Comfort vs Joy

[bort2.0]

I often think that the tuba that beings me the most joy, is not the tuba with which I am the most comfortable.

For example, supreme comfort and "just pick up and go and not have to think," the Miraphone 1291 that I owned was IT. But... for sound, its not the favorite (although, no complaints on the other side, ever).

Anyone else?

[Dubby]

I can relate to this, both amongst instruments and within tubas specifically.

Euphonium is still my most proficient instrument, but it’s tuba that brings me more joy to play. For tubas, the first tuba I owned was a frankentuba from Tabor nearly 6 years ago. I stupidly traded that for a 186 clone, and I never was as excited on that as I was on the frankentuba. Then I sold the Mack and took and bought the new YCB 621 clone, which was a close second in terms of tuba. It was fun, point and shoot intonation, but I still missed the personality of the frankentuba. Hopefully someday I could have something similar again.

[bloke]

nope.

[Three Valves]

When you get to be 50++ comfort IS joy.

Kids!!

[bloke]

Particularly around this time of year, I find myself being encouraged to seek out tidings of both.

[Shawn]

When you get to be 50++ comfort IS joy.

Kids!!

Yeah, gimme this. Only practice breeds comfort, but...

Comfort breeds confidence.
Confidence breeds a good performance.
A good performance breeds joy.

[tubanh84]

The technically best horn I've played is my old PT6. Sound, intonation (aided with a 2nd valve trigger), consistency, etc...And I played it as my only CC horn for over a decade. Really no complaints.

Certainly not my favorite instrument from a "I don't want to stop playing" perspective. But it was a great tool for a job, and I couldn't criticize it.

The 1960s vintage Miraphone 184 5U with the 2/3 left hand 5th valve I played for a while in college gets that title. It made me chuckle. I couldn't put it down. Lacked in versatility. Sound broke up quickly. But lord was it fun to play. I would consider selling both my current horns and making it my sole horn these days.

Second most fun horn was the Rudy 5/4. More versatile than you'd think, but it couldn't really do chamber work. If I worked hard enough, the PT6 could do chamber work. Definitely worse intonation than the PT6. Tougher low register to pop than the PT6. I had to use a playing stand with it, which made it much more inconvenient. But the sound that came out of it was astonishing. Again, I couldn't put it down.

These days I get much more joy from the Gnagey CC I'm playing than the PT6. It's much more forgiving if I'm out of shape and is much better for Bach and other unaccompanied solo works (which is important these days...). It doesn't have that last 10% of sound mass that the PT6 had, but I don't miss it.

So depending on how you describe it, the PT6 was the most comfortable horn - I knew what was going to come out the other end, and when I was in playing shape, I was confident in that. But I've had much more fun playing other horns.

[bloke]

...What exactly is meant by "joy"...??

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from my autopilot/so-easy-to-play-that-I'm-not-aware-of-the-instrument-when-playing-it M-W 5450)...

or

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from using the cimbasso that I built, and when the music director actually wants all I can produce from it)...

...??

[tubanh84]

My interpretation was that this is comfort:

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from my autopilot/so-easy-to-play-that-I'm-not-aware-of-the-instrument-when-playing-it M-W 5450)...

And this is joy:

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from using the cimbasso that I built, and when the music director actually wants all I can produce from it)...

...??

[bort2.0]

...What exactly is meant by "joy"...??

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from my autopilot/so-easy-to-play-that-I'm-not-aware-of-the-instrument-when-playing-it M-W 5450)...

or

Are you referring to THIS type of "joy" (that I get from using the cimbasso that I built, and when the music director actually wants all I can produce from it)...

...??

If I was playing for bucks, that 1291 may have been IT -- great results with little effort. There was no NEED to change. But, I don't play for bucks, so I get bored with things eventually, and switch them up just for the fun of it... looking for "even better"... and then... well, down that rabbit hole. In many ways, the 1291 is not really the "coolest" or most elegant tuba -- in design or in sound. But for me, it worked really well.

That was 10 years ago. I have more fun with other tubas. Bigger tubas are more fun. Handmade tubas sound sweeter. Rotary tubas are cooler to look at. So I guess I'm in the "do what makes you happy" side of things right now.

No real point in this, just thinking about stuff. And don't worry, I'm not selling my Alexander 163 to get a Miraphone 1291.

[bloke]

1291 C...??

I bought one of those, once...with the front-end intention of selling it.

It sold *quickly, which offered BOTH joy AND comfort.

________________________________
*hey...It was SILVER !!!

[bort2.0]

Yep, 1291 CC. It was great. Bought it from a pro who bought it new and liked it... I used it... then sold it to a very picky pro (who we both know) and he liked it a lot too.

Other 1291's that I've tried, I liked less.

[bort2.0]

Kind of funny to think back to a period of my greatest tuba comfort and success:

Bought one tuba and stuck with it
Bought one mouthpiece and stuck with it
Played a lot
Didn't buy/sell/trade nothing much

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[bloke]

NOT a rant...because I can (barely) see this entire post without scrolling...

I've been playing tubas, now, for over a half century, and never took a break from it.
I like doing it a whole lot, but I've never felt it was a "calling".
When I was first paid to play the tuba, my eyebrows were elevated, because (even though much easier than playing the guitar) playing the tuba paid more than playing the guitar...which (playing the guitar) paid considerably more than working at an Exxon car wash 24 hours each weekend...

...so - though "playing music" is not something that is required for human survival (such as supplying food/shelter/clothing/heat/transportation), as long as it paid more - and was easier - than did some essential-to-human-survival jobs (though that probably is no longer true), I've been on board. (We all look up to people who put in the time/dedication to master musical performance to pinnacle levels, but all that work was still far more comfortable that climbing around in a fiberglass-insulated space - 20°- 140° - striving to repair someone's HVAC system.) What I'm suggesting, here, is that "playing music" is - nearly always - quite "comfortable", and which is why so many enjoy doing it, and for no remuneration whatsoever. Arguably, even these - in the bitter cold (particularly if someone has one of those strap-on things in which to pee) - are more "comfortable" than many types of essential-to-human-existence types of work: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hq8HzYcEBh8/maxresdefault.jpg As I've suggested more than once, at least part of the attraction (particularly regarding one style of tuba, which - more recently - has been purveyed in less-expensive versions) is appearance. (ie. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qRMx9 ... bRXdUd.jpg or even https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a4/14/49 ... 66e79b.jpg )

Exploring another aspect of "comfort", some tubas are billed as "difficult to hold" and (after a mid-19th-Century Polish book was translated to English, just before the 21st Century, and the word, "ergonomics", suddenly became widely used in the English language) a few may actually be difficult to hold...but - in some cases - comfortable-to-hold postures either don't occur to some tubas' owners or - were it not that slide-pulling were necessary to achieve compliant intonation, if a particular tuba could just - simply - be held and played, that tuba would - otherwise - be "comfortable" to hold.

Playing tubas - for over five decades - I've encountered all sorts of models/trends/etc. ( @bort2.0 , I've even owned an Alexander C.)

I've hopscotched from "easy to play" to "amazing sound" and back...even AWAY FROM "easy to play" and AWAY FROM "amazing sound" towards "everyone is buying these, so I guess I should, too".

The thing is this:

"amazing sound" is mostly a myth.

Most ANY not-leaking/not-totally-a-piece-of-crap tuba's air column is capable of being nicely-vibrated, and an "amazing sound" can be produced.

The vast majority of rated-as-amazing-sound tubas (in my estimation) feature some sort of "amazing feel" (yes: tactile, and even aural sensations can be classified - in some ways - as "feel") that appeals to its owner, or to its owner and to others. Further, I would offer that those listening to "amazing sound" tubas (who are not playing them) often listen with their eyes.

When a tuba features these:
> really easy-to-achieve compliant intonation
> really easy response (which includes all sorts of things/aspects involved in ease of execution and production)...

...that's a tuba that can be played WITHOUT having to play on it several hours each day SIMPLY to master/reinforce necessary quirky player strategies as work-arounds.

Those tubas - when found - are potentially joyful and comfortable, but players also must be capable of recognizing those tubas and those characteristics.

[Three Valves]

I just like the performance, swanky party and night out.

I don't care if it's a gig, I'm an invited guest, or I'm parking cars.

But admittedly, being an invited guest makes me...



I'm as happy to

as to

I'm too old to park cars.

[Doc]

It's a mixed bag for me. I've always thought of my tubas as tools, and I've always wanted the best tools I could find for the job that I could reasonably afford. Maybe that is comfort??? but I always found joy in them. I always tried to choose something that would do the job well, but I would enjoy playing. But I am a tuba nerd/geek, so finding joy in all things tuba is not too difficult.

My current stable of tubas are easy to play, help me sound as good as I'm able, and I derive pleasure from playing them. If I really was focused on joy, and money were not a factor in determining the value of my joy, my 496 would be a 497. Or a Siegfried. If I were strictly about comfort and ease, I'd have a 2250 that is a breeze to play (it just wouldn't have that sweet, dark, joyous sound I like).

To get my tuba "fix," I should probably work at some big brass retailer so I could play all the different tubas all the time. That would be joy. If they paid me well, that would be comfort. And joy. Comfort and joy. Oh tidings of comfort and joy...

[Rick Denney]

I measure the joy in terms of the musical effect, and joy for me has been more about the music than the tuba.

Each of my tubas gives me the effect I want in different situations, at least when I supply the signal. I’m uncomfortable when I can’t get the effect I want, but nearly every time I’m the cause of that problem, not the tuba.

Rick “defining ‘joy’ as C. S. Lewis did in his book Surprised by Joy—which for him came with the discovery of Old Norse literature” Denney

[martyneilan]

I get the most sheer enjoyment from playing my 6/4 frankentuba. The response and sound is superior in my opinion to any contrabass tuba I have ever played. However the 5th partial D is very flat (push 1st in or use 4th) and the high register needs a few alternate fingerings or slide adjustments. So while very playable, it requires a little attention in some areas. I probably wouldn't want to sightread a tuba concerto on this instrument. I also wouldn't want to use it as a full-time quintet instrument (although I have in a pinch). But wow is it fun to play.

[bort2.0]

Marty, did you ever sell that MW-33?