Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 02, 2001 at 08:47:06:
In Reply to: Re: Best tuba for low range posted by Frederick J. Young on June 02, 2001 at 08:23:57:
I remember you making a similar challenge in a post a few weeks ago regarding this fast scale starting on the fundamental. It got me thinking, especially when you mentioned that several unnamed professionals couldn't do this, so I tried it out for myself. I'm happy to report that I can play an in tune two octave scale, starting on the fundamental, in sixteenths at a speed of approximately 70 bpm. I had students and section mates listen to the scale and unless they were just being polite and not telling me the truth, the results were satisfactory.
Despite what your spreadsheets say, it is not an "undeniable fact" that you can't play in tune down to the fundamental of the instrument on a standard 5 valve tuba. I have four such instruments and I can accomplish the feat on all of them. It just goes to show the varied levels of success that individual players achieve with different types of equipment. If your Gronitz works for you, great. Others do achieve successful results on more mainstream equipment, even old fashioned designs.
My opinion for what it's worth...