Characteristic Tone

[bloke]

It probably would make me look more smart and more wise to use fancier words and talk around the edges of the topic...
...but playing very low pitches on tubas with a big round resonant sound requires that the lips be QUITE far apart, which also requires that more air be rushing past them to make them resonate.
Those who never achieve this possibly just never believe how separated the lips must be to do this, and how much more air is required to make the lips vibrate, when they are that separated.
I could say more, but have grown weary of going ‘round-and-‘round with the same two or three people (who’ve never posted examples of their playing) about the same thing.

[Stryk]

...but playing very low pitches on tubas with a big round resonant sound requires that the lips be QUITE far apart, which also requires that more air be rushing past them to make them resonate.
Those who never achieve this possibly just never believe how separated the lips must be to do this, and how much more air is required to make the lips vibrate, when they are that separated.

^ ^ ^ ^
THIS

I think the same, for the most part, is true of all registers. Open airway, lower tongue, open teeth, open lips as far as possible without losing pitch, blah, blah, blah. To play loudly on a sousaphone, like some of those tuba section videos, I can close my teeth, lift the back of my tongue, and blow like hell - BOOM, there is the "desired" by many sousaphone sections sound.

[Mary Ann]

It probably would make me look more smart and more wise to use fancier words and talk around the edges of the topic...
...but playing very low pitches on tubas with a big round resonant sound requires that the lips be QUITE far apart, which also requires that more air be rushing past them to make them resonate.
Those who never achieve this possibly just never believe how separated the lips must be to do this, and how much more air is required to make the lips vibrate, when they are that separated.
I could say more, but have grown weary of going ‘round-and-‘round with the same two or three people (who’ve never posted examples of their playing) about the same thing.

That is why I have one second or less of a low range note....with so little lung capacity, that's it if enough air is used. I really should have been an oboe player, because I can hold my breath forever but don't have much of it.

[sweaty]

what I call the "splat and blat" school of music

Stryk,

This 8-year-old video of Blatt and Splat is really terrific. I may be a bit biased.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_KWv4-CgQE

[pjv]

I haven't noticed spat & blatt, but then again, I don't listen to high school half time music.

I have noticed that unless there's a typical style people want to hear (like NOLA or Balkan) non-tuba players prefer a tuba to sound clean. Sound techs love the F tuba. (they're going to give you as much bass as THEY want anyway)

Except maybe bass trombone players. They want you to go toe to toe with them.
Fair enough.

[grayax]

I tend not to watch too many of those videos, but it could also be a product of the room they are playing in. When I got my beat up 1241, the sound was so far off from what I remembered a 1241 sounding like, I wondered if the damage had altered the sound. My basement, while mostly open (unfinished) has a regular height basement ceiling. The rest of my house is no better. It sounded like a sousaphone but with a low frequency rolloff around the second line Bb. I took it to work (we have a good-sized performance space) and it sounded immensely better. When I pick up one of the 6/4s, I have similar poor sound problems when I'm in the practice room. The smaller rooms with low (8' or so) ceilings just aren't big enough to handle to handle the low frequency soundwaves. Even my garage with a 10' ceiling isn't big enough. However, I don't doubt that there isn't a bit of showing off in those videos.