Posted by Joseph Felton on April 01, 1999 at 11:09:23:
In Reply to: Re: BBb vs. CC posted by Donald Ford on March 31, 1999 at 16:00:33:
I intend no disrespect for your opinion. But how is it possible for any hunk of metal to be more or less clumsy or melodic than an other? Is this not a trait of the *player*? And why should it matter what key your instrument is pitched in? The typical argument is that the keys used in orchestral writing lay better on a CC tuba. I play BBb, CC, and F tuba and I can say with confidence that once you are at home with an instrument it doesn't really matter what key you throw at it. There are *extremely* great players that play in the top military *bands* that play CC and there are professional orchestra tubists that are more comfortable on BBb tuba. In the past manufacturers geared their CC tubas toward professionals because BBb tubas could always be sold to public school systems. School systems are likely to lean toward BBb tubas for pedagogical reasons. That generalization is no longer accurate. If a person already knows a large body of literature on BBb there is no compelling reason to switch to CC to find a
better horn. Regarding the myth of bore and bell size: bigger does not equal better. The playability and sound of an instrument is a result of the taper of the *entire* instrument. Vague generalizations can be made based on trends one sees in instrument design. For example.. generally speaking, a larger bore equates to a darker sound. A larger bell generally equates to more of an "orchestral" sound.. broader more transparent. However, if you have ever taken the time to play a large number of instruments you will know that there are a way too many variations and exceptions to the rule to use this as your sole guide for buying an instrument. As much as we would all like to be able to log on and name our specific playing situation and have someone tell us which horn to buy it just doesn't work that way. If bigger were always better wouldn't it make sense for more manufacturers to build larger horns? The fact is, for every horn on the market there is someone that has found it to be the best for them.
Quick aucoustics lesson.. Longer instrument = lower pitched. Taper = characteristic sound. There are bass tubas that sound like contrabass tubas and there are contrabass tubas that sound like bass tubas but the pitch of the instrument remains unaltered.
Just my little soapbox,
joseph
Quick addendum to my thoughts: Another argument is that BBb tubas tend to cheaper for tooling reasons. An extreme example of how bore and bell size do not indicate what the horn will sound like are the York copies. Even though they are an attempt to recreate the original they all have their own distinctive character. I happen to play a PT-6. The PT-6 has the same bore size and only a 1/4 inch smaller bell but sounds nothing like a York. The reason for this is what happens to the horn between the bell and the valve section. Applying numbers to an instrument is a marketing gimick and is a wonderful commentary on our narrow categorizing minds that so many people latch onto these numbers as if they hold the answer to the meaning of life. They are merely an indicator of the balance of the horn. Regarding a dark vs bright sound: These are sound concepts that totally avoid being defined. It is possible to have a dark sound that is very lively or a dark sound that is thuddy and uninteresting. A bright sound can
still have a solid core to it or can cut like a knife through the ensemble. Once again this is merely a matter of balance. There are no better or worse tuba sounds.. providing of course for basic musicality.. they are just different. Sorry for my verbosity.. I just don't get where these ideas come from. Could someone clue me in?