Helicons in the Army Field Band

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:11 am

A friend of mine plays in one of the Reserve Bands out east and is leaving for a two week reserve engagement and we were talking today about Helicons. He mentioned that he was in Washington DC about 10 years ago and saw the DC Army Field band and that they had a matched set of Helicons.

I asked if they were new looking and he said yes, so I asked if they had 4 rotary valves and he said yes again, so I assume they were Cerveny's. Does anybody know if this true and do any of the Service Bands use Helicons currently? I have only seen Sousaphones.

If this is true does anybody have a photo they could post?[/b]

chhite · Post by **chhite** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:00 am

TUSAB has some silver Miraphone helicons and Sean could speak more accurately about them. I played one a couple of years ago and it would take a while for me to get used to it.

WoodSheddin · Post by **WoodSheddin** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:41 am

chhite wrote:TUSAB has some silver Miraphone helicons and Sean could speak more accurately about them. I played one a couple of years ago and it would take a while for me to get used to it.

The United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own" does own 4 helicons. They are Miraphones with 4 piston valves each. They play absolutelly aweful but some people like to use them occasionally cause they do weigh less than a Sousaphone. They are also handy during high winds as the bell is much smaller and does not act as a sail. We might be replacing them with some fiberglass Sousaphones soon.

I could be wrong, but I would be VERY surprised if the Field Band invested the money in buying Helicons. The Field Band does very little marching. They have no need for them. Their primary mission is touring the country doing sit down concerts.

Pete Link · Post by **Pete Link** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:13 pm

Actually I think the Field Band does own the mentioned Helicons(Cerveny rotors). If I remember correctly a story told to me when I was in the Army Band was that they were originally ordered by the Fort McPherson band down in Atlanta but were not practical(in other words the bandmaster did not like them!) and they traded them to the Field Band for some concert horns that they were going to get rid of. This sounds about right to me if I remember correctly.
Lee Stofer would know for sure as I think he was in Atlanta on his first tour during this time.
Pete