EEb as your bass tuba

[eupho]

Who out there is using an EEb as your bass tuba? Piston? Rotary? Compensating?

[oedipoes]

In brass band: Miraphone Norwegian Star 5V rotary goldbrass.

[eupho]

Ok, too many "E's.

Piston: BMB J845, Besson 983, MW 2141, Kanstul 66T, 66s, Yamaha YEB 321

Rotary: Miraphone 283 & 383, St Pete 206, MW 2050

Compensating: Besson 980, 981, 982, Miraphone 7000, Yamaha 632, M&M, Wessex Bombino, Solo, Champion, Schiller, Schiller Elite, etc

[TheHatTuba]

Perhaps stating a goal of this post would help generate answers (even if it's just "curiosity").

[opus37]

Look at the list on my signature. I play Eb almost exclusively. Once and a while I'll play an F, but Eb is used for everything.

[happyroman]

Rex Martin sounds pretty darn good on his Besson Eb.

[Antontuba]

I use a 981 in two amateur orchestras and a community band.

[Ken Crawford]

The new Wessex/Gnagey Eb looks interesting.

[DonShirer]

I've been using a MW 2141 in a fairly large community band for many years, and for the last two seasons, I've been the only tuba. I'm hoping for some help this summer, so I'm trying out a (7/8?) Wessex "Bombino" which is lighter than the (5/4?) MW but can still produce a good tuba sound. So far, so good.

[jeopardymaster]

Besson 983. I've never been comfortable playing an F. Response and intonation just flat-out feel wrong on them for me. But I can simply pick up my Eb and play it in tune, plus the high notes work just as well, and the low notes work WAY better. If the Norwegian Star had been around when I was looking I would have bought one of those, but I am very happy with my Besson.

[eupho]

I know that many players in community bands etc play Ebs. I am specifically interested in professional and college majors who play contrabass tubas(BBb or CC) and use Ebs instead of F as their bass tubas,

Yes, Rex Martin!! What more can I say? As well as Tony Zilincik, Marty Erickson and Pat Sheridan to name a few more.

[bort]

^ I wouldn't have guessed that from your original post.

When I was in college 15 years ago, there were zero F tubas and zero Eb tubas.

A few music majors I knew later got F tubas a few years out of school.

In 34 years living on the east coast, I saw exactly 1 Eb tuba, played exactly once -- a Pat Sheridan concert.

I'm sure some probably existed, but I sure never saw them. Really just not a "thing" in my experience.

[Patrase]

In Australia I have seen a few college students play Eb over F whilst still owning a C tuba. Mainly Willson or Norwegian Star. I think that's because we grow up learning Eb. Also I have been told one local full time pro only uses a Willson Eb.

I am only an amateur, who mingled with pro's in my youth, but have played/owned both a Besson Eb and a pt15 whilst owning a C tuba. Preferred the F because of the clarity in sound. Don't currently own an F or Eb but if I owned one again the choice would depend on what I was playing. I found all the standard solo and orchestral repertoire taught by college teachers was easier on F. But if playing in community groups or brass bands I would choose an Eb.

[Steve Marcus]

But I can simply pick up my Eb [983] and play it in tune, plus the high notes work just as well, and the low notes work WAY better

Agreed.

Along with my CC(s), I was convinced that my 983 would work in all bass tuba situations by Pat Sheridan's recordings on the horn that he helped design. Specifically, he ends his rendition of "Moonlight Serenade" on a high Ab, which is the same G# as required in Bydlo, a piece or two by Berlioz, etc. Only after having purchased the horn did both Rex Martin and Pat Sheridan themselves admit that that pitch does not slot easily on the 983. "You'll just have to spend a bit more time working on getting that note to lock in on the 983," I was advised.

[MikeMason]

It slots beautifully on just about every euphonium though

[Teubonium]

I use a MW2141 in brass band and quintet.

[cjk]

Don'T most players in England or their former territories still fancy the Eb tuba?



I'm not sure if territories is the right word.

[Billy M.]

I use a Besson New Standard compensating Eb with a 15" bell. The smaller leadpipe and bell allow the horn to generate a singularly characteristic bass tuba sound that comes across as perfect to me for some of those famous high tuba parts in orchestra (Berlioz, Mussorgsky, etc...). Intonation is quite good. The only thing I'm still working on as I have more fun playing it is the need to reign it in a bit, the small bore and bell also means it can get loud easy and sound quality diminishes. Pros and cons to every horn, I guess.

[AHynds]

I don't think I'd fall into the realm of the pros mentioned earlier, but I am one of the seemingly rare (but ever-growing!) breed of tubists in this country that use an Eb tuba over an F tuba. There are a few reasons for it, not the least of which is the fact that I happened, purely by circumstance, upon a really cool Eb tuba (a B&S PT-22P, which is sadly no longer being manufactured--it's the B&S cousin of the Meinl-Weston 2141, with a slightly different bell and the B&S valve block). I spent about two and a half years playing both F and Eb tubas for various purposes, but I finally came to the realization that splitting my time between the two was not constructive (I had a difficult time really nailing down the feel and intonation tendencies of either instrument, due to straddling the line between the two). After an extended time waffling over which instrument to let go, I finally came to realize that I just feel more comfortable as an Eb tuba player, despite playing the F for a much longer time period. So, I put my F tuba up for sale, and started spending all of my bass tuba time on the Eb.

There were a few other reasons for going the Eb/CC route, and one of the biggest was the growing realization that, at the end of the day, your lips are basically doing the same thing regardless of what horn you pick up. If you can't play a high G# on your CC tuba, then going to a bass tuba won't help all that much, minus putting it on a slightly more stable partial. Just think back to earlier in the century, when all those old pros were playing everything on their BBb and CC tubas! Now, of course that doesn't mean we should stop using bass tubas--there's a very good reason that we play Symphonie Fantastique on a bass tuba and not a CC tuba, and that's primarily for the timbre difference.

I think there are plenty of completely legitimate reasons to pick an Eb tuba over an F tuba, and it's heartening to see that more and more players are dropping (or at least relaxing) the old bias against the Eb. I still expect to receive some odd looks at the next few auditions when I pull out the Eb tuba, but you know what--I feel more comfortable on the tuba, and the key of instrument I choose won't suddenly make up for any lack of preparation on my part.

AH

[MikeMason]

You might get odd looks in the warm up room,but probably not on stage.