Posted by Mary Ann on March 25, 2002 at 10:23:17:
Friday a REAL tuba player was a guest at the brass band (friend of conductor, in town for a couple days, decided to have some fun.) He had his 45 SLP with him, and I got to try it. WELL!
Ok, even sitting the tuba on the chair, the mouthpiece hit me in the forehead. Sooooo, I put it sideways on my lap, not having a tuba stand and not wanting to risk holding it in the air in front of me. Blew a few notes. Emptied lungs completely. Tried to find fingering for Bb...was told to use thumb valve plus pinky. Well, guess what? No matter how hard I stretched, I was unable to depress both at the same time.
But despite the ergonomic impossibilities, this was a really fine tuba. I just wish I could find one like this in my size, which apparently is about a child's Large.
MA