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Re: Low Tuba Notes

Adrian Drover (Brass Band List wrote:
> 
> As an arranger I like to write the occasional super-low notes that were not
> possible on the old 3-valve tubas. Four valves, compensating systems and wider
> bores have enabled better quality and easier production of these notes.
> However, I am sometimes at a loss to decide which of the instruments, Eb or Bb,
> should take the lowest note in the score.
> 
> It is evident that the concert pitch notes F & E, 4 ledger lines below the bass
> clef, are easier to produce on the Bb instrument using 4th valve for F and 2+4
> for E. On the Eb instrument these two notes are stuffy and difficult to bend
> into tune, due to the combination of 1st, 3rd & 4th valves, which is outside
> the scope of the compensating system. It also makes sense to give the larger
> instrument the lowest note.
> 
> But what about the notes just below this register?
> 
> Note    Eb tuba       Bb tuba
> 
> Eb      0	     1+4
> D       2	     1+2+4 (or 3+4)
> Db      1	     2+3+4
> C       1+2 (or 3)    1+3+4
> B       2+3	   1+2+3+4
> 
> It would seem that the smaller Eb instrument (using pedal tones) now has the
> advantage over its big brother (confined to stuffy 2nd harmonic valve
> combinations) in producing a clear, in tune note.
> 
> Below this register, BBb downward, the Bb tuba becomes king again.
> 
> I look forward to comments from other arranger/composers and tuba players on
> this subject.
> 
> Cheers, Adrian
> 
> PS. My apologies to British Brass Banders for using the word *tuba* instead of
> *bass*.
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Hi, Adrian.

NOW we're getting into a subject that I feel warrants more discussion;
namely the stuffiness of the compensating tubas. The use of compensating
Bb tubas has created a problem in the range you talk about, ie: Db-C-B,
because using a combination of 3rd & 4th (thereby bringing the extra
compensation tubing into the equation) adds a few more bends to the
tubing we could well do without. 
Writing the parts on the Eb tuba part goes a little way to bridging that
gap, but the timbre of the Eb tuba in this range is a little less warm,
so this is not always successful in acheiving a seamless transition to
the lowest notes. My gut feeling would be to stick to the Bb tuba to
play the extreme low register, unless, of course you are aiming for a
thinner, more edgy sound.ie: Baritone sax parts on Eb tuba,
Contra-bassoon parts (refer to the Shotakovich "Age of Gold" ballet
suite) written on 2nd euphonium, etc. etc. 
Alternatively, you could always get the band movement to finally bite
the bullet and start to use non-compensating tubas with bells that "face
the other way". (And there opens the can of worms!!)
"But non-compensating "basses" are out of tune", I hear the cry!! 
Tubas which do not use the compensating system have received extremely
bad press over the years, mainly from bass players who don't know how to
play them. "you have to keep pulling the slides in and out" and "we
tried them, and had nothing but trouble with tuning" are some of the
complaints I hear!
The basic problem is that "bass" players have become lazy, and have come
to look on the 4th valve as something of a "octave key". The reality is
that the compensating system has done the thinking for them and when a
player picks up an instrument without the compensating system they
invariably get themselves into trouble by trying to use the same
fingering as their usual horn. What has to be remembered is, when a
player using a Bb tuba presses his/her 4th valve, he/she is effectively
now playing an instrument pitched in F. However, the slides associated
with their respective valves are still the length required for a Bb tuba
and thus, need to be lengthened proportionately to compensate for this.
(which the compensating tubas do automatically, but at the expense of
clearness of tone) The correct (not alternative) fingerings to be used
on a non-compensating tuba are as follows. 
Orchestral tuba players will know what I am talking about, so I will
refer to the written pitch as used by brass band players.

		Compensating		Non-Compensating
G1+3 or 4		1+3 or 4
Gb/F#		1+2+3 or 2+4		1+2+3 or 2+4
F		1+4			1+2+4 (or 1+4 with a lot of extended 1st slide)
E		1+2+4			2+3+4
Eb		2+3+4			1+3+4
D		1+3+4			1+2+3+4
Db		1+2+3+4			1+2+3+4 and a lot of slide pulling or buy a 5 valve tuba. 
C		0			0

The valve combinations are always better if used in conjunction with a
well trained left hand for the slight adjustment of the slides that
(strangely enough!!) are very neatly fitted in that general area; after
all, slides were not designed merely to let water out!! The amount of
adjustment will vary from one tuba to the next. This takes a little
getting used to, but the amazing openness of the sound quality of these
horns due merely to their construction was enough to convince me.

I'll get off my soap box now!!
Cheers,
Adrian J. Raven


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