Posted by Rick Denney on July 13, 2003 at 15:08:00:
In Reply to: Favorite Quintet Horn posted by Bean Counter on July 13, 2003 at 10:48:52:
It depends on the quintet, and it depends on the literature.
I use my Yamaha 621 F tuba for nearly all quintet playing. It has a good scale, better intonation (even with me playing it) than my mates, and can sound trombonish on Baroque stuff and fuller on more modern literature. Recently, we started reading a few jazz arrangements, and I've found the 621 is a bit to, well, tight-a$$ed (sorry, but I just can't think of a more appropriate description). Surprisingly (to me, anyway), the big Holton works pretty darn well for that stuff, as long as I can manage the range. It has a lot of warmth and soul, and the pitches are more bendable, than the 621. But the Holton would utterly destroy the notion of five balanced voices on Bach.
Of the other F tubas I've tried, the Willson (both piston and rotary, despite that they are quite different from each other) and the Miraphone 181 would be at least as effective, but I haven't tried them out since I discovered the need for more soul.
Rick "who thinks that for most literature the first priority should be clarity" Denney