Posted by Paul Evans on April 07, 1999 at 17:34:02:
In Reply to: Compensating/non-compensating?! posted by Paul on April 07, 1999 at 17:17:05:
Oops. Sorry about the empty post. I accidently hit the return key.
A compensating tuba or euphonium is the same as a regular one until you get to the valve section. There is an extra set of short slides on the first three valves that are activated when the fourth valve is in use. This makes it possible to play all the way to the pedal range without having to pull any slides. It also makes a 5th valve unnecessary. On my new Besson Eb tuba I can play low EE perfectly in tune without having to use false tones or the other trickery that I had to resort to on my old Yamaha. I loved the Yamaha but am having a great time with the bigger instrument.
Paul