Posted by Art H on October 15, 2002 at 23:08:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sheet Metal posted by C(G) on October 15, 2002 at 11:29:01:
In my humble opinion the tonal qualities are determined by the player and by the shape of the instrument's air column. It's the air that you want to vibrate, not the metal. I find that whenever I can detect the bell of a tuba vibrating while I am playing it the instrument plays better if I stop the vibration with my hand. Other tubists have advocated leather belts and plastic tubing around the rim to accomplish the same thing. I believe that it's only because of tradition that trumpets and tubas are made of brass, and the origin of that tradition is the ease with which brass can be shaped and soldered. I have seen cheap tubas with bells made of aluminum with a brass finish; they played like crap because they were badly designed, and they looked pretty awful when dented and scratched because they were aluminum. Stainless steel would be a much better choice for mass-produced instruments. Of course, graphite fiber is even better for the larger bows and bell; it's actually similar to cow horn, and what could be more traditional than that?