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Thread: 4/4, etc. ...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    austin, tx
    Posts
    12

    4/4, etc. ...

    'Been searching this site in particular but can't find an answer to the question of: what is the real difference between a 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 or 6/4 tuba, other than size of course? Is the larger size harder to play, more sonorous or just breath-stealing? Is the smaller size less sonorous and the one to use in smaller settings? I'm confused. I'm learning a 4/4 CC and have never played any other so I have no real comparison sense.

    Any info appreciated.

    Thanks.

    nero

    PS--I even see sousaphones sized as 3/4 or 4/4, so there must be some difference(s) or advantage(s).

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,362
    Tubenet is the place to raise this question -- but of course you'll get the usual spectrum of both sincere/useful and cynical/nutty answers there. Just sort through them.

    Here's my perspective ...

    There is no precise answer to these distinctions. They're vague distinctions intended to indicate both the overall size of an instrument coupled with its bore size -- leading to its tonal and performance characteristics. So in general the answer is that 6/4 horns are bigger (and larger bore size) than 5/4 horns, which are bigger than 4/4 horns ... How much bigger? No answer to that, and you will see debates about where a given instrument falls in that spectrum. Is this a useful distinction? Mostly not. Just a rough comparison. A 3/4 instrument is of course NOTICEABLY smaller than a 6/4 instrument. A 3/4 might be good for a young player, an old player who has lost strength, someone who just doesn't want to lug around a larger horn, playing in small "street corner" groups (Red Kettle bands at Xmas, little Dixieland groups on the street, etc.). But you wouldn't want it if you were the only tuba in a 60+ member community band.

    Yes, to some degree the much larger size is harder to play. But even this is not universally true. For years I played a 4/4 Cerveny 781 that is virtually identical to a Miraphone 186. Kind of a medium/large bore. With some mouthpieces it would suck the wind out of me. With others, not. A few years ago I got to try a really beautiful old King 3-valve bell-front horn that was significantly smaller bore. It sucked the air out of me. It, too, would be considered 4/4.

    The received view is that you need at least a 4/4 -- and preferably a 5/4 or 6/4 -- CC (or in Europe, BBb) tuba to support an orchestra. Yet for eons the Brits have been doing fine with compensating EEb horns in this role for most pieces.

    The larger size is (in general, other things being equal) more sonorous and "organ-like", and can produce greater volume without the sound breaking up. But all of this is relative to the specific instrument, its design, and how that design has been implemented. Also, there are tubas that are "3/4 size" but not really "3/4 tubas". They're 4/4 tubas that are just wrapped more tightly. And there are tubas that are as large overall as 6/4 tubas, but don't have the larger bore size and are simply a more open wrap.

    All this is a long-winded way of saying what I started out with: The distinction is a rough and relative one pertaining to overall size, bore size, maybe how conical the instrument (and particularly bugle/bell section) is, and tonal and performance characteristics. It's like saying that one mouthpiece is "deep", another is "medium deep", another is "very deep", etc. Doesn't really tell you much of anything.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

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