Posted by js on November 11, 2001 at 23:30:52:
I'm going to attempt to re-start a discussion that Jay B. and I got into at the end of a thread a long time ago. I think Jay was beginning to agree that I might have made a good point, but I can't remember for sure. It involves the timbre of a tuba's sound and intonation.
I would say (and some fine trombone players have made this observation separately from me and spoken to me about it) that tubas with less overtones in their sound (those that are "darker" - what-have-you) are not as easy to critique regarding their intonation. In other words, tubas that have fewer overtones ringing in their sound provide fewer intonation "clues" as to how in or out-of-tune pitches are.
I think this partially explains why many people (tuba players, trombonists, conductors, and others) really like some of the wide-belled 6/4 tubas - even the ones with really stinky intonation (by the standards of a fine professional principal oboist, for example). As long as the pitch is within 10-15 cents and has a wide deep sound...it pleases most everyone.
On the other hand, if a long-throated tuba is more than 3-4 cents out of tune with the trombones, the problems become quite obvious, because the overtones give too many context clues as to the intonation of the fundamental pitch.
Please understand, I'm not criticizing 6/4 tubas...I've owned them, loved them, dealt with their intonation, and am in the process of building another one (hopefully with a better scale than some I've played, but we'll have to see).
I was playing "Pictures" on my B&S F tonight (because the Willson CC that I borrowed has been sitting up and I'm going to have to do some work on pistons # 1 and 2 before I can use the Willson CC on the concerts Thur.-Sun.) and noticed that the intonation with the bass trombone is MUCH more critical when using it. The Willson CC just seemed like all I had to do was blow on it and most anything reasonably close sounded good...' simply not the case with the B&S F.
This experience just reminded me of past observations, and reinforced my beliefs regarding this. Any comments/rebuttals/embellishments/recollections that would reinforce or refute my observations?