What should have been Part 1 to my last posting...
Thank you to everyone who's shared their experiences and the teachings of others. I was not aware of many of the teachers' takes on buzzing. That has been an eye opener for me and confirms that I'm not the first player/teacher that has used various ...

I am sincerely sorry that my resurrection of a dying thread has resulted in so much contention. I genuinely asked the community: what do you think? Can we please discuss what we think in terms of "what we think" rather than facing off as adversaries? Really, we're making buzzy noises into various ...

Thumbs up to Porky. IMO, it's a tool...an exercise. Squats and leg presses are nothing like mashing bike pedals but most competitive cyclists hit the gym for some strength training as a part of their routine (sorry if the cycling reference is too off-topic, but it's about the only sport that I'm ...

The tubas that I’ve played have no “gap”. The mouthpiece goes into the leadpipe, which is reinforced with what I’d call a ferrule that attaches to the bell by a brace. I’m sure there is a proper term for that design. If you know, please share.

With that out of the way, I do believe that there’s ...

Yeah, sometimes we get overexcited when we see "solo" printed in our parts and--not unlike beer goggles in another unrelated context--see "CADENZA!!!". In reality, isn't everything we do as tuba players in an orchestra "solo"--as in there's no one else to blame if the conductor doesn't like it? We ...

Man, my eyes are showing their age! I read "Tuba Mouthpiece Compactor" and wondered what I'd missed in the time I've been away.

Looking to try a Stofer Geib, European shank. A good used one will do fine—insertion marks are fine, just no dents in the rim, please.

I agree with Wade--do what you do--and add the oft' repeated axium: Whatever you play on, you're gonna sound like you.

FWIW, I [expletive deleted] LOVE an F tuba that many folks here scorn/hate/ridicule: MY Yammy 822. It is serial number 100103 (i.e., one of the early ones) and doesn't even have ...

When I asked Doug Elliott for the same combination of rim and cup--back in 1990 or so--he recommended his TU-R 130 cup and a matching 4N rim, which is now listed as TU N130 Flat. Then, pick out a shank with a taper that fits your horn... He used to have a range of backbores, but I don't see those ...

Thanks Wade--You're too kind. If you don't object, I'd like to pass this along to my students, especially those whose parents balk at buying books as their child progresses ("...You mean you don't just GIVE them books like the school does?").

Dang! MiBrassFS got it...I plumbed the depths of my drek-filled brain to find that name and came up with nothing (well, nothing worth bringing up in polite company). bloke--was your bet on how quickly that the Acousticoil would come up in discussion?! What was your time/number of posts until it came ...

Reminds me of the sound coil (or some name like that) that was advertised in the T.U.B.A Journal back in the early '80s. It disappeared and I've never heard of anyone ever using one.

In the vein questionable physics, a flutist in an AF band that I played in back in the '90s came up with the idea ...

I wonder how much of it is the relative impact of being just a few Hz off of "right". A typical tuba-range C is about 130 Hz and a C# 138.5. If I'm 0.8 Hz off I'm ~10 cents* "wrong". However, just one octave up (C ~ 261 Hz and C# 277 Hz) that same 0.8 Hz is only ~5 cents "wrong"...and so on as you ...

Warning--extreme thread drift follows:

Repair folks/other knowledgeable contributors, a question for all y'all: would something like a boot dryer fab'd onto a Baltimore Brass type BELL DOWN tuba stand help to keep the innards drier and thus reduce the buildup of schmutz and maybe even red rot? Or ...

FWIW, I like to use a Yamaha Silent Brass mute (...maybe like is too strong a word, as mutes in general aren't in my list of favorite things...) to warm up with at rehearsals/gigs. It seems more "polite" than subjecting everyone to a selection of Remington Studies and Brass Gym exercises when I have ...

PM sent!

The USAF Heritage of America band recorded it in '92.

https://www.discogs.com/release/1736589 ... Flourishes

I whole-heartedly agree, but has anyone devised (...I dunno--velcro-on corks in different sizes?) a simple and quick way to fit your small H&B into horns of different bell sizes? Does it work? Does it affect the muted sound in any way? (FWIW, I think that a good muted tuba sound should be sort of ...

In response to Monster oil being real--yes, it is. It's made by a couple of guys currently serving in/recently separated from the USCGA band. I think that they've worked with a Coast Guard engineer or chemist to develop a corrosion-inhibiting valve oil. I'm not a shill; just an environmental ...

Koss Porta Pro on Amazon. The look says "I got these in the '80s" but the sound is clean, not bass-heavy, but they're open--no isolation from ambient sounds. The earpads are replacable (Yaxi earpads) and if you're like me and missing some of your high range, you can cut a dime-sized hole in the ...