Eb Shootout - homemade Monster york vs Norwegian star

[Casca Grossa]

This isn't a fair fight but it was interesting anyway.

The Miraphone responds better in all registers, but especially in the 2nd octave below the staff. you can hear me trying to make low F work on the york, and I'm struggling.

The york has a more spread sound, a bit fuzzy. My wife said hearing them live back to back made the york sound like it had a sock down the bell.

the intonation on both needs alternate fingerings, I did very few of those on this recording. I'm going to have to play around with that in the future. For a homemade monster york, it held its own in and above the staff

Articulations are just plain cleaner on the miraphone. So much easier

High G and Ab above the staff are easier on the NStar. I can play higher and lower on it

the york has wide slots. Intonation depends on well I'm hearing a particular interval. the miraphone slots incredibly, which is usually a good thing, but it's so locked in that if it's not in tune, I have to pull a slide or use an alternate fingering. almost no bending pitches on this one.

give me your thoughts please. Right now I plan on keeping both horns. No law against owning two radically different Eb tubas

[donn]

I expected my reaction would be something like, "he's so delighted with his new tuba that sure he'll sound better on it" ... but as it turns out, the only place I really thought it sounded better was the last wiggle and blow thing at 3:30. Hang on to that york, it is not to be despised - the depth or core or whatever tonal character is really sweet.

Both sound great, and for what people do with bass tubas (I can only guess), that core may not often be that valuable, and the more brilliant sound of the Miraphone will serve you better. Meanwhile maybe some day a remaining issue or two with the york will be cleared up and it will be easier to play.

[Mary Ann]

I'm guessing that as you get used to the Star that the difference between the two will get more obvious. It does have a brighter sound and in circumstances where you need the sound to carry better, my guess is that the Star will be the choice. In circumstances where you want a more veiled sound, I'm guessing the York will be the choice.
It's fun to have two to play with!!
And thanks for the video.

[bloke]

replace the felts on the stubby, and they sound about the same.

[LeMark]

That's the thing, to get the valves in alignment, I had to remove most of the felts

[Sousaswag]

That Miraphone sounds like it’s easier to play. I’d bet it’s significantly less work and listening. It just does what it’s supposed to do.

I’d bet the more you tweak the York, maybe even re-route some slides to open it up a bit, the easier it will become.

[LeMark]

Yeah despite the new purchase, I think I'm going to take it up to @UncleBeer to see if he can correct things I did wrong when making it

[bort2.0]

Across the board, I liked the sound of the York better. The York sounded like "Mark is playing the tuba." and the NS sounded like "Mark is playing a small tuba."

Is that bad? No... it just seemed noticeable that these are two different tubas, which will probably serve you in two different ways. And in this 3 minute sample, I thought the York was more enjoyable to listen to. Different music, different context, in an ensemble... who knows!

The NS was fun though, because it brought my mind to times I've played some really excellent smaller rotary tubas. You feel like bad@$$ of the world because it's so easy to play in every way. Only trouble is making it sound the way you want it to sound 100% of the time, so that it'll work 100% of the time. And that's not always possible. I played a brand new 4-valve Miraphone 186 years ago that was like this -- absolute sports car of a tuba, just amazing. Problem was, I needed a pickup truck to take to Home Deopt, not a sports car to cruise around in. And I could only have 1, so...

[LeMark]

Hopefully I can get the low register of the york to speak a little better, then I'll have two good options for an Eb

You have to admit the pattern and tonguing I was trying do around low F on the york just wasn't speaking worth a darn

[bort2.0]

Yes, I did notice that. But I also thought about it as if it were somebody saying, the car drives great, but it starts to wobble a little bit after 100 mph.

[Mary Ann]

What I'd like to hear "compared and contrasted" is the tuba run at the beginning of Amparito Roca. "Cash register" from my POV, articulated, and loud --- just curious.

[matt g]

A swag…

The Miraphone intonation will improve with exposure. You’re likely fighting some stuff with your face and ear since that horn is new. That and probably a few tweaks of default slide positions.

[Pauvog1]

I like the Miraphone better. You sound very similar on both, but the Miraphone sounds like a lot less work.

[Grumpikins]

Very big difference between the two. Based on your video, I like the York better. Personal preference, I'm also partial to old and older stuff. I bet the star is much easier to play as its built with modern technology and engineering. If you have the space, you should keep both. People seem to get hung up on " this ones better than that one" and dont appreciate things for what they are. Like, this is a hundred year old instrument. Amazing how well its held up and what people accomplished with it.

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

[BRS]

That 100 year old instrument looked like this in July. Hadn't held up well at all.

I'm proud what I made of it, and I think you can tell from my hand position it is more comfortable to hold. If I can keep tweaking it, I'll have very different instruments in that key to choose from.

[bloke]

Hopefully I can get the low register of the york to speak a little better, then I'll have two good options for an Eb

You have to admit the pattern and tonguing I was trying do around low F on the york just wasn't speaking worth a darn

That's what you were feeling and doing, but not necessarily the sound that was being produced.

I remember (a very long time ago), that there was a dress rehearsal of that Armand Russell suite for tuba and woodwind quintet.
The woodwind quintet (without my knowledge) asked a (very good) tuba player to come and listen.
This was a surprise to me, and it made me FEEL nervous...
...but - when I got home, and listened to a cassette recording that we had made of that run-through - I was extremely proud of it...
...the FEELING of nervousness did not make it into the SOUND.
I've since tried to find that cassette...oh well...

bloke "Playing music is very tactile for us, but not-at-all-tactile to our audiences."

[Grumpikins]

""bloke "Playing music is very tactile for us, but not-at-all-tactile to our audiences.""

Nailed it.

And yes I did notice that the hand position on the star is a little awkward for you.

Anyway, I'm very happy for you to have found the horn you wanted.

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

[Pauvog1]

Just realized I was playing my Bloke solo mouthpiece with the small "#0" shank. I switched just now to my #2 shank, and it rounded out the sound on the star

For some reason the 0 shank made the york play better. That would have been a pain to swap shanks back and forth for the video

[Jperry1466]

The Miraphone is definitely the more nimble of the two, and as you say, the articulation is clearer, but in my ears the difference in articulation is more the result of the more "spread" sound of the York vs. the compact sound of the Miraphone. It's nice to have two Eb horns for different roles. I like the Miraphone a lot, but what's not to love about that York sound?

[bloke]

I stick an Imperial into my F tuba I want it to sound like a rotary E-flat tuba or a generic piston F tuba.

I'll probably have one in my pocket Saturday afternoon when squeezing in a nursing home gig in between a dress rehearsal and a concert, depending on how the tuba part functions in each individual piece

"...but bloke, it's just a little nursing home gig."


Yeah, but they are some of the most important people we play for, and some of the other most important people we play for are ourselves.

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non-sequitur:
I've been asked to cover the bari sax part with the cimbasso on L-O-V-E on the Saturday night Valentine pops. Everyone else (two altos / two tenors) is going to double on actual saxophones. (The conservatory-trained principal clarinet player actually owns a tenor.) I'm borrowing a bari, and I'm going to play the baritone sax part on - yep - a baritone saxophone. I have a very good 1960s Selmer, Paris C* mouthpiece and tons great reeds left over from our brick and mortar store. I only play on the last chorus - which is written in F-sharp major (aka "concert" A major). It's not difficult; its just a fairly simple bass line. I'll be ready. It will be a hoot.