New Commission Piece for Tuba/Euphonium

[johnhadden]

Hello everybody. My name is John Hadden. I'd love to take just a few seconds of your time ask for some help!

I am currently trying to save up for an F tuba. As I audition for graduate studies over the next two weeks, I realize more and more that my CC Nirschl needs a beautiful bass tuba compliment! I started a GoFundMe for my quest for an F Tuba and already I've received a few very generous donations. I started wondering how I could get my quest out to people I don't know personally, like the many tuba/euphonium players of the world. And then it came to me!

I have been composing for a while, and my first two works are actually in the pipeline at Potenza Music to be published sometime very soon. I decided to write a piece for any tuba/euphonium player willing to donate $20 or more to my GoFundMe to help me with a tuba. If anyone wants to donate a fairly large amount, speak with me and I'll make you the lead commissioner!

The piece will be for tuba or euphonium, and piano, and will be sent out via PDF in mid-February. Then, after being published, it will include your name and professional affiliation in the commissioner notes.

This is the link to the GoFundMe page: http://www.gofundme.com/kbtcpg" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Please think about supporting new music and my quest to obtain a bass tuba. I'm happy to have someone hear a sample of my works, or to answer any questions!

[johnhadden]

Could I trade you a dance for a song?

not quite sure how that would work?....haha

[johnhadden]

bump

[johnhadden]

bump

This needs to be seen.

Thank you!!! I'm trying really hard not just for the sake of the tuba, but I want my music in the hands of tuba and euphonium players. I love sharing my thoughts with y'all!

[THE TUBA]

The past couple times people have posted here about Kickstarters/IndieGoGo/GoFundMe pages to buy horns have not gone over too well.

Offering something (a composition) makes the idea of donating better, because you're essentially selling pre-orders of a composition. I think your drive will be more successful if you address a few points:

1. Who is the composer? If I'm going to buy solo, the most important information to me is the composer. A work from, say, John Stevens carries different weight than a solo from someone I've never heard of before. I (and presumably others) rarely buy compositions without listening to them first, seeing a preview, or hearing about the work's merit. The exception is when the composer is a known commodity. If I see a new book from one of my favorite authors, I'm going to buy it without question. Why would I pay for a book that hasn't been written yet by an author I haven't heard of?

What are your qualifications? What are your assurances that you will produce a good product? Saying you've been "composing for a while" really means nothing. I've been sitting at my computer for "a while" this morning. Have you studied composition? Has anyone performed your works? You say your first two works are "in the pipeline" to be published... does this mean that this is only your third composition? What assurances do I have that this work will turn out good if it is only the third thing you have ever written? Audio clips of composition performances, sample pages of scores, and composition qualifications will go a long way to help establish the validity of this project.

2. What is the composition? You listed instrumentation (Tuba or Euph and Piano), but no other information about the solo. A title would be a start. What will the piece be "about?" Programmatic or absolute music? Length? Difficulty? Style? Tonality? Are we looking at a 12-tone sonata for professionals or a lullaby for beginners? Give potential customers some information about what they would be getting. If it sounds like a neat idea, players will be much more willing to open their wallets.

3. Timetable. This was posted in mid-January and you promise to deliver the piece in mid-February. That's not a lot of time. The short turnaround implies to me that either the composition is already almost finished or that you anticipate its composition to not be very time consuming. A month is not a long time to compose and edit something from scratch, especially if the composer is a full-time student and (presumably) working a job to save up for a new axe. There's nothing really to gain by trying to churn out a new work as fast as you can, especially if people are pre-ordering it. Most people will be willing to wait another month (or few months) if it means a better product.

4. Commissioning. In some kickstarters/IndieGoGos/GoFundMes, a dollar amount is needed to activate rewards. Will you still write the piece if only one person donates $20? Is there a minimum amount you need to raise in order to finance the composition? If not, what is there to stop an interested consumer from waiting until the piece is published to go buy it (with you then only getting 10-20% of the sale price)? In other words, why should tubists/euphoniumists pre-order now? Sure, they could have their name listed as a commissioner, but that isn't as meaningful if the work was going to be written anyways. Also, what does "lead commissioner" mean to you? Does that person's name just get printed larger or does that come with any other benefits?

Again, actually offering something gives you a leg-up on the other people that make Kickstarters/IndieGoGos/GoFundMes to buy horns, but you're going to need to include a lot more information if you want people to actually buy the piece. Tuba/euphonium sheet music sales is not a particularly lucrative business because of the small target audience, so you really have to make a really great sales pitch to convince enough people to buy new music for it to be worth your time.

Good luck!

[PMeuph]

1. Who is the composer? If I'm going to buy solo, the most important information to me is the composer. A work from, say, John Stevens carries different weight than a solo from someone I've never heard of before. I (and presumably others) rarely buy compositions without listening to them first, seeing a preview, or hearing about the work's merit. The exception is when the composer is a known commodity. If I see a new book from one of my favorite authors, I'm going to buy it without question. Why would I pay for a book that hasn't been written yet by an author I haven't heard of?

What are your qualifications? What are your assurances that you will produce a good product? Saying you've been "composing for a while" really means nothing. I've been sitting at my computer for "a while" this morning. Have you studied composition? Has anyone performed your works? You say your first two works are "in the pipeline" to be published... does this mean that this is only your third composition? What assurances do I have that this work will turn out good if it is only the third thing you have ever written? Audio clips of composition performances, sample pages of scores, and composition qualifications will go a long way to help establish the validity of this project.

2. What is the composition? You listed instrumentation (Tuba or Euph and Piano), but no other information about the solo. A title would be a start. What will the piece be "about?" Programmatic or absolute music? Length? Difficulty? Style? Tonality? Are we looking at a 12-tone sonata for professionals or a lullaby for beginners? Give potential customers some information about what they would be getting. If it sounds like a neat idea, players will be much more willing to open their wallets.

This!

____
OP, aren't you kinda' insulting composers with the basic tenet of you post. You make a big spiel about the importance of the F tuba, the need for performers to use an F tuba, your desire to be a professional tubist, but then you offer to compose a piece.

Composers spend thousands of hours honing their craft, just like tuba players do. If you want to be a composer, go for it, but if you want to be tuba player, maybe you should focus on that.(Jack of all trades, master of none....) Maybe you should offer something along the lines of tuba performance related. (IDK, maybe the greatest hits of Stephen Foster arranger for multi tracked tuba) edit: FWIW, I don't see anything wrong with wanting to be a "jack of all trades" especially in this economy, but even then you have to sell it more, like the previous poster points out in his first and second points, you have to convince people that you're actually a jack of all trades.

p.s. $3500 is a nice amount for a used F tuba, you can find a quality horn for that price. No need for the $11k horn. (A poor craftsman blames his tools....)

[johnhadden]

Thank you guys for the advice an consideration!

A lot of these things are things I have thought about. For one, I know the amount I'm looking to raise is on the pricier side, however, I have my sights set on a very particular horn-MW2250-and those tend to run a little on the expensive end. I didn't go into such specific details in the GoFundMe description simply for the fact that a lot of people don't want to be bothered or take the time to read every nitty-gritty detail.

On the bright side, the GoFundMe is working out great!!! I'm getting lots of donations from people I've known and loved for years, people I've never met-including tuba and euphonium players-and other instrumentalists as well! I think the thing I'm going for here is the "go get 'em" attitude. I don't need everyone's money. But if some people are going to believe in me enough to give something small, then I'm going to work hard to make sure they see the tuba be bought, and they see a successful piece. If someone doesn't trust me, I understand. There's no hard feelings for avoiding giving a gift!

I DO thank you guys again for your input. I'll think about maybe what I should do to change some things on the GoFundMe. Maybe a video upload is in order?

KEEP ON TUBA-ING!
John

[johnhadden]

Hey all! Just wanted to say that the commission to support my GoFundMe campaign is coming along beautifully, and I can't wait for tuba and euphonium players to start singing these sensual sounds. The piece is titled "A Simple Serenade".

I've raised $1,000 for my tuba purchase, and there are 14 commissioners on the solo. There's still plenty or room left for more commissioners! I welcome any questions and thoughts! Thanks, members of TubeNet!!!

[johnhadden]

bump

[johnhadden]

Hello all! If you're interested in being part of my piece for solo tuba or euphonium and piano, there's still time! Just head to the GoFundMe link for more info! Or feel free to ask me directly