The Brasswind, The Rudy Piston, et. al.


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Posted by Erik on February 19, 2001 at 22:43:08:

Well I just returned from one of the more fun and interesting days of my fairly young musical life. I am looking for a new horn to bring with me to college, so I took the requiset trip to the Brasswind (a quick 2h drive from my home in Chicago). When I got there, I walked right into the room of tubas. The first thing that struck me was what the lighting did to the look of all the horns. The finish on every single one looked perfect! When I want to sell my horn, I will do it in a room with the same lighting. Anyway . . . When I walked in, no one was in there and I had my mouthpiece with me, so I started tooting on a few horns. I saw a Rudy piston there, and after hearing so many good things about it, I picked it up. The first note I played on it was absolutely incredible! Then I jumped a partial, and something in the horn started buzzing like mad. But that first note had me hooked.

Then Mr. Russo walked in, and my teacher (who came with me) and I introduced ourselves. After my teacher asked about cases and gig bags for his horns, I told him I was looking for a 4/4 CC to bring with me to college. He took out a Miraphone 188, a MW 2145 and 2155, and the 4/4 Rudy rotary, and said he'd get another Rudy piston from the wearhouse. So I started fooling around on the four horns he took out, mainly to get myself warmed up and to get a basic feel for the instruments. I immediately noticed that the Rudy didn't seem that responsive from about low G on down. The same was true with the Miraphone, but to a lesser extent. The MW's that I tried were very responsive down low, but their sound just didn't appeal to me. I can't qualify it, but, like I said, it wasn't for me. So I narrowed it down to the two Rudy's (the piston had arrived) and the 188. I then eliminated the rotary Rudy, I think because I didn't think it was as responsive as the other two. Anyway, so now we're down to two. The response on the 188 above low G was great--every note slotted easily, slurs were beautiful, and the horn played really well soft. Like I said, the low response wasn't great, and the thick sound didn't hold up well at higher volumes. Now the Rudy piston--I loved the sound, it had great response down low, and played well at higher volumes. It was tougher to play soft, and slurs weren't as smooth (probably rotary/piston affected this). My teacher kept asking what I could do on one that I couldn't do on the other, and in general, we came to the conclusion that (for me) the Miraphone was generally easier to play. However, it was the sound of the Rudy the kept me coming back. Therefore, I suspect that is what I will get.

Now a quick question: For those of you who use the Rudy piston, what mouthpiece(s) do you use? I used my Helleburg, which gave a great sound and an awesome low register, especially at the higher volumes. My 7B seemed to make the horn easier to play soft, but limited the low register (these were not unexpected effects). Anyway, what do you find works best for various situations?

Thanks to all, especially Mr. Russo and those at the Brasswind!

Erik


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