Posted by Rick Denney on October 02, 2002 at 15:11:35:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Old F Tubas vs. New F Tubas posted by MA on October 02, 2002 at 13:37:57:
And here are some lines that I wrote: I wish I had a euphonium that sounded anything like my Yamaha 621, which has a low register that doesn't require an alternate view of the universe for this sad hobbyist. But with the small mouthpiece that it came with, it does indeed sound like a euphonium, and the instrument really needs a gen-yoo-ein contrabass mouthpiece.
But Klaus and the others are right. The instruments that open up in the low register does so at the expense of some other quality. The 621 is a little rambunctious, and not what I would call highly refined. For lots of different kinds of music it is perfect, but there are times when the more refined sound would be more appealing. But not if it means I can't get a low C that sounds worth a darn.
My friends like the sound of me playing the 621. Whatever mix of faults that combination represents, the result is effective. I wish I was as good with larger tubas.
The newer instruments seem to be better. I think it has to do with overall size, which is related to taper design. Newer F tubas are bigger than old ones, with seemingly bigger boes and faster tapers. The Yamaha is small, but the leadpipe tapers up quickly and the instrument has a wide bell throat similar to a Besson. But it plays more easily than any Besson I've ever tried.
The F tuba with the floating, ethereal sound, but that also has a solid low register that feels like it sounds, is the new Miraphone 181. I really like that tuba, and it would be high on my short list for a new F tuba if I wanted to expand to that kind of sound. The Willson is also a wonderful F tuba, but it's sound concept is more contrabass than big F.
I'm not sure it's so much of a culture thing. It is more likely to be that on this side of the pond we train our lips to work well on big contrabasses, with the F tuba a sideline, while the Europeans do just the opposite.
Rick "who indeed wrote these lines" Denney