TubeNet

Sounds like Bass Bone to me.

I believe the first and third examples you posted have both tuba and bass trombone in them playing the same lines, but the bass trombone sound is very much more pronounced. In the first two phrases of the first example, the tuba sounds like it is playing somewhere in the middle of the staff, and when the bass trombone is really ripping it, that can get masked up. The tuba is playing in the lower register in the third example, so that is more clearly heard.

The second example is very muddy to me, but you can clearly hear bass 'bone. There is so much going on that I can't tell if there is a tuba in it for sure, but, since there is a tuba in the other instances of this theme, it would not be logical to not include it in this one.

I hoped that helped!

-Jackson

My ear says the first two are Bass Bone and Tuba in unison. The third one is Bass Bone doubling the Tuba and octave higher. The bone provides the bite but there is a presence behind the bite that is tuba.

The first clip I think is bass trombone, Cimbasso, and tuba, also I think I hear Wagner Tuben. They have a very unique sound especially when played that loudly.

Second CLip Bass trombone and tuba

Third clip same as the first, maybe contrabass trombone instead of cimbasso.

The reason I think you hear only "one" is because I think in the first two clips the tuba player is using a bass tuba (F or Eb). Bass tubas are great for blending well with the trombones and giving them that extra power. The third clip is easier to tell because I believe the tuba player is using a contrabass tuba (CC or BBb). These tubas have a better low range and tend to have a more "distinct" tuba sound. There is a DVD about the music of The Lord of the Rings that has video of an orchestra playing the music and in that you can also see that it is both tuba and Bass bone (plus you can see no cimbasso or Wagner tuben but you can see the special flute made for the shire theme).

Of course! Cimbasso! How did I miss that!

I think a tuba could get that gnarly in the lower register and sound good if it was in an appropriate setting (Fountains, Prok. R&J, Harmonielehre, etc.). Trying to achieve that sound in the middle and upper register would, I think, be a poor choice and ultimately a fruitless one.

I say that we have bass trombonists for a reason. When I want that kind of grit, I score for prominent trombones with tuba as the foundation. Think of it like a painting. The trombones are the bright reds and yellows in the foreground that really catch your eye and the tuba is the cool-colored background that the rest sits on.

The Jackson wrote: When I want that kind of grit, I score for prominent trombones with tuba as the foundation.

This is right on. The bass trombone can get that "grit" or "edge a lot easier than a tuba can. But for full power you can score them in unison and really let them go. Here is an example of an F tuba and a bass trombone playing some unison low stuff together (at one point both are blasting a pedal D).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyuHuhok ... re=related" target="_blank" target="_blank

Listen at about 4:49 for the low unisons.