profiles

[MikeMason]

i think it would add to the value of tubenet if more people gave a little more info. in their profile.of course we all get to know the frequent posters but it would still be helpful to know more about all posters. an opinion from a guy who has been a finalist at a real auditon would be treated a bit differently from a young student just figuring out what the pinky valve does... just a thought....

[chevy68chv]

What does that pinky valve do, anyways?

[windshieldbug]

It's about community, not credentials! Like anything else on the 'net, you need to look at free info carefully... and if it's backed up and useful, why do you care WHERE it's from?

but yes, people DO fool around...

[TubaRay]

What does that pinky valve do, anyways?

I really don't know. I only use the first one. It works well for all keys.

[Mark]

... just figuring out what the pinky valve does...

May be some of the female tubists have pink valves. And, I know sax and trumpet players like them brightly colored horns, but I prefer my valves to be silver or brass colored.

[Charlie Goodman]

Usually, I just slam the buttons up and down as I play and make potty noises with my lips into the round thing on the side of it.

[windshieldbug]

I prefer my valves to be silver or brass colored.

would that be lacquered, plated, or "raw"

[MikeMason]

never mind...

[MaryAnn]

... just figuring out what the pinky valve does...

May be some of the female tubists have pink valves. And, I know sax and trumpet players like them brightly colored horns, but I prefer my valves to be silver or brass colored.

Well, you know I have to confess. I had to get a mute for when I played Pictures (can't remember whether I needed the pinky valve or not) and it was a metal one. I was 'fraid I was going to bonk the bell a little too hard and either dent it or CLANG it putting the mute in...so I went and found some stick-on felt. Problem was it was in the shape of butterflies. So I stuck a bunch of them on the "bonk end" of the mute and then just because I'm female and have a sense of humor I stuck a few more of them on the mute itself. Couple people in the audience thought it was pretty funny. And some of them were pink...(the butterflies, not the people)
MA, who figures the violin auditions don't count on a tubenet

[Chuck(G)]

i think it would add to the value of tubenet if more people gave a little more info. in their profile.

My profile? Somewhat pear-shaped...

[Leland]

"The faster the notes, the fewer the valves."

Are you sure about that?

With my 2-1/2 valves I still have to work to keep up...

[tubeast]

make potty noises with my lips into the round thing on the side of it.

Oh, person!! Go get some tuba lessons. You´re supposed to put your thumb in there .

[Joe Baker]

Mike, your thread got slaughtered, but I think you're right on the money. There are people on this board who have tons of experience and are able to weigh every comment purely on its merits. Others of us are hoping to get the advantage of the experience of those sage ones. But how does one know whether he's receiving sage wisdom from an experienced pro or toe-jam from a punk kid that doesn't know which end of the horn to blow into?
____________________________
Joe Baker, who knows that advice is worthless unless you know how much credibility to give it.

[Rick Denney]

never mind...

Okay, let's review:

But first, definitions are important: Amateur is one who plays tuba for the love of it. A professional is one who has "professed" to the world that he or she is available to be paid for playing tuba. Thus, the word "professional" means nothing without also defining the gig.

Chuck G. is an expert on just about everything, plays tuba very well as an amateur, repairs and reconstructs tubas very well as an amateur, and can research the Internet better than anyone here. I've met him once, but I gleaned all that by reading his posts.

Bloke is a pro repair guy who (for now) owns his own music store, a regular sub in a major symphony, plays plenty of pro gigs, and has a strong dose of Cherokee blood. His sense of humor is strongly informed by his teenage son (or seems to be), and he believes that people ought to make their own way in the world without coddling from others. I've met him on several occasions, but I gleaned all that from his posts.

Joe Baker is one of the wisest people on the forum, gives advice about life second to none, and lives what he believes. I've never met him, but if he's faking all that in his posts, then he's working waaaay too hard to impress a bunch of tuba players.

Mary Ann is a former pro violinist with an orchestra gig, plays horn to a pro level, and has taken up the tuba for fun, and to hang around a better class of people. She chucked pro music in favor of engineering, so that she could approach music as an amateur instead of as a pro. Her avatar is not a picture of her (and that's true for Bloke, Joe, and Chuck, too). I've never met her in person, but all this is apparent from her posts. I don't know her last name, but I'll bet I know about her than many people who do.

I am an engineer with a strong science background who spends too much time at work posting on Tubenet, who plays for fun and who has played well enough to be at the margins of the professional world on occasion (usually in support of better players), but not well enough to be really good. The Holton in my avatar really is mine. All that is, I think, apparent from what I've posted.

We even know who KarlMarx is.

My point with this small sample is that the active posters are who they appear to be. The more active they are, the more samples of what they have to say that we see. After a while, when we've had a chance to test what they've said with our own experience, we begin to form an opinion of what they have to say. We use that to filter their further sayings. That's the thing I like best about the new forum versus the old: It's not so easy for posters to change the identities every post, and even if their name is an alias, we are able to assess what the say in the context of what they have said.

Occasionally, a top pro will bestow wisdom on us, using a name we all know, and we judge what we hear based on that reputation. But in most cases, we based what we hear on our experience with that poster. That's as it should be.

Rick "who thinks that if you listen to people talk long enough, you begin to find out who they are in ways more effective than credentials" Denney

[Captain Sousie]

Yes, yes it is.

[Tabor]

Well,

I don't know about the rest of these guys, but as for my credentials, I am the best music teacher in the world. I was
given the award by one of my second grade students just yesterday. She made it herself.

-Tabor

[Joe Baker]

Well,

I don't know about the rest of these guys, but as for my credentials, I am the best music teacher in the world. I was
given the award by one of my second grade students just yesterday. She made it herself.

-Tabor

And they say you'll never get rich teaching music. What greater reward could there be?
________________________
Joe Baker, who is grateful to his children's good teachers, in music or any other subject.

[UDELBR]

Sometimes the profile serves as a lightning rod though, and not every professional tubaist feels like being called out by every dilettante or jr. high kid.

Relative anonymity can be a blessing.

[MaryAnn]

Sometimes the profile serves as a lightning rod though, and not every professional tubaist feels like being called out by every dilettante or jr. high kid.

Relative anonymity can be a blessing.

Yes, and so is the ability to not say anthing to get them going. Having no opinon on anything is considered a very advanced spiritual state in some schools of thought.

MA

[Leland]

Having no opinon on anything is considered a very advanced spiritual state in some schools of thought.

Yes, I agree completely. That is exactly what I believe to be true at any given time.

[/irony]