Posted by YEAH, RIGHT... on March 26, 2003 at 00:17:10:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Bb or CC for college posted by jon on March 25, 2003 at 23:23:35:
"It's all about how you sound..."
Quite correct. That is really all that matters, in the long run. Get a BBb, CC, heck, get a "BBb and a half" if you can play it well and in tune. Don't worry about the BBb vs. CC hype, get the best horn for the best price that you feel the most comfortable playing. Sure, if you play a BBb, some types of people might look down on you, but if you play well enough they will shut up!
"...and you'll sound better on a CC."
That is a whole load of nonsense. My teacher played his BBb King in the Oregon Symphony for 50 years. He told me that, during his time in the orchestral business, he saw many different brands and keys of tubas go in and out of style all the time; first you HAD to have this brand/key of horn, then you HAD to have that brand/key... None of it mattered in the end. No band/orchestral conductor will be able to tell what key of tuba you are playing in anyway. (Unless they study the fingerings that you are using very closely, and why anyone would do that from the amount of distance between a conductor and most tuba sections is beyond me)
How, logically, can you stand by your claim? By making the statement quoted above, you are assuming that ALL CC tubas sound better than ALL BBb tubas. Sure, there is a greater selection of high quality CC tubas out there right now, but there are a lot of good BBbs too, from Miraphone, Willson, Gronitz, VMI, King/Conn/UMI, etc... There are good and bad examples of every key and every style of every musical instrument. Just buy what you like the best. Don't let anyone tell you that you HAVE to buy any certain kind of horn.
Are you saying that a horn plays "better" simply because it has a shorter length of tubing? Can we conclude, then, that Eb tubas play better than CC, F better than Eb, euphoniums better than tubas in general, and that the piccolo trumpet is the king of all brass instruments?
Play what you like!
C'mon guys, let's end this madness. Sheesh.
-John "I wonder what my teacher would say if I brought a C euphonium to college next year" Edens