Deep breathing (not hyperventilation!), especially before 'scary' passages. Oxygen is nature's fantastic relaxation drug, and it's absolutely free!

I stick with garnet lapping compounds. Supposedly other types tend to embed into metal surfaces, continuing the lapping process, even after cleaning. My two cents.

Stepping away from this thread, as I know it's a sensitive topic for some. You're welcome.

Bloke, while your trombone colleague used the correct size trombone (lengthwise), you brought an instrument which was 225% longer than what would have been used for Bolero.

Orchestras' dynamic range today it's just so wide (again, the rock music influence) that particularly a piece that attempts to imitate the sound effects of a steam locomotive need something that makes quite a racket Toby Hanks always said (and I concur) that smaller horns put out much more audible ...

Pacific 231 is a piece that is supposed to sound like an old steam locomotive starting up and heading out on an excursion. I'm pretty sure the title of the work is the actual name of a specific old locomotive. Nope. The numbers describe the wheel layout of the locomotive. It's called a Whyte ...

Mary Ann wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 3:20 pm ...the Biceps Method of range on the bugle.

I call that the "Armstrong method". (Arm strong. Get it? It's also a double joke, as it can also refer to a particular overuse pathology known as "Satchmo's Syndrome")

The buzz merely 'tickles' the column of air. Not much air actually goes through the instrument. All you're doing is getting the column of air to vibrate at the resonant frequency which belongs to a tube of this particular length. The vibration travels past the bell (0.6 the radius of the bell), and ...

Among other things, I'm a professional brass tech. That someone would ask $350 to stick a borescope up a valve section in order to make a few marks is just embarrassing. Yikes. That's a 15 minute job.

The French tuba is of course a saxhorn despite what others might say. It is a "saxhorn basse en Ut" in fact.

This topic certainly seems to 'trigger' some of the TNFJ.

donn wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 5:22 pm to my eye this Wessex seems to have a fatter bell.

This instrument is a very accurate copy of my 1931 Couesnon French tuba, so is typical of the authentic genre. And ... French tubas are by definition 'saxhorns'. No idea what Roland was playing.

IMHO, the best way to showcase the unique qualities of the French tuba is in the mid- and lower ranges; something like Franck D minor for instance. When adding so much straight pipe (aka: valves), the instrument essentially becomes a cylindrical bore instrument, and as a result, blends really well ...

C'mon bloke. Finale is dead. Moribund. Big dirt nap. Assumed room temperature. Shuffled off this mortal coil.

Tony, if the pistons are hanging, go to an experienced tech and see what he has to say. In my experience, the causes are either filth in the horn (doesn't take much), or mechanical problems (torquing of the valveset somewhere, etc.). Worth checking out before you needlessly flee to rotors.

I was at the ZO plant last summer, and they dared me to try to break their plastic tuba (no kidding!). So I did. Didn't take much trying. I've been a tech for awhile, and don't know how I'd go about repairing/replacing this. Zo1_1_11zon.jpg And here's the owner of ZO, goodnaturedly mugging with the ...

Oktoberfest starts early in the Great State of Texas.

Liver of sulfur + a variety of added chemicals can make an assortment of patinas for you. Just google.

Get you some Yamaha springs. I put them in all my piston tubas and they make a world of difference for me. A quick word about those Yamaha plastic-sheathed springs. The plastic eventually shreds off the springs and jams up your valves. Here's a spring I replaced for a well-known player whose valves ...

Only for 'tuba studs': here's something that was briefly under development.