Posted by Rick Denney on February 28, 2003 at 11:34:15:
In Reply to: Re: What is this? posted by Tony Z on February 28, 2003 at 11:11:31:
It was built to Dr. Young's design using at least some parts from a King Symphony Bass, by Gronitz.
Dr. Young has never gained any support for the concept, mostly because his prototype is physically unmanageable. He claims (with some validity, I think) that if a few pros had shown interest, the design could have been developed into a more manageable package.
It has some advantages, one being that no note on the instrument requires more than one valve, so the double-tuba piping doesn't add stuffiness as one would expect. But Dr. Young's emphasis has been on intonation to the exclusion of some other qualities, and the design might have been better received if made from parts that could produce the tone concept that most orchestra pros want. Given that most orchestra pros can manage the intonation on their tubas acceptably without such gyrations, there was never any real motivation to further develop such a complex design. Some might consider it a solution in search of a problem, but there are enough big tubas with lousy intonation so that the problem is not nonexistent. Dr. Young's tuba is one approach to a solution.
Rick "who doesn't have the requisite availability of native bearers" Denney