Posted by Rick Denney on March 11, 2003 at 00:05:26:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Buying first tuba posted by james on March 10, 2003 at 23:30:20:
I agree with you, James.
When I'd been playing about a year, I visited the elephant room at an ITEC and played about 50 tubas. I sounded like death on all of them, but some were among the best tubas made. I had no basis for making a choice. What I needed was a versatile tuba that would be good enough to grow with me but easy enough to play in tune and with a decent sound when I progressed to that point. Really, any of the possibilities would have been just fine.
I'm a big believer in playing a bunch of horns and letting the tuba pick me, but what if I'm not to the point where any tuba would want to pick me? That's a lot of rejection. It can be disconcerting to play 50 tubas at a superstore, and realize that none of them sound worth a darn. It's much better for a reputable tuba sales broker to say, "I'm sending you this Miraphone 186, which is a great tuba and is perfect for you, but don't get discouraged if it takes you a little while to get used to it." That advice will encourge a commitment to the instrument which is hard to do after sounding bad on 50 tubas.
Rick "who says just pick a good tuba and learn to play it" Denney