Posted by Art on October 25, 2000 at 23:51:20:
In Reply to: short action valves posted by ken k on October 25, 2000 at 23:18:07:
A couple of years ago at the Brass Conference in NY the Conn exhibitor had a CC tuba that a conn craftsman had assembled from spare parts. It had four short-action valves, front action, and I thought it played well. -They do know how to do it.
But I also remember back around 1960 when short-action valves were sort of new, some people (Harold Brasch was one) vehemently insisted that they were terrible, that they couldn't possibly resonate properly. Brasch advocated taking a metal organ pipe and stomping on it in the middle to partially crush it, and notice the difference in the way it plays. I was not convinced by his argument; the valves did seem to work well, and they were clearly designed with more care than a crushed organ pipe. Also, most conventional pistons have a crude-looking "dent" in the passage where some cross-sectional area has been sacrificed for compactness. Conn's valves seem to be a more elegant solution. But reactionary opinions like Brasch's may have had a lasting effect on the company.