Posted by Rick Denney on March 05, 2003 at 12:22:57:
In Reply to: Re: Re: on a quest posted by on a quest on March 04, 2003 at 17:58:02:
I think that even I would notice if one was more than 15 or 20 cents sharp, and I have not noticed that on any of the rotary F's I've tried. I'm sensitive to these notes being sharp, too, because those notes are in the fourth partial of my BBb tubas, and the two of those I play most often are a bit flat there. So, I'm somewhat accustomed to pulling those pitches up a bit. If an F was sharp on those notes, I'd probably feel it.
But it is true that the third partial on lots of tubas tend sharp as you add more valves--this is true for my York Master for sure. Playing 3 instead of 1-2 is my standard technique on that horn.
Incidentally, most F tubas intended for the European market may be set up so that 3 works better than 1-2 for the A, because the use of 3 by itself seems to be common practice there. I was watching Roland Szentpali in a recital a year or so ago, and he routinely used 3 where most of us would use 1-2. In his case it was definitely not the exception. He was playing a 45SLP, but it seemed to be built into his thinking.
What instruments have you tried?
Rick "adding a couple of data points" Denney