Re: Sound before anything.....


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Posted by Joe S. on July 10, 1999 at 02:59:39:

In Reply to: Sound before anything..... posted by Art on July 10, 1999 at 01:06:14:

I don't quite buy into that. Most people who play other types (other than tubas) of wind instruments see sound as ONE aspect of their instrument. INTONATION and FACILITY (As a former Alex CC owner, I can say that those two things are NOT Alex "bragging points".) seem to be the two other EQUALLY important concerns on most types of wind instruments, and most players figure that if the SOUND is quite good right off the bat, they will figure out a way (or not, and sell it) to get a GREAT sound of it. We tuba players (not every single one of us, but generally) can be quoted as repeating the mantra "Sound is everything.", but if we had to play some of the passages that other types of instrumentalists are expected to play with great frequency and exposure, we might change our collective tune to "Sound is IMPORTANT." As an example of a fairly common thing that some CC tuba players put up with, I personally think that having to play "open" G (bottom of the staff) with 1 & 3 is not only a devasting technical distraction, but a bad musical distraction. (This specific example is NOT an Alex problem.)

Sound is derned IMPORTANT to me, but I don't place it above intonation, nor above the ability to get around the instrument. I have been lured into quite a few CC purchases over the past twenty-five years because of sound alone, and in the future when I buy (or make) another CC, sound will be A factor, not THE factor. I've known some fabulous players - trumpet, trombone, french horn, baritone, tuba, sax, flute... - who played instruments that were known more for their superior intonation and/or facility than their sound (just one example: Rich Matteson and his Yamaha YEP-321), and they still made those instruments sound as nice as you could ever wish to hear.

I realize that there is opportunity in this post for offense. None at all was intended, but I wanted to offer a different view, if for no other reason to beckon more views on this subject. I have been searching for just the right CC tuba for twenty-five years, and have owned, played extensively, and sold at least ten. Currently, I don't have one.


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