Posted by Rick Denney on June 17, 2002 at 11:00:20:
In Reply to: Discriminated BBb and Eb ??? posted by Volker on June 15, 2002 at 09:37:14:
Fashion is part of it. Sound concept is also part of it. Many pros in American orchestras are going for a sound concept that has been accommodated mostly with C instruments. Many pros in Germany have a sound concept that has been accommodated both in Bb and F instruments. Tradition has a large role in this selection, but with a practical result: You can't buy what isn't offered for sale.
Also, any aspiring pro wants to distinguish himself from his high-school bandmates who are destined to be amateurs. This is one aspect of being young. So, he buys his own tuba and gets a C, because That's What Pros Use. Now that most good high-schoolers are using C tubas, it's becoming almost chic to buck the trend and play a Bb, but that chicness will always be held back by Bb sousaphones--the enemy instrument of most aspiring pros. The mini-trend back to Eb instruments is an aspect of that, too, and it further along.
It is also true that aspiring pros will have to please their teachers, and many teachers are not open-minded enough on this subject. Thus, the aspiring pro playing a Bb tuba will have to overcome his teacher's prejudice. Who needs that? The switch to C is therefore a practical step for one who wants a career in music. If switching to C has no positive musical consequences, then it also has no negative musical consequences, and keeps the student from having to overcome this wall of prejudice. I suspect that this transition takes place long before the student reaches his first professional audition. If the Bb player survives to this point playing Bb, I don't see his chances of winning an audition any diminished by this choice. In fact, I'd doubt that the audition committee would be able to tell the difference by looking at the instrument, and I know they would not be able to tell by hearing.
I'd like to refute the notion that Bb tubas necessarily sound different than C tubas. A bad Bb tuba won't be as good as a good C tuba, and there are lots of bad Bb tubas out there in comparison to relatively few bad C tubas. But, as I've recounted before, my band director, who is himself a world-class tuba player, could not determine by hearing, or by looking from the distance of the podium, whether my York Master was a Bb or C tuba. That anecdote alone puts the issue to rest in my mind. (By the way, he plays an Eb in addition to his C.)
I chose an F tuba because I wanted an instrument for playing high parts in an amateur orchestra, and an F tuba came to me for a price I could not resist. I didn't consider an Eb tuba, because there were no Eb tubas made for that application available in that price range. There still aren't. I replaced that first F tuba with a Yamaha F tuba that I bought as a demonstrator for $3000 about a dozen years ago. That price was much higher than a battered old Monster Eb bass, and there were no five-valved Eb tubas on the market at that time. In those days, only the Besson presented itself as a pro-quality Eb tuba, but I didn't like them then and frankly don't much like them now as a matter of personal preference. But even the Besson was never present in the shows of those days where I could try them out, though I was able to play-test four or five F tubas. Things have changed since then.
So, using myself as an example of a well-equipped amateur, I've ended up, as a result of what was available for my price, playing Bb and F. If someone challenges me on why, I can claim to be part German, but of course I didn't get to where I am along that path at all. But who cares? I'm quite sure those instruments are not holding me back.
Rick "who thinks you might find fewer CC tubas in the hands of older amateurs than you think" Denney