Midwest Clinic impressions

[tubafatness]

I must say that being on the exhibit floor at the Midwest Clinic was quite a unique experience! It certainly was like nothing I've done before. I only had a couple of hours today to spend my time there, so I spent them trying out all the bass tubas I could. Based on what I played and heard, the best F tuba I could find was the Meinl-Weston 2182, followed by the Miraphone Firebird. The Meinl really surprised me, as it was the free-est blowing and easiest playing F out of the 9 or so I tried. I found that I didn't like any of the bigger F tubas nearly as much as the smaller ones. Out of the Eb's, the only one I really liked was the Willson Eb, which may take the prize as the best bass tuba I played today. I didn't get to try the new Miraphone Eb, though. If I'd won the chance to take home any horn I wanted to, I'd be hard pressed to choose between the Meinl and the Willson. Anyways, I had fun, and I highly suggest the place for anyone who wants to play some horns, or just simply look around.
Aaron Hynds

[Steve Marcus]

The M-W Thor and Baer CC tubas are magnificent!

[poomshanka]

The M-W Thor and Baer CC tubas are magnificent!

Would you be able to do a little compare/contrast on these two? Apples-n-oranges, or... ??? I know you might have only had slight time with the horns, but I'd be interested in whatever observations you could muster. Was the Baer they had a production line model, or one of the handmade variants?

Thanx, Steve...

...Dave

[Steve Marcus]

I didn't have much time with either horn. But my initial impression is that the Thor has a very big sound with a wide dynamic range that can be controlled fairly easily. When played loudly, it could possibly lean toward edginess if you're not careful or not using an appropriate mpc. OTOH, it's nice to have that much of a musical pallette at your disposal. And frankly, it's not going to be readily "overblown;" it can take whatever you can give it. Overall intonation seemed very good. As on many tubas, the open E second space is a bit flat; using 1-2 is an easy solution. The Thor on display was lacquer.

The Baer is a true 6/4 horn. Very comfortable to hold and play (even for a short guy like me), but definitely designed for large ensemble playing. The specimen on display was silver.

I did not ask David Fedderly too many questions about these horns (such as whether they were handmade or production models) because I needed to concentrate my limited time at Midwest trying bass tubas (when I wasn't working in my own company's booth). I picked these two CC horns up to play out of curiosity, and I'm glad that I did! I love my 4/4 Nirschl and thought that I would never want to replace it. But once I get settled with an F or Eb tuba, I might have to give the Thor a second or third thought!

[Steve Marcus]

There were many fine bass tubas at Midwest, most of which are models that have been available for some time.

I had previously ruled out interest in a Meinl-Weston 2182 based upon reports from various sources. But as a result of Mr. Fedderly's invitation, I found this to be a very pleasant horn to play. I'm not sure if it meets my particular needs, but it is definitely a horn for anyone in the market for an F tuba to try.

The one new model bass tuba that piqued my interest the most was Miraphone's "almost Ambassador." According to Richard Murrow and Markus Theinert, the horn that was on display was a step forward from the 1261, but not the actual fully-evolved Ambassador. As nicely as this 3+1 compensating Eb tuba played, Richard said that his Ambassador (which is more like the eventual production models) plays with even more openness than the horn in the booth. Although I happen to play in a brass band (which is the target market according to Miraphone's brochure), I would be considering this horn for light orchestral and small ensemble playing. It's a fairly big sounding (and looking) Eb horn, but it can also be played very softly. It probably could also serve as a tubist's single all-around horn (as Mr. Fletcher used his Eb).

For my own purposes, I might still be thinking in the direction of another model bass tuba. But none of the F and Eb tubas on display at Midwest were bad horns. To each his/her own.

[Alex C]

The Miraphone prototype 6/4 CC piston was a honey of a big horn. They make no pretensions that this being a York copy, "there are enough York copies already," and came out with a really fine instrument to this point. The production horn will be this good or better.

The pitch was really good and the sound was even from top to bottom. You can't tell too much about sound in the exhibit room, too many distractions, and this is only a prototype, but it looks like it's going to be a terrific horn.

I played the Nirschl 4/4's extensively. The handmade version was a killer but the price places it only in reach of a really serious player. Very free blowing, extremely responsive, with few intonation issues.

The biggest surprise was the BBb version of the Nirschl 4/4. When they get production and importing up to speed, this is going to be a great buy for BB'b players. Best BBb tuba I've played in a long time.

The student line euphonium represented an equal amount of bang for the buck. It compared favorably to the hand made Nirschl euph's. These euphs play really open and take a lot of air before you can settle into pitch. Both types of euph are serious instruments.

Don't throw rocks at me for saying this: I played, and talked to people who played, Indian and Chinese imports and they were uniformly good. That's good news because we all better get used to the fact that beginner instruments are going to be imported from Asia soon and the upper line instruments will follow.

One manufacturer already had a hand-picked Bach Model 37 trumpet CAT-SCANNED and is using the internal and external measurements to design and make production standards for a beginner trumpet. God help us.

Contrary to a story I'd heard, Walter Nirschl did not cat scan the Chicago Yorks. He designed his York copy from thousands of handmade measurements.

This should be a separate topic: The performance by the Chicago Symphony Brass was an inspirational performance. Stunning, stirring and emotional moments abounded. I had to leave after the first piece following intermission but I heard a performance that included everything from liquid melodies to hammered punctuations (and everything in between) and was told the 90 minutes I missed was even better.

Gene and Mike were amazing and at times jaw-droppingly-impressive in their roles. Kudos to Mike Roylance who came from Boston to play in this performance.

The weather was spectacular! It was like a summer retreat compared to the last December I spent in Chicago. Sure, there were clouds, fog, rain and my ears froze walking to Orchestra Hall but there was not a hint of ice or snow.

[Steve Marcus]

The Miraphone prototype 6/4 CC piston was a honey of a big horn...The production horn will be this good or better. The pitch was really good and the sound was even from top to bottom. You can't tell too much about sound in the exhibit room, too many distractions, and this is only a prototype, but it looks like it's going to be a terrific horn.

Ergonomics will also be improved on the production models; the prototype had one of its inner branches sticking way back of the bugle. With its projected price, many more tubists may consider owning a 6/4 horn.

I played the Nirschl 4/4's extensively. The handmade version was a killer but the price places it only in reach of a really serious player. Very free blowing, extremely responsive, with few intonation issues.

I expected more difference in playing characteristics between the handmade and "machine made" versions, especially since the former is more than twice the price of the latter. But sitting and playing them reminded me of why I love my Nirschl 4/4 so much. I had posted earlier that I might consider replacing it with a Thor. When I went home, I played my Nirschl. I'm going to hold on to that horn for a long time.

This should be a separate topic: The performance by the Chicago Symphony Brass was an inspirational performance. Stunning, stirring and emotional moments abounded. I had to leave after the first piece following intermission but I heard a performance that included everything from liquid melodies to hammered punctuations (and everything in between) and was told the 90 minutes I missed was even better.

The first half of the program was no slouch: Sir William Walton's Crown Imperial March, Percy Grainger's The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol, and Gunther Schuller's Symphony for Brass and Percussion. Joseph Kreines, the transcriber of the first two pieces, and Gunther Schuller were both in the audience.

But you're right--the second half was fabulous. Jay Friedman's A Strauss Fanfare had been performed a couple of years ago at the "Brass Buddies" concert following his transcription of An Alpine Symphony. The Fanfare sounded more fresh this time, perhaps because it wasn't following 40+ minutes of Richard Strauss. "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets followed in impressive fashion. I would have preferred less organ and more brass in this transcription. (There is a transcription for brass band that was used for a Test Piece in the UK a couple of years ago--but I digress.) Then Bruce Broughton conducted his new piece, Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale. What a great addition to the brass choir repertoire! I want Chicago Brass Choir to buy and program this piece on our next concert! Stephen Bulla was walking around Midwest on Friday with his newly-purchased copy of Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale under his arm.

The oversold crowd (extra seating on the stage) clamored for encores, and they got them: John Williams' Winter Fanfare, "Nimrod" from Elgar's Enigma Variations, and a finale that always brings a crowd to its feet, "Pines of the Appian Way" from Respighi's Pines of Rome. In his introduction to the last encore, Jay Friedman did not identify the piece and announced, "If you don't know this piece...you should."

Gene and Mike were amazing and at times jaw-droppingly-impressive in their roles. Kudos to Mike Roylance who came from Boston to play in this performance.

Ditto.