TubeNet

Newbie question: please define 'axe' and 'BAT.'
How did they get started?

An axe would be one's main horn, or just a general term for one's instrument.

BAT: big @ss tuba

Additionally, the term BAT was coined when a particularly drunk tubist noticed his horn was Batman .

and BART is rotary or recording

Speaking of BART, where is Marty Neilan these days? Haven't seen him on here in some time...

bort wrote:Speaking of BART, where is Marty Neilan these days? Haven't seen him on here in some time...

There is only so much TubeNet one can tolerate.

An axe is the tool a trumpeter uses to shatter your eardrums.

Klaus

bloke wrote:I'm guessing (??) that "axe" came from the appearance of electric guitars being somewhat similar (in an albeit very basic way) to the appearance of axes...and then it spread from electric guitars to other instruments. If not that, just the fact that an "axe" is a very basic tool that man uses to do work.

The phrase itself is older than the electric guitar, and I suspect you're right with your second argument. But for what it's worth, if you really want to illustrate with pictures, I've always thought the Ovation Breadwinner was the real axe:

There is an old New Orleans song called "Audubon Zoo" but sometimes "They All Axed For You" (and that is the way it is usually pronounced - not "asked")

In the jazz & blues world, originally an Ax or Axe was a Sax (usually a Tenor) and this term probably came up in the mid 1950s, maybe a bit earlier. Later it meant any instrument. Sometimes limited to an instrument held in both hands while playing.

Related jazz slang: Woodshedding, Cutting, Woodchopper

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I BELIEVE the term 'axe' was used by jazz musicians in the 1950's. It was a very HEP term. All the hep cats jived the lingo, ya dig? Correct me if I'm wrong...

tclements wrote:I'm not 100% sure on this, but I BELIEVE the term 'axe' was used by jazz musicians in the 1950's. It was a very HEP term. All the hep cats jived the lingo, ya dig? Correct me if I'm wrong...

There is a Hepcat's Jive Dictionary written by Cab Calloway in the late 30s, a Hipster's Dictionary collected in the 50s, and Slim Gaillard wrote his Vout Dictionary sometime in the 1930s.

There is some overlap, but Slim's was the most creative, I think.
More related fun stuff.

Cab twisted meanings and adapted existing slang to say things in a new way, but Slim Gaillard invented a new language, which you could only understand if you spent the time learning it. But don't forget Louis Jordan... and dig his exposition of hash house lingo related to the food service industry. Picture a busy hash house in Harlem- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG82Q0n ... 05C7651A9E" target="_blank

When you have a good cross section of "Jazzers" and "Legit" players, you learn the ways of both--so when you hear "Im usin' my main axe to blow a pay gig tonight man" you what he is expressing to you--can you dig it, brotha man?

J "Its ALL good, no matter how its expressed" J

I think as well that they are particularly North American terms (nothing wrong with that, by the way), I don't hear many people refer to their instruments in those terms in the UK

peter birch wrote:I think as well that they are particularly North American terms (nothing wrong with that, by the way), I don't hear many people refer to their instruments in those terms in the UK

Yes, 'Axe' is not used to refer to tubas in the UK - mind you they are also never called 'horn' as seems to be used generically for brass instruments in the US.

In bands they are usually called 'Bass' and in more recent years 'Tuba' has also started to be used. Although funny to think I was playing tuba for 15 years before I ever knew what I played was called that, as everyone in school and at brass band called it a 'Bass', or 'Double bee flat bass'. It was only when I went to a classical concert and saw tuba in orchestra that I realised my 'Bass' was a TUBA

I have only become familiar with 'BAT' through TubeNet.

Over here, "Bass" and "Tuba" were used much the same way as was described by Jonathan.
I always liked to think I played Tuba rather than Bass. A little on the poche side, maybe.

The proper German term for "axe" would be "Kanne" (jug, I believe) as in "Colloquial term for brass instruments in general".
Saxophones would be "Staubsauger" (Vacuum cleaner), by the way. Especially baritone saxes.
One term for clarinet would be "Wimmerpin" (literally: whimpering rod).
I´d get banned from this forum for a long time if I told You the other expression for clarinet because of abusive, rude, and racist language, so I won´t.
French horn is a good one: "Glücksspirale" (spiral of fortune, obviously referring to the odds against the player getting the right note).

Just thought some technical terms in another language might come in handy at times.

I've never *actually* heard anyone use "axe" in verbal conversation. Mostly just here. Maybe those left coast "hep" folks do though...

Same for BAT. And in fact, I'm not even sure how I'd pronounce it. "Bat" (like the animal)? Say the letters B, A, T? Or actually say Bigass tuba? Kind of the same for 5/4 or 6/4 tubas. For whatever reason, I always read that as "five four" and "six four," but think other people would probably say "five quarter" or "six quarter."

I think this all means that this is stuff we write about, but it's often not important enough to be what we talk about in conversation...? Really how often in a week am I describing the size of my tuba?

When people ask about my Neptune I just say "it's an orchestral C tuba", or "it's a grand orchestral tuba" - would never mention BAT (would pronounce as animal), or even six-four except to other tuba fanatics.

Oh, I certainly wouldn't use any of that jargon with non-tuba players. Actually, even amongst tuba players I'd rather just refer to it by key, brand, or model number.

An "axe" is a horn that cuts it for you