety. I performed quite a bit of chamber music with it this summer-including a very challenging new work at the Kalamazoo women's brass conference and a faculty brass choir concert at Blue Lake, and it fit the bill better than any other 4/4 CC tuba I've owned.

If you don't need the decibels a 6/4 gives you, it's a truly sweet tuba.

[bort]

Thanks!

I owned a 1291 for several years, so I'm curious about the differences between the two in terms of sound and "output." I felt the 1291 didn't quite have as much character in the sound as I wanted, but was still nice and really a point-and-shoot tuba. (Conversely, I love the sound of my 188, but it takes a little more work to control). I'm curious how the Bruckner might combine the good things about the 1291 and 188 in the same package.

I did try one Bruckner a few years back, and didn't like it very much. It was too open and resonant, and just didn't work for me. Maybe it was just a dud, or my mind was preoccupied on the 188 I was buying that day.

[JCradler]

I've had a 291 for 18 months. It's a great all around CC tuba. Fits well in band, orchestra and quintet settings. Best rotary valves I've ever seen on a tuba, hands down. It is very sensitive to mouthpieces in regards to intonation, some will make the upper register very flat. That said, I wish a tuba like this had been around 25 years ago ( some might argue that it was- in the form of a Hirsbrunner HB2, but owning one of those at the time was but a dream for me). Roger Lewis described it to me as a tuba that comes to the player and I agree. Little if any chasing or favoring of the notes. Don't expect it to sound like a 6/4 thundertub, and you'll be very happy with it.

[jeopardymaster]

I tried one at ITEA. Maybe it wasn't a good example, but then if so why would Miraphone have taken it to ITEA. Didn't do much for me. I didn't really feel focused on it, and didn't get the sense that it had as much "color" to the sound as a lot of other instruments. For the price, I wanted to be wowed. But I wasn't.