6/4 feedback

[circusboy]

[Lee Stofer]

Good point, Bloke. There is more to the 6/4 tuba experience for the audience than just the sound. The visual aspect doesn't hurt, and the physical aspect of feeling the vibrations makes the music come alive in a special way. I just haven't found any smaller instruments that will do that in the same way that a 6/4 will.

The most powerful demonstration of this that I've experienced was probably this past year, when Mike Roylance was play-testing the BSO Nirschl-York with it's new Kanstul-York bell right after installation. The instrument had so much rich fundamental and overtones, and I could feel my body vibrating with every note, standing about 10 feet away. It is hard to describe, but I felt a peculiar excitement and even emotional experience, because of how the vibrations from that instrument were affecting me physically. When he played the C just above the staff, my chest was vibrating, everything in the room was vibrating, and this was just at a moderate dynamic level.

As for the tuba-to-corresponding-car analogy, Mike and the BSO Nirschl-Kanstul-York would make me think of a Duesenberg V-12 sedan.

[normrowe]

As for the tuba-to-corresponding-car analogy, Mike and the BSO Nirschl-Kanstul-York would make me think of a Duesenberg V-12 sedan.

That does sound like a good comparison! It has been a long time since I played on a 6/4 with any regularity (and only one short spurt about eight or nine years ago in recent memory), so getting the feel back on the one I just got is taking some work. But the more I play it, the better it's feeling.