Posted by Leland (adding on) on November 11, 1999 at 03:11:24:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Contrabass vs Sousaphone...... posted by Leland on November 08, 1999 at 12:55:34:
I just want to add that although an upright tuba won top honors in my little blind listening test, there's no reason to believe that its design couldn't be used to produce a top-quality marching tuba. A section using MT's based on Yorkbrunners, Neptunes, PT-7's, 2165's, 25J's, or anything similar might be pretty fun to hear (although the big Dynastys and Kanstuls are pretty close already, and the King contra from the early 80's is extremely similar to the King upright (#2130?)).
I would love to see one of these manufacturers do such a thing and enter into the MT market, where there are currently only one or two serious contenders.
Seeya (again),
Leland
Oh yeah -- don't forget that both sousies AND contras rest on the shoulder, so the claim that only MT's are bad for the shoulder just won't work... although the 3/4 MT's are a pain to hold up, and if it were up to me, I'd have them taken off the market. 4/4 or bigger is the only way to go. Again, email me if you want the full report of the test.