Re: Re: No decent New F tubas on the market (me out-of-step? too picky?)


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on April 15, 1999 at 09:32:57:

In Reply to: Re: No decent New F tubas on the market (me out-of-step? too picky?) posted by Morris Kainuma on April 15, 1999 at 02:02:42:

Morris! I haven't seen you in years, how are you doing? I would have responded to you privately but you didn't include your e-mail address in your post. I hope all is well with you.

The current discussion is an interesting one in that it highlights the inherent differences in approach that we see today among players. I am an Eb player, rather than F, because my approach dictates that consistency of sound is a high priority. So when it comes to a smaller instrument, I'm not neccessarily looking for a markedly different sound. I'm just guessing here but I would bet that the market for such an approach may be larger than the other approach, that of having a smaller instrument with a dramatically different sound. In all probability, that niche has already been greatly filled by the small tubas that have been made up until a few years ago. The reason I say that is because I remember trying to find a tuba like the Willson Eb that I currently have. Until the Willson came along, the only option I ever saw was a Boosey & Hawkes Sovereign Eb, the only small tuba I ever played that could even approach the type of sound you get on a CC. For all practical purposes, there was no F tuba counterpart. It seems to me that players are more frequently going for a bigger small tuba, which more closely resembles their larger primary instrument in sound, and the F tuba manufacturers have needed to respond to that. I'm sure that, in time, the smaller tubas will wear out just like Joe is experiencing now, and there will again be a call for higher quality smaller instruments. It sounds to me like Joe has the pleasure of playing on a phenominal B & S tuba. I've never tried one that didn't have the non-existent low range on one or more notes. I've always wondered how the manufacturers were able to solve that problem on Eb tubas but not generally on F tubas. Maybe someone will figure that out and I'll have to learn a new set of fingerings!

In any event, I tend to agree with Joe that the quality small F tuba list seems pathetically short. I know I'll be trying some of the horns that Morris suggested because they all look promising, especially the Willson, which I happen to be partial to. My opinion, for what its worth...


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