German? American? A rose by any other...


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Posted by Rick Denney on July 02, 2001 at 10:39:43:

I'm just back from a highly enjoyable and productive trip to the Colorado Plateau. I burned enough film to provide ore for years of mining prints, assuming even a small fraction turned out as I envisioned them at the time.

It is hard to wax poetical about the difference between the German and American sound with your feet dangling over a thousand-foot vertical cliff. It just doesn't seem important. Even so, the two big discussions still visible on the board upon my return beckon comment from the person least qualified to judge the difference.

Dale Phelps said it best: The German concept is a column of sound, more about core than foundation. And (my words) the American sound builds foundation and breadth, floating distinct under the other tonalities rather than tightly integrating with them. Dale used the word "blossom" in respect to the American sound. So, to Ken, this is my response to your request for a description.

Bear in mind that not all players can reveal the inherent characteristics of different instruments. Mike Sanders could get more blossom out of the cheap Cerveny stencil that I had when I studied with him than I could out of his Yorkbrunner (or one like it).

Regarding F tubas: I like Sean's notion that the German F tuba is more steerable in the hands of a master than instruments of other inspiration. But I don't agree that the Yamaha (at least the 621) sounds like a euphonium or like a contrabass. I have played that instrument extensively over the years, including a sustained (if you can call a year sustained) professional gig with a tuba quartet. The principle characteristic of the Yamaha sound was that it blended without being lost. It was a clear middle voice, far more tuba-like than the big British-style euphonium being used on the second part, but still lighter and brighter than the Miraphone 186 CC being used on the fourth part. Each voice could be highly distinct, but we still got compliments that when we passed around the melody the sound stayed consistent.

I would characterize the Yamaha 621 sound as being similar to the Miraphone 186 sound, in the context of F tubas. Folks who love the Miraphone tend to like the Yamaha for an F tuba, and folks who eschew the Miraphone sound tend not to much like the Yamaha sound. Exceptions, of course, abound.

My main point is contained in the phrase "the context of F tubas." I want an F tuba that sounds like an F tuba, but plays like a contrabass, which I'm used to. The Yamaha is perfect for that. The German F's have a unique sound, but play like German F's, and require a different approach and a different set of expectations.

When I visted Dillon Music, I played my Yamaha side-by-side with several characteristic German F's, including a B&S, a Culbertson-model VMI, and a Meinl-Weston. All of them had a smoothness that the Yamaha lacked. By comparison, the Yamaha was more direct and present, with less mystery and ambience. In my opinion, that directness has musical merit in many applications, including a lot of money-making applications. But I don't include orchestral tuba playing among those applications, and it isn't the reason I bought the Yamaha (though i used it quite successfully when appropriate in an amateur orchestra).

When the player is playing German music that demands an F tuba with the ability to integrate with the other tonalities, then the German F is classically German in its ability to do so. For many applications, such as in chamber groups, where the literature requires a strong low register and distinct voices but where a contrabass might create too heavy a sound, an F with a more American concept might do better.

By the way, I include the Yamaha 621 and 822 instruments in the American camp because they were both designed and perfected by players and instrument makers steeped in the American tradition, such as Renold Schilke, Chuck Daellenbach, and Jim Self. As Sean rightly points out, we tend to prefer the sound we grew up with.

Rick "working out the intontation tendencies of a Lakota flute this week" Denney


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