Posted by Rick Denney on September 03, 2000 at 15:21:41:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Small vs large bore posted by Dale on September 03, 2000 at 13:00:22:
According to my own measurements, the distance to the conical section is *significantly* different. My York Master has a leadpipe of 16.5 inches, and a cylindrical section through the valves and the first half of the tuning slide of 11 inches. The Miraphone has a leadpipe of 27.6 inches, and stays cylindrical from that point for another 34.8 inches. So, the distance from the mouthpiece to the beginning of the taper is 27.5 inches on the York, and 62.4 inches on the Miraphone, or 227% longer. They end up about the same at the beginning of the bell flare, so the Miraphone must have a faster taper than the York. The two horns sound remarkably different, but there are few other differences of any magnitude, other than the shape of the bell flare. They both have the same volume, for example, and the close to the same bore at the valves.
And we read credible performers who prefer the Besson 981 leadpipe over the 983 leadpipe, because one has a slightly faster taper (or vice versa--I forget which). That is a tiny difference compared to what I measured.
So, I'm inclined to believe that the position of the cylindrical tubing does make a substantial difference. I'm not tempted to say which approach is better. The pendulum swings not because tubas are different, but because that sound in our head that we try to produce changes over time. Did Vinal Smith, who played a small rotary F tuba for nearly everything, have the same sound in his head that Arnold Jacobs did, with his monster York? It just cannot be. Recordings of Roger Bobo within the orchestra, when he was playing a 188, reveal a completely different sound concept than recordings of Jacobs, or really any of the players currently using that style of horn.
Rick "There is a difference" Denney