What is your % usage of main instrument+alternates?

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kathott
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What is your % usage of main instrument+alternates?

Post by kathott »

Which instruments do people regularly keep in service and/or perform on?
I own and use the four tubas (CC, Eb, F and BBb), and my approximate usage (over a year) is:
CC: 35%
Eb: 30%
F: 25%
BBb/euphonium: 10%

K.
Last edited by kathott on Thu May 29, 2025 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Easy Mac
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Re: What is your % usage of main instrument+alternates?

Post by Easy Mac »

F 55%
CC 45%

My orchestra contract includes a full-time brass quintet which performs constantly. We only rehearse when needed, and will have very long rehearsals to work up several programs. So 95% of the quintet work is actual performances. The orchestra part of the contract (also full-time) is less active with most of the work being rehearsals.

I use F in the orchestra when needed, which is not all that often, to be honest. (Our MD does not like a lot of the rep where an F tuba would be my go-to instrument.)

I do not ever play euphonium, cimbasso, etc. as a part of my job.

I play upright bass in a jazz trio, but did not include that in the above percentages as it is a separate gig and did not seem to be germane to your thread. It only involves a small percentage of my working time right now, anyway,
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iiipopes
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Re: What is your % usage of main instrument+alternates?

Post by iiipopes »

Since our rehearsals are indoors, but we have a few outdoor concerts with my community band, I would say it is 85% tuba and 15% sousaphone. The tuba is a Jupiter JTU1110 and the souzy is a rebuilt by Lee Stofer "real" Conn 36K. So they have similar bores and similar responses and intonation characteristics. I use a Klier 4B Classic for the tuba and a Klier 4B Executive for the souzy; these two mouthpieces also have similar charactistics. The Classic, with its more funnel cup, is like a Conn 120S Helleberg but with more definition; the Executive, with its slightly more rounded cup, has a little more projection for outdoors.
Jupiter JTU1110
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