Re: Re: Re: Tucson tubists?


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Posted by Klaus on June 06, 2002 at 15:43:16:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Tucson tubists? posted by IMO, there's no way on June 06, 2002 at 14:41:13:

As someone playing a PT-50 with an enlarged backbore on my BBb as well as Eb basses you will not have to tell me about ways to get the full and foundation-rich tuba sound, that is my ideal.

You might consider MA a freak, when she, a former pro orchestra violinist takes up the tuba at an age not very short of the 50 mark. She even is just about half the weight, or less, of a typical male tubist. And a foot shorter.

You could urge her to strive for the ideals of sound and dynamics, that come fairly easy to some of us, if we work hard. Thereby making her tubalife a hell of underachievement and of doing no good in no ensemble.

Or you could say: "Lady! You can read and hear better than most of us. You will heighten the combined amount of skills and talent of our brass band tuba section by playing a well executed top octave line of the Eb part. We do not expect you to provide as much foundation as our BBb contrabasses. And we most certainly do not want you to compete with the bassbone in loudness."

In that context the direction of our advises would center in on giving her other musical skills the optimal wrapping of sound.

If that means that her 3/4 MW 182(?) F-tuba comes up with a pleasant sound not very much heavier, than that most good euphoniums, then I think that MA as well as her band would be pretty well served with such advice.

I can not say for sure, that my Schilke 60 advise will be the optimal one. But as a low horn player MA is used to move air through a comparable length of tubing through a much smaller mouthpiece. So resistance is not a major obstacle to her.

Furthermore some of the mouthpiece/venturi wizards writing on the net tell, that if the mouthpiece stem/shank protrudes into the leadpipe, that contributes to the fullness and roundness of the sound. So my Schilke 60 advise did not come just because I have two of them on my shelve.

Klaus


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