Cerveny CBB 693 Bb


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Posted by Alex on August 04, 2001 at 08:31:03:

I thought I'd enclose notes on my current pet project concerning my newly-acquired Cerveny CBB 693 Bb tuba. Purchased as an inexpensive large instrument to augment my arsenal, I didn't expect a Hirsbrunner so I have been approaching the instrument with constructive criticism from day 1. While I know also that I need to get better acquainted through actually playing it, I also have had some success with the following. Please read on and ignore or contemplate at will.....

I have finally been playing the new tuba in professional orchestras and have had a chance to try it in a variety of repertoire. Overall I am very happy with the sound, size and response of the instrument and feel that it is definitely the right kind of Kaiser tuba for my needs. I think that its compact design helps to make it more flexible - I also prefer instruments that have the bell nearer to the player's ear as it helps me to make the sound that I want to make.

I am using a Perantucci (Tilz) PT - 88 mouthpiece with a modified backbore at the moment. The 24AW that came with it is what I use on my Boosey & Hawkes Sovereign Eb tuba.

The intonation of the 693 has been a bit tricky. The main slide has to be pulled almost 3 inches to put it into A440. Unfortunately, the Bb (second line from the bottom of bass clef) is still then very sharp, so I am having to use valves 2 and 3 rather than open.

In general, the 2 and 3 combination (F# especially) has also been a problem, as is normal for Bb tubas. In the case of the 693, however, I think the main problem is that the instrument vibrates too much at certain frequencies.

This has lead me to try some acoustic dampening on the tuba, an idea first put forward (to my knowledge) by Warren Deck of the New York Philharmonic. His idea (my words) is that instruments actually vibrate too much (if the metal is thin or the stays not placed properly) causing loss of sound and intonation problems.

So far, I have wrapped a strapping belt around the bell about 2 inches above the leadpipe and above the main stay that connects the top of the bell to the body of the tuba. I have also wrapped a strap around the first branch opposite to the bell (top left corner of the tuba body as you sit with it) and filled in the space between the bell and the body with soft packing foam. Finally, I have recently put a piece of cork in between the third valve slide (top of the movable bow) and the first valve slide.

The above materials seem to helping to dampen the extra vibrations that the tuba makes, especially in the middle range. This makes the notes speak more clearly and seems to focus the sound alot.

I suppose that these adjustments are highly personal as I am trying to make the 693 blow more my way. I have always preferred older tubas made of thicker metal (York, Conn, etc.) and definitely like the Sovereign for that reason as well.

Anyway, that's the extent of it thus far..........



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