Re: Chicago York


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Posted by Frederick J. Young on January 14, 2001 at 08:52:29:

In Reply to: Chicago York posted by Tom B. on January 13, 2001 at 00:56:16:

I have played Arnold Jacobs York many times and I didn't care for it. It had the same intonation problems that the tubas of that era had. The bore through the valves is only about 0.75, small indeed when you consider that piston valves have such terrible internal bends in them. Arnold and I measured his harmonic content in his basement at S. Normal St. and found very large amounts of high harmonic. His screw out mouthpiece was an attempt to lower the amount of high harmonics.

As far as the metal in the instrument, I feel it makes no difference what it is made of. Robert Young and I did a lengthy study on trumpets and found that the average symphonic player could not tell the difference between a silver, brass, copper or concrete herald trumpet. Hundreds of trials were done with professional players behind a screen and almost 100 professionals listening. It was a statistically proper experiment.

If you check Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart under trumpet, you shall find a curve that indicates that the bloated taper the York exhibits after the valve section makes the open tones out of tune.

In summary I think it is time tubists stopped living in the past and started to try some of the new developments before the instrument becomes a fat bass trombone!


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