TubeNet

I'm sure many of you have seen the part of my signature that refers to tuba duets.

I'm trying to figure out why these have not taken off, so to speak. They were reviewed in the ITEA journal, but the review revealed that the reviewer had not actually played them; he said they were suitable for "young high school kids." If he had tried to play them with young high school kids, he would have seen instantly that they are far too difficult for that level of player. I've seen very good amatuer players stumble badly on these in the horn version, and one pro player who promised to record them for me found them too difficult. So....if the only people who considered these are young high school players because of the review, that pretty much eliminates all possible buyers of duets that I'm really proud of having written.

In discussion with people about these, it has been suggested that along with the inaccurate review, the "cutesy titles" may be appealing to the wrong audience. (And may have something to do with the reviewer's assumption about the intended audience.)

So my query is: have any of you actually played any of these duets? And if so, what did you like or not like about them? The person who engraved them for me (well, transcribed is a better term) said he thought they were a positive addition to the literature. This same guy has totally trashed other things I've written, so it wasn't just him being nice; he really did have a high opinion of them. But they are languishing and I can't figure out why.

MA

Dear Mary Ann,

I have not played or seen the duets, but from a publisher point of view there could be many reasons why things take off or don't take off:

1. Luck - one might compose something that is in the right niche. I sure wish I could predict what would sell or not sell!

2. The publishers distribution - If the pieces are not available at the "regular" or "expected" dealer chain, they will not do as well as if they were on these sites. Convincing dealers to carry music is not an easy task.

3. Digital distribution - If they are not available digitally, this my hinder sales. These should be the "expected" digital" sites as well.

4. ITEA reviews - I think we all like getting ITEA reviews, but I don't think they translate into sales. I sure wish they did because I have had a few in the last couple of issues!

5. Like everything else in the last 10'ish months, sales are slow. We all know the economy stinks and people don't have extra money....

6. I wish this were not the case, but I have found that it is: The best compositions do not always sell the best.

7. Solos will generically sell the best. Adding another person immediately eliminates your field of possible buyers. Add a third, etc.

8. There is a lot of competition out there now. Be it from me, Beautidel, Pelican, BrassWorks4, Ken Friedrich (these are the ones that come to mind who have released duets recently), etc. there are only so many tuba players. In the past, music was released by publishers at a much slower rate. With technology, publishers can release pieces much quicker which does not allow certain pieces to gain traction before another one is added to the pool.

9. Getting anything out to the public takes times. Sometimes years...

__

Quick questions: Can you define "taken off"? I have found that a writers definition is very different from a publishers.

If anyone is considering going with a publisher, please be sure to ask how many copies they expect to sell each year. It is your music, but the publisher will be acting as your representative and it is a good idea to make sure you are both on the same page. Let's just say I was not on the same page when I submitted my pieces for publication, but one lives and learns from their experiences. I was lucky because I eventually bought the company! Most are not that lucky:(

Has the Horn version done well for you?

I think I have babbled enough,

.

tubashaman2 wrote:
Why not try something at ITEC 2010 and get a partner and just play all the duets together in the book.

This is a great idea. If you are unable to get on one of the recital events, during "chow" time there is always someone playing. I would check with hosts about this, make a big sign about the book and just play. People will notice!

Thanks for the feedback.

The duets' copyright is held by the publisher and attempts to get the copyright back have been met with a brick wall. I guess this is my learning experience with publishers. My first publisher was such a great situation that I was naive in approaching other publishers, and gave away the copyright instead of the rights to just the horn version. The horn version sells reasonably well, although they make me considerably less with the currrent publisher than with the previous publisher. Maybe that would have happened anyway over time, but there are new people coming into brass playing all the time, so you would think that with good marketing, sales would stay fairly steady. Of course there is the Xerox phenomenon, which I can do nothing about except not break the law myself in that regard. I never expected to make anything resembling a living with this stuff, but I would like to see it get out there more than it is.

My oboe teacher has seen these and told me I would sell "a million" of them for oboe and EHorn, but what is the point of making those transcriptions if they are going to languish at the publisher like the tuba transcription does?

It would be a great idea to do them at ITEA 2010 except that I'm not good enough to play them well. In order to sell them myself, I'd have to first buy them from the publisher, and if I were going to do all that work, there wouldn't be any point having them at a publisher; and since the publisher won't give them back....well, you see the circular thing going on here.

MA