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Great article. But he didn't mention tuba players as part of the problem. Bring on the 7/4 tubas!

The world is going to hell now.

That was written in 1997!!

Everyone surrender your 6/4's and any mouthpiece larger than a 24AW

Great article, thank you for posting it. Personally I think this applies quite well to community bands. In my band in particular we have 12-14 trombones in an 84 piece band. They can easily over power the entire band but they listen well and the blend, at times, is very nice.

This was a great article, I noticed at the end though he didn't tell us not to use large equipment, it was more an admonition not to abuse it. Just because you can peel the paint off the wall in the back of the auditorium doesn't mean you should. The Doug Yeo Signature Bass Bone mouthpiece is not a small mouthpiece, I think what he is advocating isn't necessarily downsizing your equipment (although he did advocate rethinking a desire to upsize from what you have now) but listening and blending and playing at appropriate volume levels for the piece you're playing in the context of the orchestra you're playing with. He seems to be saying the desire for larger equipment is a symptom of the problem, It's less an equipment issue and more about brass players needing to abandon the music as a competition attitude and begin playing as part of a cohesive team, with the conductor at the helm.

bloke wrote:

Radar wrote:This was a great article, I noticed at the end though he didn't tell us not to use large equipment, it was more an admonition not to abuse it.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that his tuba-playing section-mate at that time was told by the music director at that time that he was to play a York-copy tuba. (A percussionist being told to play this-or-that make/model of bass drum/cymbals/timpani is one thing, but a wind instrumentalist being told which make/model of instrument to play...!?!?) This is information that I have received second/third hand. I'm willing to stand corrected.

Is a fine Alexander tuba - across the board - capable of making a "better" sound than a Swiss copy of an American 6/4-size tuba...??
Across the board, yes...yes, it is.
Are the Swiss-copy 6/4 tuning issues - that must be addressed - any less severe than those of a vintage (5/4-ish) Alexander...??
No...no, they are not.

I heard the same story about said player and said conductor. However, Mr. Yeo does make this argument in the article:

"Large equipment in itself is not the problem. There are many great instruments out there and there is certainly one that will fit each player "just right." Play what you want. Play what works for you. BUT. . . ."

I get the feeling since mentioned tuba player was indeed a "team player" that characteristic of sound changed more than volume for him. It was still him, but not that Alex sound that so many of us love (and prefer :: clears throat :: )from his earlier recordings.

Mr Pokorny wrote:

"When I was in high school in the early 1970's, I was taught a very important concept of balance from Benton Minor in California. The pyramid concept basically says that the highest voices in any ensemble should be supported slightly stronger and at least as reliably (in tune, rhythmically accurate, etc) by the immediate voices below. Those voices should be supported slightly stronger and more reliably yet by the voicesbelow them, etc, until you reach the bottom voices which are the strongest and most reliable. This does not mean that the tuba players should be playing loud all the time. What it does mean is that tuba players should be most responsible for dynamic contrasts and reliable intonation. This particular concept is not unknown in the band world (W. Francis McBeth) or in the orchestral world (George Szell). Part of the problem with balance is when the voices at the very top of this "food chain" are playing way too loud. Although it is easy to play in a unified way since everybody can hear the "Tyrannosaurus Treble Tyrants" on the top, the pyramid concept of balance is in shambles."

It is interesting in this connection that the most revered, celebrated, and well known orchestral trumpet player, Bud Herseth, was also an extremely loud player and known as the player who essentially took ultra-loud trumpet playing mainstream (although he could do much more than that obviously).

bloke wrote:http://www.yeodoug.com/articles/text/teamplayer.html

Should be required reading for all musicians.

In 1984 I was a volunteer student chauffeur for Philip Jones when his brass ensemble stayed a day or two at BGSU. He spoke about the London Symphony going overboard with volume, said it was an long time problem. He blamed the recording process. The playback systems in studios were, according to him, blaring at the conductors between takes, and then there would be a subsequent take where the conductor would try to coax a sound equal to the amplifiers in the control booth.