Overblowing a Bass Tuba


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Posted by Big Bad Wolf on February 06, 2004 at 11:21:29:

When we hear great tuba players perform they invariably have a 'big' sound; largely irrespective of what horn they're playing.
I have a biggish sound myself but get into trouble when I crank up the volume in the lower register- below the staff basically. I play a Besson Eb btw.

As the volume of air increases, I'm opening up my airway etc but the sound tends to get ugly and edgy. I manage to keep intonation pretty much ok, it's just the sound that goes. Will a bass tuba simply not take a certain volume of air without the sound breaking up or should I be looking to do something differently? Should I just back off if I don't want the sound to break - like you would with a smaller amplifier on a stereo?

Are the pros getting much more volume from their bass tuba and if so, how (is it describable)??

Thanks!
Mr Wolf


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