Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 22, 2003 at 19:06:08:
In Reply to: CC / Eb players -- why Eb and not F? posted by Steve Inman on June 22, 2003 at 15:07:06:
For me, the bottom line was the response on the Eb versus the F. I was much more comfortable blowing the Eb. Just how much more comfortable you ask? Here's the answer:
The very first orchestral audition I ever took was the opening for Pittsburgh, back when Sumner won it. On the first round list was Benvenuto Cellini. I was just getting into bass tuba then so I was learning on the school's Meinl-Weston F. I don't remember the model number but I thought this was a horrible instrument. The intonation was funky, I couldn't get certain notes to speak at all (can anybody say "low C"?), and the left hand 5th valve had a tendency to stick (another funny story regarding that, ask me someday after I've had a few). In my last year of high school, the brass ensemble went on a short tour and we played at a school that had a bunch of really old instruments that were going to be thrown away. Among them was an American Standard 3 valve upright Eb. I was allowed to take this horn home with me. It was really a piece of junk, most of the braces were gone, no fingercaps on the valves, lots of dents including a mashed bell. This horn looked so bad that when I brought it home, my mother asked me "Are you kidding?". She thought so little of the horn that, for my graduation party, she took the thing out in the back yard, spray painted it with gold paint, wired it to a tree in the backyard, and stuffed a bunch of flowers in the bell.
So back to the Pittsburgh audition, I was undecided about which horn to use on the Berlioz. I brought my copy of the part, with fingerings maked in for both Eb and F, and decided to bring both horns. I figured I'd play them both the morning of the audition and whichever sounded best, that would be the one I'd use. Well, rather than bring the awful sounding Meinl-Weston horn onstage, I decided that the Eb sounded best. You should have seen the eyes of the audition proctor as he led me onstage with that rattle-trap horn in tow. Ironically, the Berlioz went really well. I didn't advance because I botched Meistersinger but afterwards the proctor told me how amazed he was that I could even get a sound out of the spray painted contraption.
I tried several different F tubas after that but all of them had the same problem for me. Then I tried the newly released Yamaha 321 Eb. I bought one immediately. It felt great, all the notes were there, and the intonation was okay. The only reason I eventually sold that horn is because I didn't feel it could put out enough sound for my work here in the orchestra. There are some days when I wish I hadn't sold it.
There are very few CC or BBb tubas that can get as light a sound as a bass tuba. In my experience, none of them have the added security in the upper range, nor the ability to play as delicately as most bass tubas, Eb or F. Only the biggest Eb tubas require some mouthpiece adjustment to get those results. No matter how you slice it, there is a difference between the bass and contrabass tubas. The only combo I can think of that starts to blur that line is the Yamaha 621 F & CC. Very similar tubas. The rest are distinctly different.
My opinion for what it's worth...