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[BVD Press]

I agree with many of your points. Especially the mediocre recordings part. Maybe there are too many, but I still enjoy something new and do my best to support these recordings by purchasing them. I sure would like to hear more live recordings, but I don't think this will happen. On the other hand, YouTube is a quite a nice place to hear various people in the "raw". Doesn't the same hold true for band, big band, orchestra etc. in terms of OK recordings?

Orchestras do exactly the good and effective thing I am talking about: They perform; the single most important thing they do is to perform, live and with regularity. Some record here and there and some are recording machines. Some will never, ever record anything outside of local public radio broadcasts. The recordings are an outgrowth of the performances and are almost an afterthought (unless you are one of the machines like Cincinnati or Berlin, who gin up lots of decent sellers).

I agree 100% with the live performance aspect, but think orchestras (like Tuba and Euph players) also need a reality check in many respects. Performing live and on recordings may not be enough to survive anymore. Orchestras need to be innovative, diverse, etc. in order to survive. The solo artists and orchestras who are able to connect with their audience will survive and the others.... The hard part is sometimes finding the audience.

An example of being innovative, and something I quite enjoy, are the Met broadcasts on Sirius. Most, or possibly even all of their broadcasts, are either live or a live re-broadcast. Just wonderful stuff. With blips, kacks (can someone suggest a better spelling?), screw-ups, great playing, etc. The excitement is there and they are a "true" rendition of the orchestra.

More live music from the New York Philharmonic can be found here:

http://nyphil.org/attend/broadcasts/ind ... stsByMonth

I don't see anything "tuba" heavy up there now, but last year Pictures, Tchaikovsky 6, etc. were up for listening. I am sure there are other orchestras doing this, but if not why not? As Wade said "the single most important thing they do is to perform". If you do perform, why not be proud and share it? By sharing, you can create a fan base which may support your group in the future. If the public doesn't hear a group, one wonders how a base can be created? No matter what profession we choose, we must have some sort of fan base or we will have to move on to another career.

Being in the real world can be difficult. If you fork out money to make a CD and it doesn't sell, that should give you an indication of your market, etc. If a CD does well, you do more CD's and if not, you don't.

[BVD Press]

And maybe my Taco Bell-induced heartburn will have dissipated by then. Who knows?

I know I owe a you beer from some other thread and maybe we should meet at Taco Bell followed by a dose of

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at some point!

FWIW, I was not offended (it is fairly hard to offend me) but appreciated someone else's point of view. It may have been a "rant", but there were many interesting points that you brought up that players need to consider before diving into the giant pond professionalism.

[lgb&dtuba]

None of ours have crossed over into even that small market yet. Pilafian's Travelin' Light album was the closest one yet that I have seen, IMO, and it is not a solo album, per se. It is a small ensemble.

Throughout your rant I was thinking of that particular album. There are others. But usually they are not, as you noted, solo works.

Nor are they full of obscure pieces that only a small core of other euph or tuba players would have even heard of.

[MKainuma]

Steve was a senior at the University of Michigan when I started there as a freshman, and he played the heck out of the horn. He won the school's concerto competition that year with the Bozza Concertino and played it with the orchestra, sounding simply amazing. Burning technique. LOL - I also remember that the rotary valves on his Rudi Meinl were terrible - it seemed that he wore them out, but that didn't hinder his abilities on the horn one bit. Great guy, as well.

In response to the OP's question of why he's not better known? He may not be particularly familiar to you, but he was certainly well known in school, and among his/my generation of students and players.

Cheers,
Morris Kainuma

P.S. On many an occasion, I've had to explain to students the significance of persons such as Abe Torchinsky or Arnold Jacobs, as they were names unfamiliar to them.