Posted by Rick Denney on March 13, 2001 at 15:18:12:
In Reply to: Is everything ultimately stuffy? posted by Anon on March 13, 2001 at 11:35:27:
This subject intrigues me, even though I don't qualify to answer your question (I neither lurk nor am I currently a professional).
(By the way, if you wish to remain anonymous for professional reasons, that is understandable though I think overly cautious, but at least give yourself a unique "handle" so that we know who you are--that will keep you from having to introduce yourself at every future posting. And it will avoid confusion with other "anons".)
I'm not sure I understand your post completely. For example, I don't know if you think the feeling of resistance is large or small on Yamahas, and whether that is bad or good.
When I first got the York Master, I had difficulty making the horn work for me. I spent a lot of time with it--compared to my Miraphone it is a radically different horn. As I have become more accustomed to it, my impression of it has changed. Some things that I thought were really difficult on the horn at first seem really easy now. Now, when I pick up the Miraphone, I have that same sense of unfamiliarity that I originally had with the York.
Now, I'm familiar with the horn, both its strengths and weaknesses, and now that I'm comfortable with it, the weaknesses attract more attention. That's why, for example, I didn't deal with the intonation issues in the first few months--I just didn't understand them well enough from having to deal with everything else.
I'm also a better player for having made such progress on this horn, and the Miraphone doesn't seem quite as wonderful to me as it used to.
As we grow, our perceptions mature also, and the relationship with our horns changes. We achieve automatic pilot status for many playing factors, and those that remain command more of our attention. Our standards also improve, and we evaluate our horns based on toughening standards. It happens so slowly that maybe we don't notice it.
I sat down and played a number of horns at the Army Tuba Conference, some of which I thought might be better than the York Master (the big Willson BBb comes to mind). Then I played the York (to test a mouthpiece), and the warm feeling that enveloped me was palpable. I would have had the same experience a year earlier with the Miraphone, different though it is. The horns didn't change...
Rick "...I did" Denney