Sousaphone?

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:35 pm

BTW, great sound!

trseaman · Post by **trseaman** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:40 pm

windshieldbug wrote:BTW, great sound!

I totally agree, very cool sound! I forgot to mention that in my last post about the 40K on Ebay! I've always wanted to start a small band to play similar music but have never hooked up with the right people... Keep it up!

Tim

Udi · Post by **Udi** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:10 pm

Thanks windshieldbug & trseaman, that really warms my heart! Can't say I'm very self assured of my playing right now. I just started working with a new teacher, and she's tough. Your words cheer me up.

Here are comlete two files from Marsh Dondurma's cd, which you heard samples of. The links will stay live for about a week. The first co-written by Tom Dayan and me, the second's mine.
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... D57CAC4F31
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... CB44EFBBFF

They're copyrighted, would deeply thank you if you could avoid spreading them around.

imperialbari · Post by **imperialbari** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 3:38 pm

Congratulations on your band plus on your sound and rhythm. To me your tuba and yourself sound like a good match.

I happen to own samples of two of the models suggested, the Connâ€™s 40K and 28K. Both are fine instruments. The 40K is by far the heaviest (far too heavy for your purposes), but the 28K is no lightweight either. And I am not sure, that you will find yourself well served with a 3-valves-only Eb instrument.

You mention having a harness constructed. I have used a baritone sax harness, but found that it stiffened me up a bit too much.

Meinl-Weston makes a harness, which takes up the weight at the bottom bow level without locking up the top of the instrument.

You may also take up inspiration from the bass-drum harness used in my boyhood band: wide leather bands over each shoulder and crossed (with stitches) over the back. If you join all 4 ends at an attachment point at or near the bottom bow, you will have taken the weight off your hands and still keep a lot of freedom to sway and dance.

Supplementary comments:

A Cerveny helicon may be a musically good solution, but it is bulky and the bell cannot be un-mounted for transportation.

I never have tried or heard an Amati sousaphone, which is even remotely acceptably in tune with itself.

Your last two links take a sign-up to a site/company, which is unknown to me.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

Udi · Post by **Udi** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:17 pm

Thank you for your kind words, Klaus. I think I'll take your suggestion and start by finding/making myself and my tuba a good harness.
About those links, they go to a site called yousendit.com, which enables hosting files for a week, to make sending big files easier. On the middle of the page, to the right of that sign up box, you'll find a "download now" button. I assure you it will download my music files and nothing else. No sign up necessary.

Udi.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:16 pm

I agree that for some reason, the taper of the bugle is in better tune throughout the range on a 14k, and its siblings the Cavalier and the Pan American, and the pedal tones are great. You can also redo the upper 1st valve slide to make it movable with your left hand, and I have done so, which eliminates all tuning issues.

Udi · Post by **Udi** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:34 pm

iiipopes wrote:You can also redo the upper 1st valve slide to make it movable with your left hand, and I have done so, which eliminates all tuning issues.

Could you post a photo of this mechanism?

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:59 am

richland tuba 01 wrote:Just use a yamaha contra like the drum corps use. They have a much better sound than any sousaphone and most concert tubas.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this. The construction is not good for your back--a sousaphone is not much better, but, at least, it is not all on one side of your body. I have played both the drum and bugle corps style of tuba and a sousaphone. The drum and bugle corps instrument seemed to lack something and I personally didn't like the idea of being so directional. Sousaphones have been around for 114 years and they show no sign of going away. Did you know that there was a whole decade that sousaphones (with front-facing bells) were actually the most favored tubas by professional tubists? (1922-31) 99% of the popular music recordings that feature tubas during that time in their ensembles had sousaphones in those places. They were really big instruments back then, but the concept hasn't changed.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 12:19 am

Indeed. A few months ago on eBay a guy had a 20's King sousaphone catalog for sale, and he had scanned each page to show in his listing. From what I could see, the 1250, or what we all know as the standard King sousaphone with its .687 bore (11/16") and 26 inch bell was the smallest of the three sousaphones offered, up to a behemoth with, I believe, a 28 inch bell, a huge throat, and a .750 bore and a 4th valve option!

Martin also made a larger sousaphone, which reputation is it's tone is as big as it is.

Shockwave · Post by **Shockwave** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:26 am

DCI Dave vs. The Chief

-Eric

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:30 am

I'll take "Chief" John Kuhn any time.

That's a great picture of him!

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:03 pm

Yeah - the Chief - great pic! BTW - can anybody tell me who his tailor is? It's one thing to wear a marching uniform or tux while holding a souzy. But a tailored suit has to be the top.

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:44 am

iiipopes wrote:Yeah - the Chief - great pic! BTW - can anybody tell me who his tailor is? It's one thing to wear a marching uniform or tux while holding a souzy. But a tailored suit has to be the top.

Everyone looked good during the '20s. Everyone was fashion conscious. That actually carried through to the early 1960s. Remember when people actually wore a suit on an airplane when they were going on vacation? I haven't worn a tie since Christmas Eve mass in Saigon, Vietnam, last year.

Udi · Post by **Udi** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:59 am

everybody says pre 1969 conn sousa's are great. what happenned on 1969? do only 70's conn's suck, or 69's too?

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:03 am

http://www.usd.edu/~mbanks/CONN20.html

In this article, the company name should be written Macmillan.

Udi · Post by **Udi** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:26 am

mmm... so would you advise against buying a 1969 conn sousa?

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:37 am

Not necessarily. But you would be better off buying an older one.

TubeNet

Sousaphone?

what happened in 1969