Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 26, 2000 at 16:09:04:
In Reply to: electronic valve action tuba. posted by Dave Cowie on June 22, 2000 at 19:23:12:
This reminds me of an idea I once had for an improvement to the standard tuba. If the valve action can be reduced to an electronic, motor assisted type setup then there is another logical and very useful application for this technology. Like other posters have mentioned, the extra sounds made by the electrical assist kept me from pursuing my idea further. But if you have solved this problem, you might be able to incorporate the other option as well. Have you considered attaching a motor to the main tuning slide and incorporating into the motor mechanism a tuner? This would free the player of intonation concerns because it would function automatically, via a sensor (microphone) mounted in the bell and then connected to the tuner. You could even calibrate the pitch level of the tuner to match whatever pitch level your particular ensemble plays at. Now this wouldn't work so well in ensembles unless all players on all instruments had similar devices all calibrated to the same setting. But it would work great for solo performances, especially for unaccompanied pieces...
Jay "tongue firmly planted in cheek" Bertolet
P.S.>Ack!! 181 words!!! Look out for the cutter!!!!!