When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

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Wyvern
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by Wyvern »

If it takes a tuba mouthpiece it is either a tuba, a cimbasso, or contrabass trombone if with slide.

A tuba is mostly conical and a cimbasso is mostly cylindrical - but it is also how it is being used.

It is debatable if the Bubbie, or Trolley tuba are in fact cimbasso. They look like tubas, are used as tubas, but are also mostly cylindrical so can sound cimbasso like.

The tornister tuba is really the smallest true tuba sounding tuba. The picture below shows how that expands conically much more than the Bubbie

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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by windshieldbug »

bloke wrote:If I advertise it as a "tuba"...and someone buys it as a "tuba", it's a "tuba".
Exactamundo. Works just like the "/4" sizing method.

Whatever someone advertises it as. There is no "independent" definition.
Organologists are still giving each other fits over bore size, bore proportion, length and wrap... :shock:
Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure?
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by bisontuba »

A tuba is a tuba is a tuba--whatever key, bore, size--BAT or SAT, etc.
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by Wyvern »

KiltieTuba wrote:And I was talking about all travel tubas, not just those Chinese copies, like the MW, HSM, etc.

...
That's the other part - why are a "French" horn and a flugelhorn not a tuba? What makes these different?
Likewise, I can fit a tuba mouthpiece on a "French" horn and a flugelhorn, does this now make it a tuba?
If I stick a "French" horn mouthpiece in a tuba, does it now be come a very large "French" horn?
I mentioned Trolly tuba (which is MW) and tornister tuba deliberately so as to not make brand specific :wink:

I think if you put a tuba mouthpiece in a a french horn then it would basically be a small bore tuba as it is tuba length (assuming F horn), but a flugelhorn will never be a tuba as it is two octaves higher in pitch.

If you stick french horn mouthpiece in travel tuba, then it will become a sort of tuba shaped french horn (I had french horn player try that with a Bubbie only today), but I doubt in large tuba, that the player could put enough air through the small mouthpiece to make it work.

BTW The Wagner Tuba is basically a German baritone with narrower bore, french horn mouthpiece and left handed valve levers.
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by GC »

This seems to me like a logical progression:

contrabass tuba (BBb, CC)
bass tuba (Eb, F)
baritone/euphonium/tenor(US) tuba (Bb [C])
alto/tenor(UK) tuba (Eb)
soprano tuba/flugelhorn (Bb)

So why couldn't the flugel be considered a soprano tuba? Or even above that, the Eb soprano flugelhorn/tuba?
Last edited by GC on Sat Dec 28, 2013 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by GC »

But, re the original question:

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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by GC »

Image
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by GC »

the elephant wrote:Like.
Likewise.
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Re: When does a tuba stop being a tuba?

Post by Art Hovey »

So why couldn't the flugel be considered a soprano tuba? Or even above that, the Eb soprano flugelhorn/tuba?
I remember seeing an article posted on the wall in Walter Sear's shop many years ago about a four-valve flugelhorn, calling it a "soprano tuba".

The ancient Romans had helicon-shaped bugles which they called "tubas".

Seems to me that we should be proud of our diversity. Is there any other instrument with so much?

http://www.galvanizedjazz.com/tuba/Diversity.html
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