Posted by AHA! on March 19, 2003 at 15:25:15:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rapid Passages on Rotaries posted by Rick Denney on March 19, 2003 at 13:30:10:
it has to be matched to what works on the finger. A middle range of finger travel is probably physically easiest, because it is the best compromise between distance of motion and requirement for fine motor control.
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This is what it's about, really. Now, from the violinist point of view, there is no such thing as "fine motor control" when valving a tuba, whether it be piston or rotary. Executing a trill on a violin requires as much as 1/4" of finger travel, at Warp 11. I haven't found valves that are in that category....so valving even my French horn is "gross motor control." I like rotaries because I can't play pistons....my hands are not big enough to even reach all the valves at once, much less compare speed of operation. So there. Rotaries are faster. QED.
MA