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Stuff I tried and liked:
Thor- a mighty instrument. Look out PT606...
Ambassador Miraphone E flat, also mighty, mighty fine , that is.
Norwegian Star, dare I call it a niche instrument?
B&S Anniversary PT10 and PT15, real nice F tubas
MW 45SLZ, Johnny likey....
Schlipfinger Mutes, pricey, but great response and intonation, not to mention outstanding construction. Can a mute have a bling factor?

Jury still out on:
G&W Baer F, this may take a few weeks to iron out. it's just different from what I'm used to playing.
PT17 F tuba, huge, why?

I didn't get to as many sessions as I would have liked. I think Baadsvik and Mead were fantastic. Heard the College All-Star Ensemble, very good indeed.
Seeing the level of young up and coming artists is inspiring and motivating. Motivating me into the practiced room, that is.
Everyone who is serious about their playing should attend something like this event at least once. It is a real eye-opener to a young student as to just what level they can achieve. It also reminds those of us that are a bit further along that the future is very bright for musicianship on our instruments.
Congratulations to Kathy Brantigan ,Kaitlin and and all the DU staff that made the event go. Also to Dennis AsKew, our ITEA President, who seems to have gained the ability to be in two places at once(maybe he has been cloned?)

I tried out primarily CCs....like the Mirafone 1291 (okay, but kinda bland), Meinl Weston 2155 (some intonation problems) 2165, 2000 andThor (great horns, but outta my range). The Besson 995 (very surprised, nice horn). I was most surprised with Sam Gnagey's horns, great response and great overall. I didn't attend my professor requested. I did see Gene Pokorny (wow, how can a tuba play that soft?), Oystein Baadsvik and Steven Mead and Brian Bowman, Sotto Voce (Nat, you better be ready...I'm working on my DJ-ing skills for the next ITEC...it's gonna be a tuba/dj battle royale). I heard every jazz thing. I performed Thursday morning with the Univ. of Central Arkansas T/E Ensemble and I was the improvist in the quartet. This was my first ITEC and I had a blast...plus the weather was great...it's about 95 degrees with a 70 degree dew point here.

A couple of horns I thought were stand outs aongst the many:
1. Miraphone 1261 Ambassador Eb - what a great sound, and a refreshing choice for those Eb players.
2. MW Thor - hmmm....may have to look into selling my CC
3. Miraphone Ambassador Euphonium - Anyone else try one?
4. Sam Gnagey, had a Holton Bell - This was an exceptional horn !!
5. MW 2011FA - Ok...in the BBb market MOVE OVER King 2341 - this horn is going to be something big IMO.

Jason:

Did anyone from MW say when they plan to get some of those 2011 series horns shipped out? A couple of weeks ago, Matt told me he was told they would not come in until late September or October. Originally, they were to be here in the US right about now.

Played pretty much every compensating euphonium there.

The biggest thing I noticed was how little the differences between them were. There were tons of things different, but the bottom line is that you can pretty much pick up any on these horns and succeed with it.

The 2975 Wilson was pretty cool. I thought it sounded better than all the other horns, but it might've been because I was hearing it out of my left ear for a change.

The surprise for me was the Nirschl (sp?) horn. It was very light, probably at least a couple pounds less than most compensating horns, and played accordingly. Great response, a little brighter and lighter sound, but a nice horn overall.

And guess what. After all this fiddling around, I came home and still preffered my own horn... Because I am used to it.