Posted by Lew on December 05, 2002 at 20:01:40:
In Reply to: Re: Re: mirafone pitch posted by Chuck(G) on December 05, 2002 at 13:00:51:
I haven't really noticed an impact from tuning slide extensions. I have a couple of euphoniums, alto horns, and tubas with extensions. I haven't noticed any major difference between playing them with or without the extensions. I would expect some difference because you are adding a cylindrical section in a part of the horn that you want to be conical, but any impact appears to be too small for me to notice.
I have observed that horns with very short tuning slides, like my Conn 22J, seem to play more open to me. The 22J also has a large increase in diameter of the tuning slide from the part that goes out of the valves to the rest of the horn. This would be harder to do with a very long tuning slide. Tuning slide length is one of many compromises considered when designing a tuba. I would be interested in a more scientific examination of the impact of different designs.