Posted by Leland on February 14, 2004 at 19:07:29:
In Reply to: PT-20 for marching band? posted by A.K. on February 14, 2004 at 13:42:19:
Finally, a serious response --
A few of us more-critical tuba types decided to try out every tuba model that we had at college and judge their sound quality for outdoor playing, and the VMI 3302 surprised us all with a top rating. It's identical to the PT-2, which is virtually the same as the PT-20 except in BBb... the sound's character is amazingly similar as well.
We took a mid-50's King sousaphone, an Olds copy of the Conn 14K, a Mirafone 186 BBb, a King K90 contrabass bugle, the 3302, a smallish York sousie and a Yamaha YBB-321 outside, played them all with their bells pointed towards the backs of a pair of judges, and scored them on factors such as the size & depth of sound, how "dark" they were, how clearly or woofy ("woofily"?) they articulated, and how much they seemed to project (did they sound close, or did they sound 30 yards away -- which is how far they stood).
The 3302 was really good in terms of sound depth and projection, and ended up topping the list. The King and Olds sousies were a very close 2nd and 3rd, respectively. If there were to be a marching-style tuba (which seems to be hated on this BBS) with the same kind of taper & flare as that 3302 -- or better yet, a PT-6 or -7, or various other good-sized quality-playing tubas -- I would dare say that the venerated Conn 20K would meet its match.
WITH THAT BEING SAID....
In what kind of marching band would this PT-20 be used? I wouldn't use an upward-projecting tuba in most styles of U.S. marching bands, but that doesn't stop some of them (Jacksonville State, I think, is a well-known exception). I've seen some military-style bands with a tuba or three, and a PT-20 would work quite well in that setting.
So, briefly, I say sure, why not, use the PT, but if it works with the style of band, and if you don't have to worry about thrown beer bottles (some parades get kinda hairy).