Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 27, 2000 at 08:37:52:
In Reply to: Re: Re: electronic valve action tuba. posted by Gus Pratt on June 27, 2000 at 06:51:42:
At one time I was very serious about this approach. I really felt this would be a huge upgrade that every serious tubist would want. But as I progressed in my skills, it became obvious to me that having a mechanical device controlling tuning was absolutely useless. Pitch in an ensemble setting, like dynamics, is completely relative. Besides, how would you program the tuner to sense what chord tone you were playing in any given harmony and adjust the tuning for that as well? And as the pitch of an ensemble changes during the course of a piece or a concert, how do you adjust for that? Thinking about this gave me a whole new appreciation for what harpists must go through. I used to think of "fixed" pitch instruments like harp, piano, chimes, etc., to be a real blessing for the player. Now I see them as a very real curse! Imagine playing notes out of tune and not being able to adjust them at all. Ooh, the agony...