it's about that time again

[me]

well it's just about time for marching band to start back up and i'll go ahead and ask the question that somebody asks every year (though i cant seem to find any of them in the archives) how do we make our sousaphone (or contra/convertable etc...) section sound bigger? what are some excercises that have worked for you guys? any magic secrets?

[WoodSheddin]

5 people blasting out of tune and out of sync will not sound nearly as "big" as 5 players playing within their sound envelopes in tune and in time.

In Tune and In Time.

[windshieldbug]

In Tune and In Time.

It's physics. One loud person out will cancel four in, but just two people in tune causes the waves to build in amplitude. An in-tune section playing even moderately loud will sound like a stampede. Whichever way they're pointed.

You learn that real fast when there's only one of you. You look for all the sound reinforcement you can get!

[Dylan King]

You can just do what the U.S.C marching band does, and use alternate fingerings in order to BLAST on every note.

[Doug@GT]

Darn,

I thought it was time for this:



Doc

Holy moly. I'll take two.


As to the origianl question, Sean is right, as usual. Unless you've got 30 or more sousa on the field, the only way to get a "loud" sound is to let the physics take over.

Or, in a small HS stadium, just turn and face the crowd.

[bigboom]

All the stuff so far is right on the money. One thing I was told was to match Tone as well. if you have someone with a really blatty sound and someone with a really stuffy sound and you all sound totally different, it won't carry as well, even if you are in tune. I think making the stacatos a little longer is a good thing to do too, just helps the whole band.

Ben

[Jeffrey Hicks]

Looky what I found!
http://www.bigtexan.com/index2.html

while that steak looks appealing if I were a cardiologist I would go to that sight and copy the names. I would love to see how many of those guys suffered from either high blood pressure or cardiac distress. There is one man on the list of those who have conquered the big texan who is 5 feet 6, 480 pounds. Sheesh.....and we wonder why we have an obesity problem?

[mTaUrBkA]

Has anyone ever had any experience painting fiberglass sousaphones? My school has a fiberglass conn with offest valves. Its not in the best condition. The lead pipe is duct taped in and doesnt match the horn. The tuning slides don't move and one of the spit valves snapped off so it is taped shut. Also the bell fell off (not where it is detachable) so that is duct taped on....with the school color of course! All of these awful things happened a logn time ago, and tubas arent the schools main priorities......I cna complain and complain but nothing will get done.

Well anyways, its so old and dirty that the fiberglass is a nice ugly yellow with brown spots from dirt. I don't know if the band teacher would let me paint it, but he complains the it looks ugly. I figured take off the brass part, then clean all of the fiberglass, then spray paint it. Has anyoen expermented with this before?

[windshieldbug]

you could try the piccoloists trick and have everyone tune to 15 cents sharp

That's no trick. They come sharp from the factory!

[THE TUBA]

How do you tune two piccolos?

[windshieldbug]

What do you call an alto clarinet player with half a brain?

It doesn't matter. They won't answer back, anyway. Takes too long to process.

[THE TUBA]

I am also trying to make my high school's sousa section sound better. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is proper marching technique. It is very hard to get the big, full, symphonic sound out of a marching tuba section when the section is bouncing up and down all over the field. There is also a simpler way of making your marching tuba section sound louder: make the drill writer put the tubas around midfield in the show's big moments.