NY Phil Tuba

[swswartz]

I was at the NY Phil the other night and heard Gershwin's Concerto in F...they rocked it! I am pretty sure Al Baer was playing tuba (I was up in the nose bleeds...someone should make an emoticon) and he was definitely using a smaller than usual horn and it didn't look like the Kodiak F...anyone have a connection that might know what horn he was using? I thought it looked Miraphone 188-ish

[LowBrassNYC]

.

[bort]

No disrespect, but Kyle and Al have quite different "haircuts," and should be easy to tell apart especially from up top.

Most likely, it was a 188 (based on real info -- not guesses, but not totally certain).

[swswartz]

I know Kyle Turner pretty well. I've taken lessons with him. It wasn't Kyle. I have met Alan and I am fairly certain it was him. I also have a source who told me Al recently purchased a new 188, so I am 99.9% sure it was Al playing on a Miraphone 188 which he sounded great on and probably played to make sure that lick in the first movement of the Gershwin was super clean...he still sounded huge!

[MartyNeilan]

Big Al is going to bring the 188 back in style

[Billy M.]

I love my 188. Here's to hoping it goes back in style.

[bort]

I love my 188. Here's to hoping it goes back in style.

Yeah! Hey, wait...

[Chuck Jackson]

What's old is new.


Chuck"I remember the 80"s, kinda"Jackson

[mexicantuba]

I used to rock a 188, I didnt know people even still played them...awesome.

[tofu]

[Ferguson]

There is no MW. It's Buffet. They probably care, but they offer little incentive for him to use one instrument over another. Yes, he recently bought a new 188.

Ferguson

[mexicantuba]

If Al is rocking a 188 in the Phil, I think hes the only one on the planet that would have the guts to do it.

188 is a super clean horn and at the hands of an expert sounds great, but it's really not a horn (IMHO) to be playing in the NY Phil,
Im sure I have never heard an orchestra recording where I was like "wow amazing!", and someone was playing a miraphone of any stripe.

Orchestra tuba in the US is about york sounding rich tubas. The 188 would sound amazing in Amsterdam however. Or LA. (cue Roger Bobo reference)

[tofu]

If Al is rocking a 188 in the Phil, I think hes the only one on the planet that would have the guts to do it.

188 is a super clean horn and at the hands of an expert sounds great, but it's really not a horn (IMHO) to be playing in the NY Phil,
Im sure I have never heard an orchestra recording where I was like "wow amazing!", and someone was playing a miraphone of any stripe.

Orchestra tuba in the US is about york sounding rich tubas. The 188 would sound amazing in Amsterdam however. Or LA. (cue Roger Bobo reference)

How about Tommy Johnson - probably the most recorded tubist ever from all the great orchestral movie soundtracks he did. He certainly rocked Miraphones like the 184 /185. Plus, if I recalled he did a famous recording with the LA Phil playing the Planets having the tubas doubled by Tommy Johnson and Jim Self. Then there is that other one time La Phil guy who also rocked Miraphones like the186 etc - Roger Bobo. There have been and are plenty of folks in US who have played something other than York sounding tubas. Alex 163's have very popular horns in US orchestra's over the years for instance. I've certainly heard "wow amazing" from those Alex players.

[Dave Roberts]

I played a 188 at the audition for my gig. It was my only horn and worked for everything. Others had up to four horns. The committee was laughing about that pretty hard. I think most committees laugh at people who drag more than two horns on stage for finals. I found out in casual conversation years after the fact that they said one guy looked like a self-contained convention booth with all his horns and gear. They actually liked that I could do everything on the one horn convincingly. Of course they probably assumed that I had a closet full of horns at home and not that I was using a school-owned horn. Glad they did not ask! I love the 188 and always will. I wish I had the bucks to get one. I would sell my beloved Piggy in a heartbeat if I could parlay that into a nice 188, but the values are too divergent to allow for that right now. Alas...

Me too, Wade. Would gather a guess that there were a number of us that won gigs in the '80's on the 188. Loved that Tuba, so versatile.

[pjdicris]

Big Al is going to bring the 188 back in style

It's about time

[TubaGuyBen]

............

[vapourboy]

I'm all for more rotor German 188s, etc, horns being played in major US ensembles. Only good could come of it, as long as no promotional deals are hammered out resulting in the 188 being re-marketed with some prominent player's name slapped on it and the price increasing by 50%.

[Chuck Jackson]

There are even legends of vintage Alexander tubas being in demand again.....

As it should be.


Chuck"The Emperor may finally understand that his new clothes are not nearly as stylish as the old ones"Jackson

[joh_tuba]

Soo... hipsters play tuba?

[jamsav]

[quote="mexicantuba"]If Al is rocking a 188 in the Phil, I think hes the only one on the planet that would have the guts to do it.
Im sure I have never heard an orchestra recording where I was like "wow amazing!", and someone was playing a miraphone of any stripe.

Orchestra tuba in the US is about york sounding rich tubas. The 188 would sound amazing in Amsterdam however. Or LA. (cue Roger Bobo reference)[/quote


Couple years in this forum and I have observed some pretty whacky statements.
This one is right up there ....