Top ten list

[Viggofonen]

What about Øystein Baadsvik and Michael Lind, and all those great tubists sitting in more or less known orchestras all over the world? And all the different ways of playing the tuba, orchestral, rock, jazz, solo, ensemble...?

To make a top ten list, there will first be a competition, and competitions are for horses, because there will always be a personal opinion that desides who is best. I may like somthing you don't.

BTW
Happy 4th of July everyone!

[CJ Krause]

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[Paul S]

What about Øystein Baadsvik and Michael Lind, and all those great tubists sitting in more or less known orchestras all over the world? And all the different ways of playing the tuba, orchestral, rock, jazz, solo, ensemble...?

To make a top ten list, there will first be a competition, and competitions are for horses, because there will always be a personal opinion that desides who is best. I may like somthing you don't.

BTW
Happy 4th of July everyone!

Well said Tubaboy! I do not think we can make a top ten list or even a top 100 that would not leave out some fantastic players but I would surely include Mr Lind and Mr. Baadsvik among the best out there!

Wishing a great weekend to everyone wherever you all call home!

[Gator]

What I find is so sad about this nonsense is that NOBODY metioned Bill Bell!

[scottw]

What I find is so sad about this nonsense is that NOBODY metioned Bill Bell!

Point made!!! There is no way to appoint a top-10, or top-100 without leaving a great player off the list. More appropriate a topic is this: Who is YOUR FAVORITE player and why?

[kegmcnabb]

What I find is so sad about this nonsense is that NOBODY metioned Bill Bell!

ABSOLUTELY

But since we are on the topic...
I think everyone is a little hard on the posting author. This list is "WRONG"?!? It is simply an excersize...a listing of personal favorites or influences. Is it exceptionally meaningful?...probably not...but WRONG...certainly not.

As a guitarist and bassist as well as a tubist I see each years readers polls in the various guitar mags and they are a great starting point for discussion. Do I agree with them? Almost never, because as Tubaboy85 wrote competitions are for horses (so I guess none of you ever participated in Solo and Ensemble competitions in school...should we do away with them?). Still his point is well taken. Music and art are not truly competitive endeavors. The late American composer John Cage once quoted Zen master Dr. Suzuki as saying what he liked most about philosophy is that "no one wins"...there is no definitive answer. Music is very similar. There is no definitive right or wrong way to participate. How wonderful! BUT...even more wonderful, if there are no wrong answers...there can be no wrong questions.

Sorry to be so long winded. In short LOOSEN UP, tuba players. Have fun with the question. You may even learn of someone you never heard of.

Craig McClelland
"raised and trained in tuba in Creston, IA...Birthplace of Bill Bell"

[Viggofonen]

I don't think we should get rid of all the competitions around. It's a great way to be inspired to get better, but since the personal opinion of the dudge decides who is best, at least on a higher level, we should not always be to serious about the results.

scottw said it so well: "Who is YOUR FAVORITE player and why?"

Or even your personal top ten (I know this is what codytuba said in the first place, and he said that it was his opinionated thought, but he also said that it was a suggestion for an international approved top ten list!)

With a personal top ten, we would get a lot of new names, and perhaps even some local ones.

[Tom Mason]

There is another point to be made, and I apologize if I breezed by it if someone else made it previously, but here it is:

The top 100 tuba players can change from day to day just by the fact that a person has a good or bad day. This is especially true when it comes to the top 100 players auditioning for the top 100 positions. I would dare say that there is so little difference in players that one day player 1 would win and on another day player 2, or 3, or 50 would win.

Another great point is that there are so many great tubaist that fit into the section and are technically proficient.

Enjoy the sound.

Tom Mason

[Billy M.]

Tommy Johnson- Probably the most recorded tuba player ever

Actually that title still remains with Chester Schmitz, but regardless of that fact, it's impossible to make a fair list, however, it is wise to know who we idolize (for lack of better word) for the sake of having someone to look up to as musicians. It's like basketball players who have Jordan or Shaq or whoever as their role models or baseball players who love Jeter and Randy Johnson. Who we most aspire to sound like, play like... you get the idea.

[JB]

Tommy Johnson- Probably the most recorded tuba player ever

Actually that title still remains with Chester Schmitz...

Interesting.

Could you provide some further info on the details for this statement. As an "off the cuff guess," I probably would have thought Mr Johnson as well -- without even thinking of Mr Schmitz.

Thanks in advance for the info.

[winston]

.

[TMurphy]

This is why I like baseball, this kind of list is much easier. There's Babe Ruth, and then everyone else.

[Rick Denney]

1.) Arnold Jacobs
2.) John Fletcher
3.) Gene Pokorny
4.) Sam Palafian
5.) Roger Bobo
6.) Walter Hilgers
7.) Pat Sheridan
8.) Bob Daniel
9.) Abe Torchinsky (probably wrong spelling)
10.) Warren Deck

This list says far more about you than about anybody on or off the list.

Rick "who would be hesitant to expose that much information" Denney

[Scott Sutherland]

Tommy Johnson- Probably the most recorded tuba player ever

Actually that title still remains with Chester Schmitz,

Huh?! Last I checked, Chester Schmitz wasn't working in a recording studio most everyday for the last 30 years. Just the idea that a major orchestral tubist would have the time or opportunity to record even half of Tommy Johnson's workload is absurd. Sure he's done some symphonic and pops recordings, including a few movie scores, but nothing compared to Tommy Johnson.

Has Chester Schmitz won the Emeritus Most Valuable Tuba Player award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences? Just checking.

[Matt G]

This is why I like baseball, this kind of list is much easier. There's Babe Ruth, and then everyone else.

See even these lists are useless.

Heck, I'd say Gerhig was a better player. None of us know how much ALS was affecting him in his later years of playing. Heck, Gerhig played every game with fractures, illness and whatnot. He didn't booze it up and gamble either. He just played good solid baseball.

As far as tuba players go, you can't create one list. There are many players in many genres. You have people who excel at quintet playing, orchestral playing, misc. ensemble playing, jazz playing, score recording, solo playing, teaching, etc. While one player might excel at one thing, he/she might be mediocre at another.

The other thing with these lists and why they are controversial is that we see someone elses opinions and have our own and become defensive in support of our heroes.

I have one list that I know the start of:

Top ten tuba players at stirring $h!t:

1)Bloke ::D:
...

Have fun.

[Rick Denney]

...in some cases thats an average of 4-5 posts a day since this marshmallow-content site was re-started like 4 months ago SHEESH and PFFT! my goodness boys get a life!

See what I mean? Only Dale can do a proper "pffft."

Rick "hey, Dale, how's Boulder?" Denney

[JB]

Here's an interesting top 10 post:
1 schlepporello 490
2 bloke 453
3 Chuck(G) 436
4 bbtubaman 427
5 Leland 343
6 TubeNet 331
7 Doug@GT 221
8 Rick Denney 219
9 ThomasDodd 218
10 TubaTinker 205
In some cases thats an average of 4-5 posts a day since this marshmallow-content site was re-started like 4 months ago SHEESH and PFFT! my goodness boys get a life!

Oh God No!
I'm on a list!...

Yeah, but look at the company you keep!!!

[Doug@GT]

Here's an interesting top 10 post:


1 schlepporello 490
2 bloke 453
3 Chuck(G) 436
4 bbtubaman 427
5 Leland 343
6 TubeNet 331
7 Doug@GT 221
8 Rick Denney 219
9 ThomasDodd 218
10 TubaTinker 205

in some cases thats an average of 4-5 posts a day since this marshmallow-content site was re-started like 4 months ago SHEESH and PFFT! my goodness boys get a life!

Methinks the Politics forum has resulted in "post inflation."

[CJ Krause]

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[CJ Krause]

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