Re: Re: Small vs large bore


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Chuck on September 03, 2000 at 17:24:49:

In Reply to: Re: Small vs large bore posted by Rick Denney on September 03, 2000 at 09:26:26:

Hmmm. Allow me to bring the Cazzani that I have into the discussion. A large Italian tuba with a bore of 0.900", but a bottom bow the size of a Besson 983 Eb, but then flaring rapidly to a 22" bell. If you ignored the bore and the bell, it would be a 4/4 instrument.

Does it require a lot of air in the lower register? You bet--I can play it with a small mouthpiece such as a Conn 7B, but playing on a PT-50 below the staff is like giving artificial respiration to a vacuum cleaner.

Is it loud? You bet--it's the loudest tuba I've ever heard. Given the bore, no surprise.

Intonation? Well, as a CC, it's pretty awful. But it was cut from a BBb; so I temporarily extended the tuning slide by a foot on each side and the intonation is actually pretty good as a BBb. The Bb above the staff requires some finagling (fingering it with 1 works pretty well), anything else easily lips into tune. (The tech at Allied nearly fell off his stool when I asked for 0.900" tubing; right now, I'm using PVC sprinkler pipe for the extension).

I suppose the only conclusions that I could draw from this are that intonation is largely a function of taper, not of bore. And large bore tubas seem to require more air to get their low registers speaking properly.


Follow Ups: