Posted by Todd Morgan on April 06, 2003 at 20:27:05:
In Reply to: tastes great...or great taste? posted by Kenneth Sloan on April 05, 2003 at 23:52:52:
To answer you question specifically: It depends. If you are a beginner and haven't been playing for very long, then a teacher picking out your first horn isn't a bad idea. The problem with teacher's picking out horns is that what sounds and plays well for the teacher can have a different effect by the student. What is good for Gene Pokorny might not be the flavor of tuba that his students prefer. On a personal level, many teachers and players love Perantucci horns. They sound great on them and they suit their playing. As for me, I have never met a Pernatucci horn that I liked. Well, I played 1 PT4 (rotary) several years ago that I thought was rather nice. I play on a Perantucci mouthpiece, but their horns really aren't my taste.
I think feel and comfort on a particular horn is underrated. The last CC tuba I owned before my current one had a GREAT sound, it played very well in tune, and it could fill any group. The problem with the horn was that I was never truly comfortable with it. It was too big, the low range was not very nimble, and as a whole I couldn't play it as musically as I am capable of playing.
After coming to grips with the fact that maybe this really isn't the horn for me, I finally decided that I need to get a different horn. My criteria for picking my current CC tuba was as follows
* Key of CC
* 5 valve (4 pistons 1 rotor)
* 4/4 size
* COMFORTABLE TO HOLD (that was a biggy!)
* Nice round sound
* MUST be agile!
* Consistent sound from top to bottom
* A low range that speaks well
* Oh yeah...it has to be something I can afford. :-)
After having played many tubas from Kalisons to Hirsbrunners to Perantuccis to Dillon to Mirafone to Rudy Meinl to Meinl Weston etc., I finally narrowed down my hunt to the Rudy Meinl 4/4 piston CC and the Conn 52/56J. After playing 1 56J I was sold that my next horn was going to be a 56J. The day I traded in my previous horn and bought my Conn, I went to Dillon Music and played every CC tuba they had. I wanted to make sure that had played other horns besides the Conns so that I wasn't picking a horn out based on a mind set. I played around 5 or 6 52 and 56Js and finally narrowed my decision down to 2 56Js. After further playing, I picked 1 horn over the other. During this whole experience I had my wife, a very experienced flutist and overall good musician, listen to my playing. I asked her "how did that sound." She gave me very honest feedback and told me how I sounded on each horn. We both came to the same conclusion, I sounded the best on the Conn tubas. She helped me pick one out of litter. She and I agreed which of the bunch I sounded the best on. That was the one I took home.
The 1 hour taste test can be dangerous. It could result in a rather expensive regret. I spent about 3 hours at Dillon Music the day I bought my Conn. Before that day I had played on a 56J on several occassions each time playing the same basic things and each time trying something new. So, in going to Dillon Music I had a rather good idea of what to expect from the Conn tubas.
Just my $0.02
-Todd Morgan