Posted by K on July 29, 2003 at 07:36:00:
In Reply to: Compensating vs Non Compensationing posted by Jim on July 28, 2003 at 18:45:16:
All tubas to different degrees have faulty intonation due to the compromises in their acoustical design.
All 3, 4, 5, or 6 valved non-compensated tubas furthermore suffer from intonation problems derived from the mathematics inherent in the calculation of slide lengths. The more valves, the fewer these problems. Still very good players playing very good instruments are known to pull and push various slides to ensure a level of intonation, which is up to their high standards.
Compensated tubas suffer from the first mentioned type of acoustic faults as do any other tubas on the same respective quality levels. But their more elaborate valve system solves some of the mathematical slide length problems (the second type of problems mentioned).
With 3 valve compensating tubas these fingerings are improved:
2+3 (which generally has so few intonation faults on non-compensated tubas, that it is a problem not needing to be solved)
1+3 is made perfect, which it is not on 3 valve non-compensated tubas.
1+2+3 is not perfect, but it is improved greatly over the corresponding notes of 3 valve non-compensated tubas.
With 4 valve compensating tubas these fingerings are improved:
1+3 is substituted with a perfect 4 (but so it is on 4 valve non-compensated tubas)
1+2+3 is substituted by the perfect 2+4, which is better than on 4 valve non-compensated tubas.
The same goes for 1+2+4 (or 3+4) and 2+3+4.
When we come to 1+3+4 and 1+2+3+4, then compensated tubas also have mathematical type problems.
This of course can be confusing to a newcomer to tubaland. Exactly as confusing as the contradictory previous postings.
One big area of music culture, the British style brass bands, has excellent results with compensated tubas.
Another, bigger, tubatradition (the one in the US) rarely uses compensated tubas. Some players from there are extremely swift in dismissing compensated tubas as being stuffy. That dismissal is even the more surprising, as one of the most successful exponent of the US tuba culture has made his soloist career skyrocket by playing a 4 valve compensating tuba.
That soloist now also promotes a 4 valve non-compensating tuba.
Thereby he does the clever thing: the takes the best from two worlds.
Compensating tubas have some strong qualities, which one cannot realise, if one does not accept their different (but not stuffy) feel.
The compensating tubas however only are made by rather few makers, so the palette of choices is much wider in the non-compensating area.
You have asked about the ideal BBb tuba for your 11 years old son to use for home practising. He has a lighter left arm disability, but still looks forward to march a tuba, when he reaches high school.
Compensating tubas will not be a good choice for him, as they have a heavy piston system and none of the BBb compensators are elegant, when it comes to size.
I will repeat my suggestion of a medium sized sousaphone either placed in a Wenger chair or hung from the ceiling. One of the smaller US made BBb tubas also will be very relevant, especially if placed in a tuba-tamer type stand.
Your search of course is made more difficult by the extra ergonomic considerations you have to make. But I am convinced, that you can find the right tuba for your son. There are plenty of relevant tubas in the US. Only it is a big area to search.
Klaus, who is on both sides of the (non-)compensating divide. The 5 numbers and one letter of 981 and 40K will tell that.