Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 23, 2001 at 11:55:45:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Sharp vs. Flat posted by Tubist on June 23, 2001 at 10:50:17:
Based on what you just posted, I would offer the following suggestion:
If you can play 1-3 combinations in tune with the slides in a neutral position, you might be able to play 1-2-3 combinations in tune. Since almost all tubas are very out of tune in this combination, you may not have even tried it on this horn. I would suggest you do. If the 1-2-3 combination yields in tune C# and F#, you can then push the 4th slide back in a bit and perhaps fix the 2-3-4 low E. I've had experience with tubas (one I currently own) where the 1-3 combination was well in tune, despite the mathematics of the tubes. That same horn yields very workable intonation on 1-2-3 as well, especially since I can manipulate my main slide and push out just a tad. You could easily set the slides up to use 1-2-3 instead of 2-4 and then grab the 1st slide for adjusting 1-2-3. Then you could set the 4th slide specifically for the low E. Remember, this is only on some instruments. Most of my tubas have an almost completely unusable 1-2-3. If you could isolate the 4th valve notes in the Respighi excerpt, at least you might be able to find a slide position you could preset before you play the excerpt that would yield good intonation for just that specific set of notes.
Good luck!
My opinion for what it's worth...