why do you play eb?

[Teubonium]

I use my MW2141 5v Eefer in British brass band and quintets.

I use my Mira186 4v BBb in concert band.

[ajtuba]

I started on an old 3/4 Yamaha BBb 24 years ago, and 2 years later I began playing in a youth British brass band on Eb. I think it was an old Holton 3 valve. I enjoyed the challenge of the brass band rep. for tuba, and the Eb as well. As I grew older and moved into the more advanced bands I got my hands on a Besson 982 compensating 4-valve. I used it everywhere. I took it to school even though some of the other tuba players made fun of me - it sure beat using the old, beat up YBB-321....

The Eb was so versatile. It did everything that old BBb could do and more. I used it for solos, I used it for college auditions too. I only wish that I had bought one when I started school of music instead of a CC. My CC tubas have served me well, but none of them has ever been as versatile as that Besson Eb. I ended up purchasing an old Mirafone 180 F, as it was more agile for solo work, but the F had some squirrely intonation (despite being a Mirafone - I've owned/used 5 different models and I've always found Miraphones to be very consistently in tune...), and it was so small it wasn't even really suitable for quintet work. I actually used it to play low euphonium parts in tuba/euph ensemble in conservatory. The Eb didn't require any of the slide-pulling nonsense that my CCs did either. Just a do anything, point and shoot horn. It has the low range and largeness of sound of a CC or BBb, and it has the singing high range and agility of a F without all of the tuning issues.

Over the years I have stayed involved in British brass bands. I have played the Eb part for 7 years and BBb part for 8 years. The Eb part was always my favorite, though the BBb part is my current assignment. Soon I hope to move back home to Eb.

Andy T.

[Lew]

I picked up an Eb because I wanted to challenge myself a little with something other than the BBbs I had been playing forever. I was also looking for a bass tuba that would help for the occasional solos I had been asked to play. I love playing my Eb because of the sound and the range. I find I actually have a wider range, both low and high, on my Besson 983 than I do on any of my BBb horns. I alternate, using my Eb for one concert, then BBb for the next. A bonus was that when I was asked to play in a British (style) Brass Band I could "cheat" to read the treble clef parts. That and they had people to play the BBb parts, but needed someone for the Eb parts and the Eb parts were more fun.

[OldHorn]

I like Eb simply because most of the cool horns are made in Eb. My helicons, Berliner valve tuba, Moses Slater saxhorn and others are all E-flatters. Some good ones are made in Bb, C or F, (and I might have a couple) but most are in Eb. Nuf said.

[Uncle Markie]

I bought an EEb ("Schiller") this last winter to shake things up a bit for myself. Same old notes, brand new fingerings. Trying to hold off the Alzheimer's as long as possible by making my brain work a little bit. I would have used it in the orchestra for several pieces, and look forward to using in a brass quintet. For me EEb is still a work in progress but I can see a limited role for it with the work I usually do.

That said, my go-to horn is still the BBb because of the bottom and resonance it has. Plus I can get below the trombone in a Dixieland band without killing myself on stuffy notes.

[Jess Haney]

Eb is the tuba on which most players start in the UK. BBb is generally considered a brass band instrument and played using treble clef music.

I started on Eb myself, played BBb in brass band for over 20 years, before going back to Eb (or rather EEb as we refer in the UK for compensated Eb tubas) to take up orchestral playing in the 1990's. I have since played CC, F and BBb (bass clef), so have experience on all keys of tuba.

The thing I would say about Eb, is it is the most adaptable - no other key of tuba can be used for everything as well as an Eb - it is the Swiss Army knife of tubas. I have played Eb, for brass band, wind band, marching band, brass quintet, solo playing and orchestral repertoire from Berlioz to Wagner Ring and it works for all.

Don't get me wrong, I like playing other keys of tuba (particularly CC) and they all offer options to the tuba players palette and have special strengths, but if I had to play only one tuba for everything - without hesitation it would be a compensated 3+1 EEb

+1 it does it all...period

[Steve Marcus]

From a post that I submitted Nov. 26, 2009 (instead of providing a link to that post, which takes the reader of THIS thread offline):

I looked for a bass tuba that blended well in an ensemble/orchestra for use in appropriate repertoire such as parts originally written for ophicleide, parts that specify bass tuba (Bruckner, Wagner, Mahler, etc.), and parts in small ensembles (quintets, quartets, etc.). The bass tuba sound in my head was a warm tone, but not as weighty as my contrabass (Nirschl CC). (BTW. "warm" does not equal "bland" in my head. That virtually eliminated one brand, in my experiences.) What I was NOT searching for was a brighter, soloistic type of horn. I don't enjoy playing solo tuba as much as someone else might, but I love being part of an ensemble.

I was open to the selection of either an F or E-flat tuba. I played some F tubas that were very beautiful in their own right, but didn't really possess the trait that I mentioned above. They had their own sound color which was meritorious as a solo instrument, with marvelous playing characteristics--so much so that I almost purchased one or two of them.

I traveled to Shreveport, Austin, Memphis (guess who), South Bend, and other places to try individual F horns that were for sale. When I scheduled an appointment with Jeff at Custom Music, he courteously had every Perantucci and Hirsbrunner F and Eb horn out for me to try. The instrument that I ended up liking the best was a surprise: a PT-22. I didn't even know at the time that this Eb horn existed. It had a warm tone and was easy to play. It also had a price tag that scared me off.

Ultimately, I chose a Besson 983. It is tone-wise just was I searched for: warm but colorful throughout its range. Even though I've studied with a well-known tubist whose primary bass tuba for orchestra AND solo work is a Besson 3+1 E-flat, and even though I've done a fair amount of brass band playing where a 3+1 arrangement would be the norm, I am more comfortable with the 4-valve front-action of the 983. Its compensating system works extremely well--excellent intonation without any sense of "stuffiness" in playing. The only thing that the 983 lacks is great slotting higher than G above the staff, thus making Bydlo more challenging on this horn than on some F tubas that I tried where that high G# is, as John Hardisky expressed it, "to die for." But I was reassured that those notes could be achieved musically with the 983 because the solo recordings performed by the man himself who helped design the 983, Pat Sheridan, contained plenty of high G#'s and higher (e.g. the last note of Serenade from The Student Prince, which Pat performed in the key of D-flat Major). Of course, I'm no Pat Sheridan, but it proved to me that this tuba should be capable of anything required of a bass tuba if played with the appropriate mouthpiece and a sufficiently practiced and prepared player (hmmm..I've got lots of work to do... ). Also, I was granted a very favorable price by my 983's former owner, who knew that it would be given a loving home and player.

[Tom Eshelman]

I was handed an EEb when I started playing in 4th grade in Summit N.J in 1956. In high school I switched to BBb, so I'm equally comfortable on both. After playing a 24J for some years as an adult I realized I preferred the lighter more nimble EEb and that's all I play these days.

[The Big Ben]

Does anyone reading this play/own a Miraphone Norwegian Star?

How does it compare with other Eb tubas and how suitable would it be as a one-tuba-solution?

I have heard Oystein playing the Starlight but haven't heard the Star or know anyone who owns one.

[MartyNeilan]

I don't play Eb. I paid for one over two years ago and it never showed up

[sloan]

Because a good one came on the market at the right time...and bloke was able to make it play in tune, in my hands.

I play in amateur hacker wind bands. When I'm the only one, or one of two, or even three - then it's BBb.
But, when, as sometimes happen, the planets align and the tuba section grows, *someone* has to step up
and add that extra voice. Most of the conductors I play for rarely see a bass tuba in the tuba section - and some have commented on the difference it makes to have ONE Eb (*after* business has been taken care of below the staff...)

I'm equally incompetent on both BBb and Eb - but it does take a week of concentrated practice for me
to make the switch. My fingers have 50 years of BBb in them, and Eb will always require a bit more thought.

For the same reasons that I tend to play the Conn 36J on the 4th of July...because I own one, and I can.
What more reason do you need?

[iiipopes]

For the same reasons that I tend to play the Conn 36J on the 4th of July...because I own one, and I can. What more reason do you need?

Yes!!!

[KenS]

Sitting apart from all these brand new instruments, was this forlorn, used tuba. A Besson Imperial 4v Eb. Small shank receiver. But I put my Miraphone C4 in there and started tooting. And was Instantly in love. Clean attacks. Ba||s! Great high range! No need to pull the first valve slide! A double tuba! Pedal Eb!!!!! Pedal notes in general! AAAAAHHH!
J.c.S.

Because this is a *very* sweet tuba. I had Dan Oberloh make and install a full size receiver and it opened the horn up even more. An absolute joy to play.

[J.c. Sherman]

Sitting apart from all these brand new instruments, was this forlorn, used tuba. A Besson Imperial 4v Eb. Small shank receiver. But I put my Miraphone C4 in there and started tooting. And was Instantly in love. Clean attacks. Ba||s! Great high range! No need to pull the first valve slide! A double tuba! Pedal Eb!!!!! Pedal notes in general! AAAAAHHH!
J.c.S.

Because this is a *very* sweet tuba. I had Dan Oberloh make and install a full size receiver and it opened the horn up even more. An absolute joy to play.

Huh... I thought I left the large receiver on that puppy (I swapped it out about 8 years ago...).

scratching head...

[Bob Kolada]

The combination of weight and agility. I like small F's for small stuff, Eb's for average stuff, and big Bb's for big stuff. That said, I play a large F for concert band to quintet but I have "unique" physical needs.

[imperialbari]

When playing mostly bass trombone I wanted something bigger to do my warm-ups. The idea was to strengthen my breathing by playing at max capacity in a relaxed way. The curves of availability and affordability met at my Conn 26K. Which I liked, but didn't use for performance aside of some tuba duets.

Later on I got the chance to get a Besson 981 and from there on tuba acquisitions ran out of control.

Klaus

[KenS]

Sitting apart from all these brand new instruments, was this forlorn, used tuba. A Besson Imperial 4v Eb. Small shank receiver. But I put my Miraphone C4 in there and started tooting. And was Instantly in love. Clean attacks. Ba||s! Great high range! No need to pull the first valve slide! A double tuba! Pedal Eb!!!!! Pedal notes in general! AAAAAHHH!
J.c.S.

Because this is a *very* sweet tuba. I had Dan Oberloh make and install a full size receiver and it opened the horn up even more. An absolute joy to play.

Huh... I thought I left the large receiver on that puppy (I swapped it out about 8 years ago...).

scratching head...

Then I had a bit of a larger one put on. My JK Exclusive fits in there perfectly now.

[Timmm]

I am curious as to why people play effers.

I wanted to get a Bass Tuba and there was an Eb for sale on the forum. I bought it and never looked back!