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Our church music director is going to have our low brass quartet play from the balcony in a few weeks. Due to the space I am going to need to stand while playing. As I will be playing with a 2341, I am a little concerned about my ability to hold the horn and maintain appropriate breath support for 10 minutes or so with out using something to help take the weight, especially I tend to hold the horn tight against the body when playing standing. Just experimenting with playing and holding the horn, my playing felt constricted when standing. That could be because of lack of practice playing while standing and perhaps doing more practicing while standing might increase my comfort level when doing this. I use a stand when sitting (when I remember to take it) but I have seen some comments about using straps when playing stand gigs. Dan (TubaTinker) has talked about a Meinl Weston strap very positively that places the weight on both shoulders. I've marched a short parade with a full size tuba using a one shoulder strap and my playing was not my best, but that was a marching situation, not a standing one. Looking at British Brass Band performances on YouTube, the tubas are using stands as they are playing standing. I would appreciate some feedback on which might be a better approach to playing in this situation and why.

Thanks,

John

Well, I can second Dan's advice on the M-W harness--if you have to use it, it is the best.Will your playing stand extend tall enough to use it? That would be the very best outcome. If not,if you think you will need this option again on a regular basis, maybe invest in a stand which will extend for playing standing? Or, if a one-off, can your stand be placed on some sort of box to raise it to desired height? Just a thought!

goodgigs wrote:I used to play on a strap and I even moved my strap eyelets around on my tuba to make it work the way I wanted it to but........
I now know that any strap, be it two shoulder or guitar strap like mine, is putting the weight in the wrong spot for breathing and
comfort. Wilford Brandstetler or the Mnozil Brass uses a waist belt that allows him to walk, dance, and even jump, while playing.
He usually plays for more then one hour with very few breaks and seems least tired of the group at the end. He is and animal though.
This has bin discussed many times on this board, and somewhere there is a link to see his strap. I'm sure someone will post it here soon.

Edit: Wow that was easy to find ! http://members.aon.at/tubtub.at/page_4_1.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Brandstotter is awesome ... no matter what Gansch thinks.

KiltieTuba wrote:Use a helicon.

I'd use a strap if absolutely necessary, since you can then "stroll" with it, as opposed to be tied to the stand....

Or... you could rig up a stand with a wheel on it...

Damn, Ian! Is that the best you can do?

I used a NeoTech harness in my theme park days. It worked great for me.

But...you only need to stand and play for ten minutes. Run through the set at home, while standing, three times a day, every day until the gig. Ten minutes will be easy by the day of the show.

Whenever I can't avoid standing and/or marching, I wear the tuba on a simple one shoulder sling. The weight distribution is bad, so I also need a back-support corset for anything except the shortest performance. If I had to do much of it I would definitely be looking for a playing stand.

I have a colleague who plays in a Navy reserve band who uses a gadget that straps/laces to the bottom bow, and hooks at waist level either to his belt or to a flag-sling. He swears by it for marching and standing.

When the conductor springs a last minute surprise and you don't have a sling with you, put one foot on a chair and sit the tuba on your knee (this was actually the most comfortable standing job I ever did, but the appearance is at best informal.)

Some tubas like the popular 3/4 Conns can easily be cradled in your arms and propped on the knee, and don't require either for extended standing.

My problem with wearing a tuba is that the bottom bow is situated on my belly (the reason I use a sous for standing gigs). I've often wondered if Wilford Brandstetler's leadpipe is situated the way that it is in order to place the bottom bow lower on his body.