Re: weight versus area of coverage


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Posted by Rick Denney on August 30, 2001 at 12:16:15:

In Reply to: weight versus area of coverage posted by Tom Mason on August 30, 2001 at 10:54:09:

1. I have no idea. The furthest I've been willing to guess is that extra mass at the mouthpiece probably affects feel more than sound, and extra mass at the bell probably affects sound more than feel. The valves are in between, and the effect seems to be on both.

2. When you ask about the valve section "being addressed," you suggest that the valve section is a problem area needing some sort of remedial treatment. I'm not sure that is the case, nor am I sure Monsterweights work because they solve a problem with the valve section.

Your examples of cymbals and trombones (and much of the research into this issue which has centered on trumpets) seeks directly to minimize sibilance--that is--the sound of ringing metal as opposed to mostly inaudible vibration and the primary sound of vibrating air. The assumption is that the sibilance itself provides a separate sound for better or worse, which it certainly does on a cymbal (that's the reason for the instrument) and probably also does for a cylindrical instrument whose edge is part of the characteristic timbre. But I think the notion that Monsterweights are effective because they control sibilance is probably wrong. They do control vibration in useful ways, but I don't know of any tubas with enough sibilance to be heard by an audience. Thus, sibilance is not a problem to be solved. If it was, then damping would be the solution rather than weight or stiffness treatments.

But vibration can affect the sound without being heard as sibilance, and the Monsterweights definitely have an effect there. It may well be that they work because they nail down only one specific location on the tuba, as opposed to a generally heavier horn made so by thicker material. Saying one way or the other would require a vast leap of speculation that my observations, anyway, could not support.

I spent some time with my Miraphone last night, playing the Bourree part of Air and Bourree. Again, my wife was in the same room working on a project of her own, and again I was not telling her what I was doing. I played the Bourree with the Monsterweighted Miraphone, with the York, the Yamaha, the unweighted Miraphone, the weighted Miraphone, and several more times in various order. Here are my conclusions:

1. I have spent too little time with the F tuba lately, and my Yamaha rendition suffered from an embarassing number of fumbled fingerings. Sometimes we discover a truth unrelated to the enquiry at hand.

2. The York Master makes a deeper, fuller, and more resonant sound than the Miraphone, weights or no, but it is a little harder to steer on medium-high technical stuff than the Miraphone, weights or no.

3. Here's the real conclusion of interest: The weighted Miraphone was definitely, clearly, and unequivocally easier to play than the unweighted Miraphone. The notes centered more easily, the attacks were cleaner and more accurate, and the slurs smoother. The sound was also more focused, as previously reported. The difference, again, was not subtle, and my wife noticed it easily, so it's not just an effect from the player's perspective.

4. My results may be subject to the placebo effect, but if they are, then I want more of that placebo.

5. I can play the Miraphone MUCH louder with a good sound with the Monsterweights. I figure they were good for a full dynamic marking.

This is the first time I've been willing to say that the Monsterweights not only make a clear difference, but that the difference they make is an improvement. And it's the first time I've been willing to say that they make the horn easier to play. They do. But I'm still NOT willing to say that they will improve any particular tuba just because they improved mine.

It is true that better abilities on my part would greatly exceed the effect of the Monsterweights. But I play as well as I can play within the context of my life as it is now, and this helps me to sound a little better within that context.

Rick "a believer but not yet an understander" Denney


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