G-horns Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 March the BBb tuba or Souzie. Take the 3rd valve spring and put it between the TOP of the piston and the top cap - that will hold it down. DETUNE the 1st and 2nd valveslides, and play the rig as a 2V in G. You won't have any major tuning issues that way. Yeah. That's the least expensive way out. You'll have to pull the 1st and 2nd valve slides to approximate tuning. If you can get your hands on a BBb tuba or sousaphone ahead of time, use a tuner to figure out what works the best. If you're the only contra, you shouldn't have to worry too much about being perfectly in tune. Let the rest of the line adjust to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Using a tuba and the 3rd valve trick is probably the best idea to save money. However, it won't really be possible to get the horn in tune by pulling the slides. Keeping the 3rd valve down forces you to use alternate fingerings that aren't in tune, so you have to be able to lip those notes in tune. If you pull the slides to tune them, then you force the notes that are using true fingerings out of tune and then you have to lip them. So either way you have to be flexible. Most alternate fingerings are flat anyway, so it could be hard to "pull" the slide and correct the pitch. If you're an experienced player, you'll be able to figure it out quickly and sound OK. The first song or two may be an adventure, though. Maybe you could lay your hands on a BBb tuba now and practice a little with the technique you'll need to use, so it's not such a surprise when you get out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Well you could just learn to do the actual transposition and use native fingerings. Reading G parts on a Bb horn. Someday I might get around to teaching myself that. One question though, since this is a corps gig, why isn't the corps equipment truck/trailer going? I mean what are the bass drummers, quad/quints/??? doing with their equipment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanAndreasen Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Borrow a Souzie. Why? Well, they can easily accommodate a twelve pack of your favorite beverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofjabba Posted February 26, 2008 Author Share Posted February 26, 2008 Now I'm learning the Flower Show is the 2nd-9th I thought it was the 9th-16th So if I coordinate it right I might! Be able to get the Olds Back Slam it out to play during the week and bring it to Vegas. I'd say 40% Chance of making that Happen! Whats the worst that could happen it get more dents. It's already Dent-ious-maximous.... As for the drums they have HARD cases. Our Contras only have Gig Bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Our Contras only have Gig Bags. An associate of mine owns 18 contras, mostly without cases. He ships them around in double-strength cardboard wardrobes. Cost less than 10 bucks. Beware shipping large containers with FedEx. They will tell you something isn't "oversize", but they have a new deal called "dimensional weight". Get a quote beforehand, and don't make the box any larger than it has to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I guess that's the one thing I like about my King 1141SP. It has a hard case. Quite durable by the looks of it. Only it doesn't balance at all if you drag it towards your side / rear. You have to push it like a shopping cart. That method seems to be the only way to get it to not tip over in route. The things you learn watching actual tubists transport their horn at Tuba Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 An associate of mine owns 18 contras, mostly without cases. He ships them around in double-strength cardboard wardrobes. Cost less than 10 bucks.Beware shipping large containers with FedEx. They will tell you something isn't "oversize", but they have a new deal called "dimensional weight". Get a quote beforehand, and don't make the box any larger than it has to be. Shipping big horns is always a problem. Outfits like UPS and FedEx will charge you based on the size of the package. You can ship a big bag of packing peanuts - real light weight - and end up paying more for the shipping than you did for the peanuts. OTOH, you can't go light on the cushioning or you'll wind up with a piece of junk when you open the box. If you can, try to borrow a hardshell case for the trip. Or get some wood and build one. It doesn't have to be fancy, just functional. Besides, the cost for a homebrew case might be less than the cost to ship the horn in a cardboard box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 So, what the heck did you end up doing? Have a good time? Did the contra/tuba you used in Vegas...stay in Vegas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 So, what the heck did you end up doing?Have a good time? Did the contra/tuba you used in Vegas...stay in Vegas? Inquiring minds want to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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