High Pitch to Modern Pitch

[bbocaner]

"High pitch" on instruments of this age usually means they are designed to operate at A=452.4hz, although there was some fluctuation and sometimes instruments are slightly higher or slightly lower. In this case, the instrument also included a main tuning slide designed to bring the instrument down to "low pitch" which was A=439hz, and this alternate tuning slide has managed to remain with the instrument.

So you have an instrument that's designed to play at or around 452 with a long tuning slide extending it out to 439. 439 is close enough to 440 that usually you can push it in far enough to get up to 440, but you won't have much wiggle room if your ensemble plays on the high side. This can be cut if need be. The 1-3 valve slides are designed to be played at 452 however they probably have enough pull to get them to the correct spot for 440. The issue is that the instrument doesn't function the way it was designed acoustically when you introduce several extra inches of cylindrical tubing to what's supposed to be a conical instrument. Most of these older instruments aren't wonderful to begin with, but the results of doing this are mixed. Some instruments tolerate it much better than others.

It looks like a beautiful instrument in great shape for its age. Congrats on the purchase! Hopefully it works as well as the seller describes.

[ghmerrill]

Most of these older instruments aren't wonderful to begin with, but the results of doing this are mixed. Some instruments tolerate it much better than others.

That's a big part of the consideration here. My 1924 Buescher is a kick to play, but it was never a particularly good tuba.

[highpitch]

Admittedly it is not a euph, or even closely related; My 1917 Conn mellophone.

It is in high A=452 pitch, and complete with a low pitch A=440 main slide extension.

The horn is designed to play in C, D, and Eb.

The valve slides have shallow annular grooves to accommodate pulling to the right spot for the desired pitch & key.

Pretty smart engineering for a horn playable in every situation.

Too bad older larger horns weren't done this way.

Dennis

[ghmerrill]

Yeah, it's interesting to look at some of the old (Buescher, Conn, etc.) advertisements and see the offerings for instruments (typically trumpets and cornets) that were designed to play in both high pitches and low pitches -- or in different keys by swapping slides.

I suspect that one reason it wasn't done for the larger instruments was the difference in added weight. And another might be because it seems to make more sense to do this with transposing instruments (where a goal is keep fingerings the same across the family of differently pitched horns) as opposed to non-transposing instruments like a tuba where there's just one part for "tuba" and not different parts (British brass band some European contexts excepted) for BBb, CC, Eb, and F tubas.

There is, however, at least one non-transposing instrument where extra slides are commonly provided (for some of the high-end horns) to throw the horn into a different pitch: double valve bass trombones. But even there, it's not quite the same approach or for the same goals as the old multiply pitched high brass.

[Euphitone97]

I got it today and have been doing some cursory tooting on it before hooking it up with a tuner. First impressions are that it plays MUCH better than my previous double bell (which was the entire goal of this purchase). Intonation is not quite as good as my Wessex (to be expected) but it was not bad. My Wessex has one problem note, which is the B at the bottom of the staff. This double bell has four problem notes that I have noticed so far, which are second space C (very flat on fourth valve), middle line Db (very flat) fouth space G (quite sharp), and first ledger C (very flat). Everything else seemed relatively close that "normal lipping" should be able to compensate.

I have not really tested the second bell yet. An update on that will come later.

To put this into perspective, on my previous double bell (a 1920 King), almost half the notes were problem notes, though this was likely caused by the VERY worn valves. This made it virtually unplayable in any ensemble, so I got rid of it. So far I am happy with it replacement.

[Euphitone97]

I have play-tested it in two different ensembles (one was semi-proffessional), and it turns out that this double bell plays quite reasonably in tune in all registers when I use a 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece. Anything bigger will pull the whole instrument irreparably flat. No regrets with my purchase at all!