Re: Old F Tubas vs. New F Tubas


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Posted by Lee Stofer on October 03, 2002 at 08:40:13:

In Reply to: Old F Tubas vs. New F Tubas posted by Non-Physicist on October 01, 2002 at 21:09:29:

OK, here I go, stirring up the hornet's nest . . .
The F tuba is a very different animal from a CC, BBb , or Eb tuba, an acquired taste in its traditional form. It should not be expected to bellow out vast quantities of low C like a BBb or CC tuba, not even like a large Eb tuba.
If you look at the music intended for F tuba during its first 100 years, 1840's to 1940's, parts were generally written in- and above the staff, and just about any traditional F tuba in good repair will do that well-enough. Then, enter the Vaughn-Williams Tuba Concerto. It was written to go down to the pedal range, but then it was written with a specific performer and instrument in mind - a very non-traditional Boosey & Hawkes piston-valve F tuba. Now, increasing numbers of people, it seems, are deciding that the F tuba should be their primary solo instrument, and are attempting to play all sorts of things that the traditional F tuba was never designed to do.
Manufacturers have tried a number of different approaches to making an F tuba to try to satisfy contemporary players. By altering the characteristics of the instrument to try to make it as responsive and loud in the low register as a C tuba though, the essential sound and character of the instrument is being altered. I believe the most successful attempts to improve the F tuba are where the manufacturers have employed computer-aided design, which takes most of the guesswork out of improving the intonation. Many makers have gone to a graduated bore through the valves, which enables them to put a very large 4th valve on the instrument in hopes of producing a strong low "C". I feel that the best of the new large F tubas play like a C tuba with F fingerings. Since the main reason I'd play an F is to play a 19th Century orchestral tuba part, I don't care for large F tubas. Anyone who is trying to make a go of playing a smaller and/or older F tuba would do well to get a shallow bowl-shaped mouthpiece. That is what the older horns were designed to be played with, and that helps the intonation and response a LOT. If you try to use a deep, or funnel mouthpiece with an F, not only will the low C feel like dirt, but the G in the staff will be very flat.
I think that our very concept of F tuba playing is undergoing a fundamental change, and it will be interesting to see where we are 10 years from now.
Lee Stofer


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