Posted by Leland on December 12, 2003 at 17:01:13:
In Reply to: False tones vs. extra valves posted by Eric on December 11, 2003 at 17:07:41:
When I asked Sam Pilafian about false tones at the OU tuba camp back in '99 (perhaps looking for some justification after getting a friend to write them into a marching band arrangement of Star Wars, for example), he said that they can be quite useful.
The story he gave was of when he watched a symphony & choir performance of a piece, and he knew that the tuba's low D's in one segment would require quite a bit of skill to even be heard from a CC tuba. When they got to that part, the tubist (a friend of his) made this huge, amazing sound, with lots of depth and clarity.
He talked to the guy afterwards, and asked what he did to make those D's speak so well. He said that it was all false tones.
Some horns have a better "false partial" than others, it's true. My GUESS is that, with fewer valves, the conical taper of the horn is less interrupted, and false tones are easier. However, that doesn't explain why my rotary Zeiss does decent false tones.
They do certainly require practice, and part of that practice should be a willingness to sound awful during the attempt. If you're not used to it, you... well, you're not used to it, and it'll probably sound pretty heinous. If the horn's got enough buttons, use them to find the pitch, then play them in the false partial.
Once it's figured out, you won't forget it, and you'll start trying them on every horn you can get a hold of.
I still think that people avoid using or teaching them because they're afraid of change -- "If it's not in the Middle School Tuba Method, it must be wrong!" Whatever... Just learning to go *pbbbbbttt* with your lips in a controlled manner is already unnatural. Why would someone be afraid of adding to their bag of tricks?