Tuba for Adult Beginner

[Bove]

1. new King 2341. 4/4 front-action piston tuba in Bb.
2. used Miraphone 186-4U Bb. 4/4 rotary tuba in Bb.

Either of these would be fantastic for your situation... that's what I would go with. (add a "used" King to the list too).

[tubatooter1940]

To play devil's advocate, you could pursue the cheapest way of all. E-Bay!
You could roll the dice and maybe, like me and many others, find the tuba of your dreams. The drawback is, you can't play it before you buy it but you can sell it to one of these cafes to hang on their walls with all the ratty guitars, clarinets and bugles.
I got my 1940 King for $350 (Eb) and though it is a tad dented up for community band, Rock bands love a horn with soul. The valves are tight and fast and I love the sound.
Schmidt's Music in Pensacola cleaned it and serviced everything for $150-and added two water keys and I'm recording with it and gigging with a very entertaining trio.
Listen to my King at:
www.johnreno.com/
Click music and then click song titles in red.

[Rick Denney]

Currently, I'm using one of the school's Meinel's and frankly, it's hard to play except in the lower ranges (below the open F).

Brian, you gotta be careful how you say "Meinl". There's Meinl-Weston, Rudolf Meinl, and Boehm and Meinl, all of which make fine tubas, and all of which are unrelated to each other, heh, heh. Meinl's a common a name in southern Germany, apparently.

A Rudi Meinl is an example of a great horn that would not meet all your requirements. They are large of bore and require lots of air. If you have the air, they provide the reward, but are not forgiving of those of us with more limited flow. If the instrument you are playing is a Bb, it's probably a Meinl-Weston Model 25, which is a fine instrument, though to me it has always had a little more closed sound than the Miraphone 186, which is quite similar in appearance and configuration. The Miraphone will do more with less, but it may not go as far if you have gobs of air flow (I say that in hopes of preventing the Model 25 advocates from going on the attack, heh, heh). If it's a Boehm and Meinl, you should send it to me immediately for "disposal".

After playing a M-W 25, I think you'll be surprised at the sound you can make on a King 2341.

Rick "who likes a clear sound with lots of color" Denney

[Dean E]

. . . so I can keep playing with some community orchestras.

A CC instrument probably would be more compatible with the key signatures used by the wire choir. I'm speaking of ease of fingerings and general intonation. Just a thought.

I second the previous suggestions to visit a dealer with a large inventory. I have enjoyed my visits to Baltimore Brass, Dillon's in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and Woodwind & Brasswind in South Bend, Indiana.

[Chuck(G)]

Brian, you gotta be careful how you say "Meinl". There's Meinl-Weston, Rudolf Meinl, and Boehm and Meinl, all of which make fine tubas, and all of which are unrelated to each other, heh, heh. Meinl's a common a name in southern Germany, apparently.

...and there was an American maker who actually spelled his name "Meinel". Those beasts are pretty uncommon, though.

[Rick Denney]

. . . so I can keep playing with some community orchestras.

A CC instrument probably would be more compatible with the key signatures used by the wire choir. I'm speaking of ease of fingerings and general intonation. Just a thought.

Dean, this is, of course, theme #1 in the discussions of Bb versus C. But I think it's more myth than fact.

Truth is, only Americans initially preferred C tubas in orchestra, and still the Bb is the preferred contrabass tuba in lots of places where they play in tune just fine.

I'm not saying that Bb is better, of course. But whatever C tubas have that Bb tubas don't, manageable intonation in orchestral music isn't one of them. I've practiced a lot of orchestral excerpts in the privacy of my practice room, and it seems to me that there is only one reason why the sharp keys tangle my fingers up more: I don't practice them as much. Once I get the pattern under my fingers, it doesn't seem any more physically challenging than playing in many other keys.

As to intonation, some revered C tubas have intonation that hardly lines up with western tonality, and I find that the better Bb tubas are actually easier to play in tune (with anybody). The Bb tubas that don't play in tune don't last on the market, because those who play Bb in America are less willing and able to deal with intonation funkiness.

So, I think the myth says more about band tuba players sitting in orchestras with their Bb tubas than about Bb tubas in the hands of players experienced in orchestras. In band, you just don't get the practice with sharp keys and with wire-choir types of intonation issues.

But I get concerned about how we present advice to new folks who ask for it. Anyone who has a good sense of pitch is going to be able to play in tune with the instruments that have been suggested, no matter what the key. But he will not be able to meet his other requirements with nearly all CC tubas he might run across. Nearly all C tubas that might be found for less than $4000 will come with intonation baggage that will drive a good musician nuts if his beginner chops can't cope with it.

Trust me, it's quite easy for a good musician with reasonable technique to play a good Bb tuba in an orchestra, especially a community orchestra where the intonation of the string section is likely to be a fairly broad target anyway.

Rick "who can find no compelling reason for an amateur to play a C tuba unless he wants to" Denney

[Lars Trawen]

My teacher suggested I stick with the BBb tuba. I think part of his reason was that I was already familiar with Bb tubas.

Of course this is an important reason. But don't forget that most instruments in a community band are in Bb. They have all similar intonation issues and are easier to play in tune with.

[MikeMason]

a high percentage of trombone sections also play instruments in Bb....

[TubaRay]

a high percentage of trombone sections also play instruments in Bb....

I believe a high percentage of trombones have slides, also. They are capable of playing very well in tune, and also of playing very badly out of tune.

[Rick Denney]

Of course this is an important reason. But don't forget that most instruments in a community band are in Bb. They have all similar intonation issues and are easier to play in tune with.

Most of the wind instruments in orchestras are the same as they are in wind bands. The trumpet players will use a C trumpet (for SOME works), but everything else is the same. Why do only tuba players expect Bb tubas to be out of tune in orchestras?

Rick "who thinks the tuba player for the Berlin Phil would laugh at this myth" Denney

[Dan Schultz]

a high percentage of trombone sections also play instruments in Bb....

???