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After listening to Tuba Polka on the Canadian Brass Greatest Hits Cd, i have a question..

There's a part on the song where the tuba player goes down below a pedel B flat, then up to a C above the low b flat ( i think) and starts playing two pitches at once...almost as if he is singing the 2nd pitch into the horn..im pretty sure he's playing one note then (humming, singing, buzzing?) the 3rd on top of the root...he plays about...5 intervals or so..but how?? i've asked my band directors, and really havent gotten an answer...i'm sure many people have heard this song & kno what i'm talking about...anyone have any input?

Multiphonics. You sing the top part through the tuba and play the bottom part. Nature fills in the chords.

multiphonics...interesting! thank you..
at what point is a tuba player taught this technique?

The Roger Bobo LP. Encounters II by William Kraft.

I mention this record in another thread.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000 ... hisProduct

It's on the above recording. I don't care much for this piece myself, but you can hear a sample of it on the above site.

This is one technique I never had to use for anything.

LoyalTubist wrote:This is one technique I never had to use for anything.

Whereas I always thought that it made playing the Bach unaccompanied 'cello suites more accurate and more fun to play...

If you want to hear more multiphonics I would highly recommend Oystein Baadsvik's Tuba Carnival album for the track fnugg. Also Jon Sass's Sassified album & Sergio Carolina on the TGB (TubaGuitarraBateria) album.

To be honest I'd recommended you got these albums anyway just to hear playin to aspire to!

The particulars of multiphonics:

You play one note.
You sing another.
The horn does the rest by reinforcing the resultant harmonic tones.

If you do this correctly, and in tune, you can actually create (and hear) more notes than just two; in toher words, a full chord.

But, to do this you need to know exactly which notes to play and sing, and be able to do them in tune with your instrument.

It takes a lot of practice, but once you get it, there's noting like playing a chord on a single horn!