Posted by Joe S. on July 10, 1999 at 18:32:44:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Sound before anything..... posted by Steve Marcus on July 10, 1999 at 05:35:27:
Steve, I'm looking for ALL THREE: sound, intonation, facility >> I am an unrealistically picky -------, aren't I? I'm not sure that $XX,XXX job does it for me. I have tried them several times in the past - money in hand, and it seems to me that the open notes' intonation was excellent, but when I started adding valves, things went haywire (intonation: B). The sound on that 4/4 model seems to be nice in the living room volume levels, but seems to get REALLY BRIGHT when you try to make it "talk" (sound: B). That particular "high $" 4/4 that you, I think, are referring to is REALLY easy to get around on, though (facility: A++)...
Maybe the YEP-321/Rich Matteson example wasn't a great one, because he didn't particularly need a euphonium that would make the roundest, tubbiest sound.
I realize that, intonation wise, CC tubas as a class of instruments more resemble Caribbean steel drums than they do "well-tempered clavier"s, but comparing what we deal with and accept, CC tuba-wise, to what the typical "artist"-level flautist is looking for and will tolerate, could you imagine a serious flautist saying, "Hey! Listen to the fantastic sound this flute makes! So what if six or seven notes are 25 or 30 cents sharp and are very difficult to deal with. I am just going to have to learn how to play this flute because of its unbelievable sound!" << NOT IN A MILLION YEARS. The flautist would play a few scales and tunes, make a funny face, and set the instrument down.
I know that somewhere out there is a tuba that I would love, and those few of you that ALREADY own rare CC instuments like that are sitting back very quietly with your eyebrows raised, right now.