Posted by Rick Denney on July 26, 2001 at 12:00:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: german F sound concept posted by Mary Ann on July 26, 2001 at 10:59:23:
I wasn't talking about ergonomic issues. I was talking about the efficiency with which a certain note in the brain becomes the same note at the bell. I seem to recall that your problem with the 621 was that your hand didn't fit the valve buttons comfortably, unless I'm thinking of the wrong person. That is a completely valid but separate issue.
For playing an F tuba in a quintet, those "missing" low notes you mentioned in regards to your MW46 are deadly. I have heard more than one professional struggle with low notes on German-style F tubas in performance situations--including some of the top pros in the field. It doesn't matter how good it sounds if the right notes don't come out at crunch time. The literature for quintet was written for all sorts of instruments, and an F tuba has to have a wide range to be usable for all of it. Recognizing that the gap between note thought and note played is greater for me than for others, I chose the Yamaha.
Rick "who can palm a basketball, but doesn't want to have to learn a whole new way to play low notes" Denney