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Super fine playing. The player appears to be playing a Melton/Meinl-Weston 2250. The tone quality is interesting. Appears to me to be around 60% Eb and 40% F tuba.

To me, this is exactly what the 2250 / JP clone / Thomann clone sounds like. I would this very characteristic of this instrument.

Remember: Roger Bobo used to play this aggressively. And we all dug it.

Sometimes I hear a piece and immediately think to myself "this sounds like music people play in college.

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:10 pm Sometimes I hear a piece and immediately think to myself "this sounds like music people play in college.

Makes sense.

But this kid has chops. I have a recording of me playing the first movement of the RVW on tour with the Blinn College Wind Ensemble (prior to my years at UH) when I was 19. But… recordings like this make me want to not only never post my crap, but burn it instead. At least that mid80’s vintage 188 helped me sound better than I was.

And yes, @UncleBeer, we loved Bobo. Still do. But after all, it is… uh… Bobo.

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:10 pm Sometimes I hear a piece and immediately think to myself "this sounds like music people play in college.

Makes sense.

But this kid has chops. And there is much to be admired about his playing.

I have a recording of me playing the first movement of the RVW on tour with the Blinn College Wind Ensemble (prior to my years at UH) when I was 19. But… recordings like this make me want to not only never post my crap, but burn it instead. At least that mid80’s vintage 188 helped me sound better than I was.

And yes, @UncleBeer, we loved Bobo. Still do. But after all, it is… uh… Bobo.

@Doc ... ... I wasn't trying to detract from the fine playing, just mentioning that some
(many?) tuba solos sound rather... academic? Quite an excellent performance though!

And @cjk, I agree about the sound profile, but might lean even more to the Eb side. I don't think the intent of this tuba was necessarily to make it sound like an Eb, but if an F tuba is designed to do well all of the things an Eb tuba does well... And kind of even looks like an Eb tuba wrap... Then I wouldn't expect them to sound very different from each other.

I wouldn't mind trying one out some day. :)

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:35 pm @Doc ... ... I wasn't trying to detract from the fine playing, just mentioning that some
(many?) tuba solos sound rather... academic? Quite an excellent performance though!

Yes. We are on the same page.

Or are we on the same iPad?
Wait… wrong thread!

To be clear, I really dug the young man’s playing, though I was never tempted to whistle the tune afterwards.

I quite enjoyed it.

cjk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:57 pm To be clear, I really dug the young man’s playing, though I was never tempted to whistle the tune afterwards.

I quite enjoyed it.

Nice way to put it.

I usually say "well that's a real toe-tapper!"

@bort2.0
This is a video about the rotor version (2260ra) of the same tuba. In the beginning, Wilfried mentions it was actually based on an Eb.

@bort2.0 lol

There's that "air flow" concept, again...

Same model tuba as far as I can tell, only with what appears to be a smaller, removable bell. Different player obviously. Sounds really good in this quintet, very contrabassy. Really clear.



It might just be the 16.5 inch bell from a 2250TLT, but it looks a bit smaller than that to me. It looks like there is less pancake. I'd guess it's about 15 inches.

Players (mostly) and mouthpieces (a lot) affect sonic qualities more than instruments - even when the instruments are 3/4 contrabass next to 6/4 contrabass.

I'm NOT trying to convince anyone (nor myself) that instruments make NO difference.
Instruments make A WHOLE BUNCH of difference in sonic characteristics...but (again) players (mostly) and mouthpieces (more than instruments) are responsible more differences.

...the big hybrid/wide-belled German kaiser B-flat tuba that I'm currently teaching myself to play:
There are a couple of youtube videos of someone playing the same model that (to me) sound NOTHING like "why I would choose to play this tuba".

Also...
RECORDINGS make a difference as well.

Though this player (at least, in this recording) seems (to me) to be "defeating" the natural sonic characteristics of the model 2250, I view the purpose of the wide-belled F tubas to be the same as the (century ago) "monster" E-flat tubas: tubas which are less work to play than big B-flats, YET (potentially) offer quasi "large tuba" sonic characteristics.

Go back and listen to bobo's recording of introduction and dance. It doesn't sound like a tuba (at least not a traditional concept of the tuba) its a rip your head off aggressive sound that is hardly recognizable

But it works

LeMark wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:16 am Go back and listen to bobo's recording of introduction and dance. I doesn't sound like a tuba (at least not a traditional concept of the tuba) its a rip your head off aggressive sound that is hardly recognizable

But it works

I'm convinced that he REALLY enjoyed his Miraphone model 80 F tuba - which could be made to sound (arguably: not only by Roger Bobo) like a "euphonium on steriods".

I would feel DUMB owning TWO several-thousand-bucks F tubas...(particularly already owning an F tuba and an F cimbasso), but (secretly, and if a really nice SIX-VALVE model 80 were offered to me STUPID cheap) I'd really like to have one of those things...and probably trick it out with a main slide trigger (as - I'm thinking, similar to many models of F tubas - the second-space C rides sharp on those, along with other quirks).

more blather:
I actually have a LONG-neglected/LONG-unfinished project which is an ancient rare FOUR-valve/top-action version (valves beautifully Secrist-rebuilt) cut-to-F version of the 1920's (NOT to be confused with the 1970's C recycled model number) model 2J (probably: 3J was the 4-valve?) E-flat tuba (14-inch bell / .625" bore). This little thing offers the same type of resonance as the Miraphone model 80, when one "steps on the gas". I've always thought that it might make a really good "between-the-cracks" instrument when an F tuba is too large and a euphonium is too small...but (truth-be-told) my euphonium and F tuba are such wonderful instruments that one or the other can be coaxed over to fill in that "gap"...thus: this project languishing.

a FOUR-valve version of this, with the before-the-valves main slide removed (so as to play in F)
The fourth valve tubing is routed much in the same way as it's routed on the big 24/25J.
5th valve...?? With any shorter-length-tuba piece that required range below B-natural (or I suppose I could squeeze a 2-3-4 A-natural out of this thing...??), I'd probably use my "regular" F tuba.