Why the bias AGAINST CC tubas on TubeNet?

[Rick Denney]

Sigh. Since it was resurrected...

People who are going to play in community bands their whole lives do not need a C tuba. They can get a much better and easier to play Bb tuba for the price they are likely to want to spend. (Good, inexpensive C tubas are rare, particularly on the used market. Good, inexpensive Bb tubas are not rare.) But, of course, they may choose to play C because they found a C tuba that excites them.

People who are going to teach music in schools, and also play in community bands, do not need a C tuba, but can play one if they want to.

People who make their living playing tuba should not need the advice of a bunch of internet nerds on what tuba to play. They will very likely have to be quite proficient on all four common pitches of tubas. Military band players, for example, might be paid to play a Bb sousaphone, and then that evening play a jazz gig on an Eb helicon, and a quintet gig the next day using an F tuba, and then a symphonic band gig next week using a C tuba. It probably wouldn't do them any harm to know string bass and trombone, too. Once they have gained that proficiency, they can choose for themselves what works. If they can't choose for themselves what works, they need proficiency.

College kids going into performance should focus on gaining that proficiency using the best instrument they can afford. That may initially be a Bb tuba, unless they put themselves into debt for an instrument they will likely sell a few years later at a significant loss. But, eventually, they will need proficiency in all pitches of tubas if they really want to make a career of performing.

The bias here is against people choosing instruments for reasons other than their own needs and preferences. Often, they are trying to impress their peers, teachers, or prospective employers, which is not really what will impress their peers, teachers, or prospective employers. Or, they are trying to attain proficiency by choosing a favored instrument, instead of finding the instrument that makes the most of the proficiency they have. That bias will reflect against fads, therefore, whatever those fads happen to be.

Someone (Paul?) asked during the first iteration of this thread why people promote F tubas instead of Eb tubas, while also promoting Bb tubas instead of C tubas, given that Eb and Bb provide the cheaper alternatives. I think the answer to that is that old, cheap Eb tubas are often not very good, especially the bigger ones. Modern Eb instruments are great, and as expensive as simiilarly experienced F tubas. But there are older F tubas that are wonderful and much less expensive than those newer Eb tubas. I have a six-valve B&S with the old Symphonie profile for which I paid under $4000. That's hard to match buying an Eb made in the last few years.

The inexpensive instruments made in China are turning all that calculus on its head, but in doing so are making it easier for people to choose instruments based on what they do rather than on what they are.

Rick "who once analyzed the scale (on this forum) and determined that the arguments for which partial was being used did not favor either Bb or C" Denney