Re: Re: low range on F- Tubas


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Posted by Joseph on October 29, 2000 at 10:56:36:

In Reply to: Re: low range on F- Tubas posted by Rick Denney on October 27, 2000 at 10:43:27:

I'm with Rick on this one. I'm of the opinion that there are very few Fs with a bad low register. In fact, I think most Fs have an easier low register than most contrabass horns. The response is usually much quicker and the larger Fs that are popular right now can very readily imitate a CC. Even the small Fs can have a solid low register once you acknowledge the need for consistancy in your sound concept and stop trying to make the horn sound like something it isn't. I think that this is the primary source of complaints about response and intonation when it comes to Fs: folks trying to play the horn like something that it isn't.

I'm not one to make generalizations about what affect 'bore' has on the playability of a horn. However, I do think most people would agree that the early part of the horn has a lot more to do with timbre. A small early taper would likely give a lighter sound... not neccesarily a bad thing for an F tuba's purposes. The 'large bore' horns often have very very very little resistance. When one doesn't get the kind of resistance that one is used to the common tendancy is to create resistance somewhere in the body and then blow like crazy against this resistance to try to get the embouchure to respond under less than optimal conditions. It becomes a whole lot of work and response and intonation goes out the window. The only way to break this cycle is to consciously choose to relax everything and play very basic melodies until you find an equalibrium. Once this is found the large Fs have just as great a low register as any other horn and can be very easy to play.

FWIW,
joseph


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