Posted by Rick Denney on March 31, 2003 at 17:24:09:
In Reply to: metals used in tuba and reliable sources posted by Jim on March 31, 2003 at 12:20:46:
You may be biting off more than you can chew. There is nothing conclusive that the different metals have any effect on sound, and you do have to know a bit about mechanics and materials to know how to think about it.
Do a google search on "brass alloy properties" and variations thereof and you'll find a few web sites that contain the information. But I think you'll find that information rather hard to interpret without a pretty good grounding in materials science. Those web sites are prepared for engineers like me who already know what the modulus of elasticity and the yield strength (annealed and work-hardened) are.
By the way, all tubas are brass. Some are then plated with a microscopically thin layer of silver. Some use minor parts that are made of nickel-brass alloys. Red brass and yellow brass have different quantities of copper in them, but the material properties that affect resonance aren't much different among them.
I think you'd spend you time more productively thinking about the shape of a tuba rather than the material. Do a search on Amazon for the books of Benade--you'll find two in trade paper published by Dover. Buy both of them; they are not expensive.
Rick "giving a little friendly advice" Denney