Posted by ambassador on February 15, 2004 at 14:06:42:
In Reply to: AMERICAN & GERMAN posted by LDC on February 15, 2004 at 12:47:21:
"German" is the guy in the lederhosen playing oompah lines on the old no-name tuba with clockspring linkage and a red rope for a strap.
"American" is the guy who takes pictures of him, though "Chinese" and "Japanese" are known for this as well.
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OK, all kidding aside. This is very easy. Here are some examples of state-of-the-art German tubas...
B&S-Perantucci 7P, MW2000, MW2165, and Miraphone 1291...wide bell flares and round "umbrella-like" sound.
Traditional American tubas tend to have taller "chimney"-like bells, such as the detachable upright bell King and Reynolds BBb tubas - along with somewhat smaller one-piece bell Olds and Bach tubas. American "euphoniums", such as Conn, etc. follow this same pattern. Whereas the German Miraphone and Meinl-Weston euphoniums have very large bells and bore sizes, the most prolific American manufacturer, Conn - Elkhart, Indiana, always made their "euphoniums" with narrow bells and bore sizes.
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(Don't take any of this literally. This entire post pokes fun of how blurred, mis-named, and cross-named most styles of tubas tend to be. To communicate clearly, it is best to avoid one-word names and go ahead and describe the physical and sound characteristics of a specific tuba. The very fact that you had no idea what some folks mean by "German" and "American" is a fairly good indicator that these descriptions are at best inadequate and imprecise...whether or not this post receives - as many of mine do - a "pffft" from our cowboy buddie")