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Re: BBb or CC
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:46 am
by Doc
tbonesullivan wrote:GC wrote:Neither. Eb.
But if I ever buy a contrabass again it'll be a BBb.
I am increasingly thinking of just going Eb. After a few weeks of owning an older Eb tuba, I sound way better on that than on the BBb I have. It's definitely airflow related, as I have the same problem with any CC or BBb I play. They just respond so much differently.
Re: BBb or CC
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:52 pm
by tubanh84
tubanh84 wrote:I played BBb for 6 years between 6th and 11th grade. I've played CC ever since, which is now almost 20 years.
HOWEVER.
To this day, when I sit down with my CC or F tuba, the first thing I do is play a Bb scale. And when I do certain exercises, I start on Bb. For some reason, Bb is still my "warm up note." No idea why.
Gonna go ahead and quote myself for an unexpected update to this mini psychodrama from the past weekend.
I inherited an old Boston Musical Instrument Co. BBb when we bought our house. Old owner didn't want to take it with him. I posted about it a couple years ago when it happened. I rarely play it because the mouthpiece and I don't agree, and it really needs an overhaul that I haven't gotten around to working out yet. But my daughter wanted me to use it to play her violin pieces this weekend. So why not. Worked ok. I could maybe justify using the horn as-is for a Tuba Christmas.
I then opened up my Tyrell book to play #2 on the BBb to see if I could. By the second line, I was sort of in a groove and wasn't having much trouble getting back into BBb fingerings. Then I switched to my CC. Which I have played as my contrabass tuba for the past 19 years. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't get my head out of BBb fingerings. I had to move to a completely separate piece to get my head back.