Re: Gronitz double tuba (?)


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Posted by Fred Youg on August 12, 2001 at 19:13:03:

In Reply to: Gronitz double tuba (?) posted by Barry Guerrero on August 11, 2001 at 04:03:10:

There are several kinds of double tuba. The common ones are full and compensating. Compensating tubas are made by Alexander, Besson, Yamaha, Hirshbrunner and Wilson and perhaps by others. In a compensating instrument the lower horn comes into use when the switch valve is depressed. The air then goes through the valve slides in use on the high side and doubles back to go through the valves a second time. That time the air goes through the shorter slides that compensate for the wrong length of the valve slides in use on the high side. E.G., the combination of Switch valve and third valve lacks a slide of about four or five inches in length. On the back side of the compensating tuba such a slide exists and is added the length of the front 3rd valve slide. Many players complain that passage through the valves makes for stuffiness.

As far as I know only Gronitz makes a full double tuba. Full double tuben possess two full sized sets of valve slides and air only goes through the set as dictated by the switch valve. Oftimes the switch valve is two ganged simple valves. One just after the lead pipe and another one after the valve set. The first gets air to the proper set of slides and the second adds or subtracts many feet of large tapered tubing to alter the basic key of the instrument and to send the air out the bell. The Alexander pictured in the subsequent notes is a compensating double in F and CC or BBb and has four double valves. I think if I were getting one I would request the low horn to be in BB natural. That would eliminate the need of 24 fingering which is sharp by lack of several inches of
tubing. Since my old King was so loosely wound I decided to have also a 4 semitone double valve in addition to the standard 5 semitone valve. Although I doubt that Dietrich Kleine-Horst could find room on a conventional lap tuba to add an extra double valve for a total of 5 double valves I am sure he would be glad to build a three or four double valve full double compensating tuba in F, CC, or BBb. You may wish to not have the tritonus double tuba that I like and in that case you would get an F/CC, CC/GG or a BBb/FFF tuba. Don't be afaid of the price. I would wager that it would be much less than the York-Brunner or its equivalent and much, much better in tune!!


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