Re: Why CC, really?


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Posted by Rick Denney on October 12, 2003 at 15:14:49:

In Reply to: Why CC, really? posted by John on October 11, 2003 at 15:08:14:

There are those who make their living on BBb tubas in orchestras just fine.

The comparison with C and Bb trumpets does not persuade me. C trumpets are just plain different from Bb trumpets in their shape, in ways that BBb and CC tubas of the same design are not. There's a lot more variation in tuba design than in trumpet design, and that variation covers over these subtleties almost completely.

And the notion that BBb tubas have a characteristic BBb sound also does not persuade me. I don't hear that sound when I listen to orchestral recordings from Europe. I just hear wonderful tuba playing.

To me, a BBb tuba of excellent quality is more than capable of producing the required product. My observation from a safe distance suggests it's more a question of other factors, such as motivation, politics, and availability.

First, the politics. For better or worse, BBb tuba players are held in a different (and inferior) category than those who play CC. Is this fair? It doesn't matter, because plausibility can affect you just as much as truth. The BBb player will have to justify his choice at frequent intervals. It places a burden that most just don't need, unless they have truly found their voice on a particular BBb instrument and are willing to shoulder that burden. These perceptions don't extend to the audience, but they surely do extend to many teachers, professors, and potential employers.

And there are folks (myself included) who avoid CC tubas just because they don't want to learn new fingerings. For a tuba player intending on a professional career, this is pure laziness, and indicates the sort of short-cutting that will undermine any success professionally. Thus, if a tuba student in college is expected to learn CC fingerings (as well as Eb and F fingerings), then learn them he must.

Pros who need an outstanding instrument right now have lots more to choose from among CC instruments, though they'll have to bring their checkbook. Most current manufacturers make their best products for the U.S. market in the key of C, because that's what most professionals here are willing to buy. But it was not always so, and it still isn't so in many other places, but for every world-class BBb that one can actually buy on these shores, there are half a dozen CC tubas that are just as good if not better.

These factors apply only within the professional or prospective professional ranks. They do not apply to hobbyists and amateurs like me. For folks like me, sticking with BBb opens the door to truly fine instruments at far less cost than similar CC instruments, though we must be patient to wait for such an instrument to become available. Nobody will think the worse of us because we play BBb, though we will often pleasantly surprise some folks if they discover we are playing a CC.

Rick "a BBb hobbyist who thinks most tuba students in college should be adding CC" Denney


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