Posted by Jay Bertolet on April 08, 2001 at 15:26:42:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Conversion of F tubas to Eb posted by Joe S. on April 08, 2001 at 14:42:30:
That's a really good point! So many people I've seen try out horns sit down with one, toot on it for a few seconds, and then turn to you and say either "Wow! This is great!" of "Oh! This isn't for me!". It takes me quite a while to test an instrument, have lots of other ears check it out in context (in the ensemble), and wait to see how the intonation thing falls after a few days. Particularly hard to judge for me is how the sound projects because of how deceptive a horn can "feel" opposed to "project". Some horns feel so great and even sound great up close but have no carry at all. My Rudy is a very hard instrument to listen to up close but put it in the ensemble and everything changes. The only horn I've ever tried that felt right immediately and stayed right ever since is my Nirschl. I used that puppy on a concert with the orchestra only 2 days after receiving it. The last time I tried out a 621F it felt really great at first. I really almost bought it but I waited a few days and tried it out more thoroughly. Sure enough, there were intonation things I couldn't get around and the great feel started to wear off a little. I know that horn would work great for solos and some of the Berlioz stuff but I was looking for more when I last tried them. I still wish they would consider making one in Eb just to see what it would play like. There are very few Eb instruments designed like that in the market currently and it just might carve out a nice niche if given a shot.
Keep me in mind if you ever do decide to unload that ophicleide and your buyer vanishes. I've always wanted to give one of those things a toot.