One of my favorite subjects to share with musical buddies... Every practise session of mine will cover scale work and some etudes that I´ve known for ages: When I break out the Kopprasch, I realize I may look at the notes, but don´t actually read them. I play old tunes from memory, a lot, and might i ...

I totally agree with the notion that Taco ingredients will contribute an integral part to a well-balanced, healthy diet. Same goes with taco shells, provided you prepare those from scratch using flour (doesn´t really matter which kind, but I guess corn will be the original), water and maybe a pinch ...

Very easy: So What ?!? Embrace it. Slides don´t need grease, they need a lubrication that will keep them mobile and provide a seal to prevent air from leaking out. Back in pre-industrial times (and for quite a while into mass production) when tolerances were wide, grease (deer serbium) was the best ...

I consider my horns to be the equivalent of the motorbikes or fancy stereos others keep and cherish: A joy in my life that is nobody else´s business and doesn´t really need justification. That being said, I still can offer the reasons why I bought and keep each of my current five instruments, as w ...

I doubt that any person in this thread takes issue with other people´s choice of gear. Everybody has their personal reason for that choice. Problems arise if those preferences do not line up with an increasing populace´s "modus operandi". It is quite customary, NOWADAYS, to receive eMail with pdf f ...

When I was studying mech. engineering in Karlsruhe, Germany, they had TWO big bands with the typical line-up (4x trp, 4x trb, 5x reeds, rhythm section), but different set of people. One was a "Big Band" doing jazz arrangements. The other was the "Uni Tanzorchester". NO jazz arrangements, but a huge ...

Back when I was in youth band, we had a 2" ring folder with about 70 pieces (each page put in brochure covers) plus a small book of standard German marches https://www.blasmusik-shop.de/Das-grosse-Marschbuch tucked in a small pouch that was on the inside of that folder. The whole setup weighs a ton ...

We do that in community band on our winter season´s main concert. https://www.harmoniemusik-buers.at/blog/page/7 => You need to scroll down a little to get to the concert pictures. One of our percussionists has a company providing technical services to events (sound- and light systems) and likes to ...

//Sometimes being German comes in handy: plastic (the noun) is written "Plastik" (with a capital "P") and is a colloquial expression for "Kunststoff", which both serve as generic terms for industrially processed material that is neither metallic, ceramic, biological nor mineral in nature. Plastic ...

That´s the one. Thanks.

You pretty much nailed it.
If your colleague couldn´t get it according to your description, I doubt he´d be able to appreciate further intricacies such as subtracting valves and all that...

Do we know old 6/4 model names of MW BBb tubas (esp. BBb)? MW built some really fat 6/4 instruments, with bores well beyond 20mm. Not QUITE the size of a Rudy 8/4, but still impressive. Very compact, wide body, tall and fat bell, maybe slightly larger than 20" in diameter. Surprisingly light weight ...

O my Goodness!!!
His starting note was incredibly low and resonant already.
And THEN he´s like "You ain´t heard nothing, yet..."
This guy must have voice chords designed by Rudy Meinl...

The first tuba I played was "Heinrich", a 3-valved 3/4 BBb that used to hang on the wall in our house for years when bored, flugelhorn-playing me chose to polish and then play it, ending up in dropping flgh. altogether. My second horn was "Chantal", a Melton 46 I paid for myself as an undergrad ...

At that rate, it may be more beneficial to travel there yourself and transport the books in your luggage...

Thanks for that translation chart a few posts above.
Imagine somebody trying to dictate a more complicated, heavily subdivided rhythm in that terminology...

My suggestion: 196 Fasolt and Hagen 497 might form one category, (modern, 6/4 "Germanic" BBb) while 195 Fafner and Hagen 496 might form another. (modern, 5/4 "Germanic" BBb) It may be noted that MW developed the 195 quite a while ago, after which the model 25 received a very similar valve piping, as ...

Unfortunately, that survey suggests that tubas are either stinkers or winners. I´d argue a VERY high percentage were neither, but good enough to raise eyebrows and cause the hype-of-the-season for maybe a year or so, until the next hyped model came about. I´ll throw in HAGEN and MW 197/2 on BBb and A ...

Well, in that case You seem to be well connected already, and already have some tuba-mileage under Your belt. So if You want "advice-by-wire" over forae like this one, maybe You have some more specific questions. The answers to many of these are just one entry into the "search" function away, and ...

Mark, in an earlier post You mentioned the Melton 2011 RA. I´m using its FA sibling, which at 17 mm bore definitely is on the small end of 3/4 tubas bordering to 2/4. But it sounds bigger than it looks, and sure provides LOTS of fun and a solid "bark" if needed. I like to use it when I´m the only t ...