Re: Re: 5th valve options & benefits?


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on February 08, 2001 at 22:40:01:

In Reply to: Re: 5th valve options & benefits? posted by Joe S. on February 08, 2001 at 21:25:21:

Great logic. There's just one problem with it. How do you explain the army of Eb tuba players that play in almost the identical range as the F tuba players, yet only use 5 valves AT MOST? You know I'm just trying to be a smart a** but seriously, if you can get the pitches chromatically down in tune with only 5 valves, do you really think the 6 valve setup is necessary? This is one of the disagreements I have with Dr. Young. His assertion is that 5 valves do not yield accurate intonation in "that range" without significant slide pulling. So either I'm tone deaf or I own 4 of the most special tubas on the planet because I can do this on all 4 of my instruments. The only one that even comes close to what you both describe is my Rudy which has a long history of intonation problems. Both my Willson and Cervany Eb tubas have no difficulty producing accurate intonation chromatically down to the fundamental with 5 valves and without any slide pulling. I'm not going to dispute the worth of having extra options for situational intonation but for hitting notes "on the nose", I've never needed more than 5. I also don't play F tuba and I am curious if that has anything to do with it; if the F tuba design trades certain intonation difficulties for that sound. Or have I just been lucky? I wonder considering all those 6 valve F tubas out there...

BTW, just for clarification, my stance on NEVER using the embouchure for intonation correction is well documented so don't think that I'm just slotting things manually despite the maladjusted tubing.

My opinion for what it's worth...


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