Posted by Art on January 01, 2001 at 23:47:49:
In Reply to: Trouble playing in tune posted by Justin Beish on January 01, 2001 at 16:16:09:
I like to use a second valve pull, which is not hard to do on piston tubas. But on a rotary valve instrument like yours it's not so easy. The other slide that I find useful is in the 4th valve tubing. You can use it to solve a lot of problems. For example, finger the second space C with the 4th valve and adjust the slide to make it right. You can also finger the 3rd space E 2&4 with a little pull to make it right. And there is sure to be a setting that will make your low F right. Since most of your other playing is done with the first three valves, those adjustments leave the rest of your notes alone. If your 3rd space E is REALLY sharp, try 2&3. But that may be overkill. Another handy trick is to use 3 instead of 1&2 whenever that combination is sharp.
With regard to a better tuba, remember that all tubas have intonation problems lurking somewhere. I find that whenever I start using a new or different horn my intonation is all over the place for the first few months. Eventually you learn to deal with the quirks of your instrument if you can hear them. But I have never seen a horn that just wanted to play in tune.