Posted by Rick Denney on October 02, 2001 at 11:35:17:
In Reply to: Miraphone 190 BBb questions posted by Steve Inman on October 02, 2001 at 08:38:38:
I spent some time with one of these at least 15 years ago. My impression at the time was that it felt like a 55-gallon drum with a mouthpiece attached. I think it has some glandular condition that makes everything oversized on it.
My frame of reference at the time was a Cerveny with a .795 bore, so it's not like I was unused to a somehat larger bore (though it's still small compared to the 190). I played a Yorkbrunner that same week, and it felt like a complete tuba. The monster Miraphone felt like it was only useful as a megaphone.
I walked away from that test asking "what is the purpose of this instrument?"
But it did nothing to diminish my dreams of owning a 186, which I did obtain about five years later. Night and day.
My impressions now might be a lot different in that I'm much more able to appreciate an open-blowing tuba. But I suspect that in ease of play, it would still be for me much more difficult to manage than the Yorkbrunner I compared it to at the time.
Rick "thinking a 5/4 Rudy is that style of instrument done much better" Denney