Quiet Tuba

[Hank74]

Last night while watching a classic Lawrence Welk show, I noticed in the end Richard Maloof, who played tuba, play his big horn so quietly in the last piece. You could hardly hear it compared to Myron Floren's accordian and the guitars. Clearly you could see the tuba. BTW, it looked like a satin lacquer finish or something really old. But you couldn't hear it too well.

I have understood that the tuba can be played as a string bass, if done correctly. When I play the beginning of "Tuxedo Junction" for my band, (BTW, a rarity for a tuba player to have a solo at the beginning) it is mentioned in the music to play it like a string bass.

I guess what Maloof did last night and I do with "Tuxedo Junction" is just play softly. Something that goes against my natural instincts as a tuba player.

Hank74

[OldBandsman]

Hank!

Oh Yeah!! It's lots of fun to sound like a string bass... espcially on swing tunes like Tuxedo Junction.

I try to start the tone with a little "pop" and then let the air supply drop off, but not the pressure. Not to cut air off with my tongue too precisely. I like playing softly, trying to keep a nice full toned support in the bass line without being too obvious.

[quinterbourne]

The lack of tuba presence could be due to amplification, acoustical or recording problems.

Amplification: Guitars and (probably) accordians run off amplifiers. Sometimes it's impossible to compete volume-wise with someone who just needs to turn a knob to increase his/her volume.

Acoustical: The upward facing tuba sounds may not have projected well in the venue - which was probably not designed with acoustic instruments in mind. The forward facing amplifiers of the guitar/accordian may have projected much better.

Recording: I don't know much about this, but "back in the day" when this show was created, the recording devices they used may not have been able to pick up the lower frequencies of the tuba as easily as the higher frequencies of the guitar and accordian. Also, consider microphone placement - if the microphones were in front of the group and none were above, then the recording wouldn't pick up the tuba very well.

You need to keep in mind that when you listen to recorded music it is often quite "artificial." If it sounds bad, it might be because of bad microphones, recording technology, etc. If it sounds good, the technology may have improved a poor performance.

It's quite possible that the tuba player was playing as loud as humanly possible (without breaking/cracking the sound). I find that when I play with amplified instruments I am always needed to play much louder than what is comfortable.

I love playing softly. I can manage to send all my quintet members laughing to tears when I demonstrate how softly I can play. Unfortunately, we are never really able to play that softly in a performance (we need to be heard!).

Yes, playing like a string bass (pizz.) is a very challenging thing to do. Every tuba player needs to know how to do this, because you will be asked many, many times throughout your life to play like a string bass. I, personally, hate playing like a string bass. If you want a string bass, get a string bass! I play tuba, not string bass. Hmm... maybe I should learn string bass.

[J.Harris]

I just happened to see the very same program. The later Lawrence Welk shows were filled w/lip syncing and other non-live performances. That last number- what you saw was a tuba "holder"- he wasn't playing. Someone off stage was playing a string bass for that piece. The tuba played in the number immediately preceding that one- and was very distictive. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Hank74]

That's what I figured in the last piece with Maloof pretending to play while someone was actually playing the bass part in the background either with a bass guitar or string bass. I loved though the previous piece when that tuba was played loudly like it should be.

Hank

[iiipopes]

I played bass the last season of the "Lawrence Welk Show," as it was called, at the Welk resort in Branson, MO. Yes, by that time, at least 1/3 of the numbers had some sort of subsidized backing track, if not the whole thing with the purple curtain down and the band taking a break. It was still a lot of fun. I believe the only reason that the survivors of the show finally hung it up was because the audience literally died out from under them.

[porkchopsisgood]

I played bass the last season of the "Lawrence Welk Show," as it was called, at the Welk resort in Branson, MO.

Now that's just cool....hehehehe.

I hope you get a chance to chat about that here. Love to read the stories.

Cheers!

[iiipopes]

I base my opinion on the fact that several years ago, the theatre would be full for every show. The last year, it was only 1/3 to 1/2 full, and there were very few young people, meaning not eligible for AARP membership, and those had come with their parents/grandparents.

[iiipopes]

Actually, Branson is doing quite well, thank you.