Posted by Rick Denney on March 18, 2001 at 15:19:08:
In Reply to: TOO BIG? posted by Janne on March 17, 2001 at 12:05:32:
I have no credentials to address this topic as a player, so I'll address it as a listener.
One of the pros I studied with in the distant past plays one of those big York-o-phones, and he also plays an F tuba not that different from yours but older. I heard him do a recital, and he played most of it on the F tuba. But he also played a piece with a brass quintet, and he used the 6/4 CC. Despite his excellent taste and control, it was too big and lacked real clarity to my ears. A smaller C would have been more appropriate.
But he apparently could only own two tubas at the time, and as a symphony player he had to cover that base and make other trade-offs. His plan was to purchase a 4/4 horn similar to his 6/4 horn, but I don't know how that turned out.
I'd hate to have nothing between a Bobcat garden bulldozer and Goliath earthmover. It seems to me that the PT-6 is a biggish horn that could cover orchestra gigs better than a 6/4 could cover chamber music. But it depends on the kind of music you play.
Rick "There is such a thing as too big" Denney