Posted by Bob Stephenson on August 25, 2000 at 15:52:41:
In Reply to: Re: Re: 3/4 posted by Little Person on August 24, 2000 at 15:10:35:
Dear Little,
From what you said, I am guessing that your problem is the height of the receiver when you are playing the horn, i.e. setting the horn on the chair puts the receiver too high to play confortably. I would guess (maybe Charlie can confirm it) that the receivers on most horns are about the same distance from the bottom of the bottom bow. I went from a piggy (short compact horn) to a Rudy (tall horn) and there wasn't much change on receiver height.
I have seen one person with a clever approach to the problem. He purchased a drummer's stool; the type that has a bicycle seat rather than a round seat. He built a shelf which extends from underneath the bottom of the front of the seat. With a little padding, the tuba sits very nicely on the shelf and the receiver is always the correct height. The advantages of this is that he doesn't have to worry about the differences in chairs and the movement of tuba stands and he can adjust the height of the stool and tuba to where he is comfortable. The disadvantage is that he has to carry the stool around.
I would guess that tubas are built for people of average height so those of us who aren't average need to be creative.