Advice sought re: Choosing a Tuba in Setup Wizard

[Hector Pascal]

Hi all,

In the Finale setup wizard, one can choose "Tuba" and/or "Bass Tuba".

In my orchestration book, it says that today's performers can choose between:
Bb tenor tuba
F bass tuba
Eb bass tuba
C bass tuba
CC contrabass tuba
BbBb contrabass tuba

If I wish to write for C bass tuba, should I select Finale's "Bass Tuba" option? And when would one choose "Tuba" option?

Cheers,
Hector.

[David Ward]

In my experience a tuba player will use the bass or contrabass instrument they choose as best suiting the part, rather than the one specified (unless a tenor tuba is required).

[ebiggs1]

I always use 'Tuba' in Bb.

Unless I am doing a brass band chart which may/does have an Eb tuba. BTW, it is a transposing instrument and written in the treble clef.

[ebiggs1]

... in most music it is written at concert pitch.

Like I said not in British Brass Band scores. It is a transposing instrument and written in the treble clef as are the 1st and 2nd trombones.

[Hector Pascal]

Thanks for the info! My piece is to be scored for a woodwind instrument and tuba. So, I will go ahead and write for a "modern tuba" (that's what my orchestration book calls it), taking into account the range and registral characteristics of the "modern tuba", and I'll let the player decide exactly what tuba they wish to play it on. I'll write in bass clef concert pitch, and if the tubist wants it transposed some other way, I should be able to transpose it in Finale pretty easily, I guess.

Thanks again!
Hector Pascal.
PS: In case anyone is interested, the book i am mentioning is Adler, The Study of Orchestration (3rd ed.), p.350.

[ebiggs1]

Exactly how I would do it.

[N Grossingink]

If you're writing for one woodwind and tuba, you might want to ask for/wish for an F tuba. Of course, a lot depends on the written range and technical demands. The F tuba is generally more agile and speaks more clearly in the mid and upper ranges.

Here are a few examples of the F tuba–one more extreme and the other more typical solo work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyJkyi0BKPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR7OCM77wcw

N.

[N Grossingink]

Although the standard instrument in orchestras sometime ago it is now rare, and is certainly not more agile than other tubas.

I'm in the US, and here the F tuba is the choice for serious players who want to augment their arsenal with something more suited to solo work. Orchestral players use the F a lot for Berlioz, among other earlier tuba parts. Many of the videos on You Tube of tuba solo literature are played on F, by players from many regions. That's hardly what you would call "rare".

So far as agility, why would many players prefer these instruments in certain more demanding settings if not for ease of execution and overall results?

N.

[David Ward]

… …I'm in the US…

I think this might be an example of how the US is sometimes slightly old fashioned in some performance practices. I've just looked at the web-site of one of the main London suppliers of brass instruments to professional orchestral players. There appear to be 24 tubas currently in stock in a range of sizes. None of these instruments is in F.

Another US example relating to tubas comes to mind. I seem to remember that even major US opera companies were much slower than European ones to adopt the modern cimbasso rather than the tuba as the instrument appropriate for Verdi's brass bass. I believe Chicago was the first US opera company to adopt the modern (as opposed to ‘period’) cimbasso.

This is not a criticism, but rather a description of an existing attitude to such matters (and there are bound to be very many notable exceptions).

[motet]

I was asked to orchestrate something for a professional session orchestra that included a cimbasso so asked the range of the player's particular instrument. I was told write the part you want as he transposes any parts that are too low or sound better an octave higher.

I'm not sure I like that! Was it a secret? Switching octaves of course changes the sound, so the orchestrator should have control over that.