Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Nel Culbertson tubas


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Posted by Rick Denney on November 05, 2002 at 09:22:04:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Nel Culbertson tubas posted by mat on November 04, 2002 at 22:39:36:

I don't think I understand the notion that an American-style tuba would suck the air out of you. That doesn't fit with the descriptions used by the greats who have played on the big York tubas. For example, Arnold Jacobs reported that his York "gives you 6/4 coming out with 4/4 going in" and that the instrument was "an old man's tuba." Mike Sanders, who plays an early Yorkbrunner, told me about a year after he'd bought the horn that he'd had to learn how to relax and let the horn do the work.

I've always associated the notion of a horn requiring gobs of the free stuff with the giant-bore rotary tubas. Mike told me many years ago that his Alexander would do anything, but the player had to make it happen. He told me more recently that he'd had an opportunity to play that instrument again after many years, and found it to be a lot of work to get the effect he wanted.

Based on these anecdotes and on my own experiences, I'd conclude that the big American-style horns are efficient compared with the big rotary tubas, in that they increase the dynamic range of the player to a greater extent. But the tradeoff might be that they are not as versatile as a big rotary in the hands of a master.

I don't think it's a matter of the valves. I've always considered the Meinl-Weston 2165, for example, to be closer to the German feel than the American feel, despite the piston valves. The first time I tried to play one, I found I could hardly make notes on it at all. At that same time, however, I was able to play a Yorkbrunner as well as smaller tubas. My sense of the Neptune is that it is more like the big German rotary tubas than the American-style tubas, and I would suggest that they are enormously capable instruments in the hands of masters. As a hobbyist, I found it difficult to manage--far more difficult than, say, my 20J, which is similar in size.

Rick "who thinks the ability of the player affects the usefulness of particular instruments" Denney


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