Posted by Lew on October 19, 2001 at 13:36:12:
In Reply to: A Few Good Tuba Players or Too Many? posted by Randy Mac Iver on October 18, 2001 at 18:02:40:
I am the only tuba player in a community band of about 50 members. There are times it would be nice to have 1 or 2 additional tuba players, but most of the time the balance is about right with just me. 6 to 8 seems to be about twice as many as needed for any but the largest band. But, if that's what you have the best thing is to try to make it work.
I would suggest trying to have the tubas meet as a section occasionally. That could mean coming in a half an hour before rehearsal or staying a little after, if possible. You could get some nice tuba ensemble pieces to play as an incentive. By playing as a group everyone should get a better idea of how they balance each other.
I wouldn't have an Eb tuba cover the baritone/euphonium parts. Even the smallest isn't going to have the same tonal quality as a euphonium, and the extreme high end of euphonium parts can sound strained on an Eb tuba unless you have an extremely skilled player. Why don't you learn euphonium, so you can switch to that if the parts aren't covered? It sounds like the tuba parts are certainly covered.