prosit der Oktoberfest on a 983 Eb


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Posted by Barry Guerrero on October 20, 2003 at 01:09:37:

I'm writing because I want to address the perceived low register problem of the Besson 983 Eb. I just got done doing four days of Oktoberfesting in San Francisco on one. Over the course of those four days, I'm guessing that I played at least 500 low F's. I had no trouble getting the low F to pop out at all, and had little trouble keeping up with the two big BBb's surrounding me (mouthpiece was a Marcinkiewicz Concert Hall H4). Granted, we were "on mike" the entire time. Would the 983 be my first pick for this kind of job? Probably not. I'd rather have a Kaiser BBb, or a big CC. Granted, everything we played was in flat keys, and I played only a few low E-naturals each day. Still, I didn't have much trouble with those either. Low Eb popped right out, naturally. Fingerings were a snap because I worked my left hand through the body of the horn, and played the four valves as though they were a 3 + 1 type set-up. This particular 983 is so well in tune, that I didn't have to do any left hand slide manipulations at all. Sorry, but that happens to be true.

While I won't sit here and tell you that the 983 has a really fat low register, neither do I think that it's really all that handicapped or challenged by its compensating system. Anyone who has listened to Pat Sheridan knows that he doesn't have much trouble with low notes. Make no mistake, this is not a surrogate 3/4 CC. It's a bass tuba, and should probably be approached as such. But if you have to drag one to an Oktoberfest, you'll probably better than just getting by. I did. A bit of Spaten beer doesn't hurt either.

prosit der gemutlichkeit,

Barry Guerrero


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