Posted by Mary Ann on June 09, 2003 at 17:41:28:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Dan Perantoni at the IHS posted by Chuck Jackson on June 09, 2003 at 14:48:13:
Well, I started on an F tuba, and have played it primarily. I did play my 184 CC primarily for a few weeks this spring, for an orchestra concert. After my 1+ years on the F, I still do not have the bottom end in place that I can get right away on the CC, although it is astronomically better than it was when I started.
But this wasn't supposed to be about a comparison between F and C; I was asking an "engineer question" about the effect of the short lead pipe on the F...and whether the low C problem could be easily solved via a design change. French horns, which are also rotary instruments in F, do not have this problem. The low C is easy to play, for me anyway. The problematic range for most horn players is an octave higher than this C.
Having said that, I will also say that on the occasion when I stuck my horn mouthpiece inside the tuba mouthpiece....I also had no trouble getting the low C to sound on the tuba, using a mouthpiece I am somewhat expert at. So I still think it is an embouchure issue, and that on the C tuba where this is an open note, it is not necessary to have the embouchure as "correct" as it is to play this note on the F tuba....I mean, there is more leeway on the C tuba, and one can get a fine sound with more variance in the embouchure producing the sound.
MA