Great post! For the first few years that I was in school bands, we played sousaphones in concert also. I was thrilled to have a horn to play. I still think that the sound from my two Reynolds sousaphones is wonderful. They respond great, have a rich mellow sound and can really bark (not blat),when called upon. Solid very well built instruments.Lee Stofer wrote:It bothers me that so many subjective and sometimes downright ignorant things are said concerning sousaphones.
Sousaphones are tubas, and as such, a fine musical instrument when used and cared-for like a fine musical instrument. The Sousa Band sousaphones had 4 valves, but they only marched once or twice ever. Those instruments were designed to be played in a concert band. The valveset is by far the heaviest part of an instrument, so adding a 4th valve to an instrument to carry on your shoulder is more of a liability than an asset. The Brazilian-made instruments that sport a 4th valve, yet weigh less than many 3-valve sousaphones, have shed weight elsewhere, in the form of paper-thin tubing, flimsy braces, omitting the steel bell rim wire, paring-down the size of guard moldings or eliminating them, or a combination of all of the above. Does this sound like a good design decision for an instrument that will spend hours in use in a stadium, in the stands, and on a parade field, not to mention bus rides and use/abuse by teenagers?
Buescher, Conn, Distin, Holton, King, Martin, Olds, Reynolds, Selmer and York all made fine sousaphones, a number of which survive to this day and play well. But, none of these (except a Taiwanese-made King and an occasional 20K from Cleveland, OH, that is not like its predecessors) are available from manufacturers any more. Why? Because of the prevailing economic atmosphere where we want more and more but are wanting to always pay less for it. That is why we see cheapened-down copies of great American sousaphones of the past being built in developing countries with cheap labor and being sold here, so we can have what we are asking for at ever-cheaper prices.
Inflation is real, and manufacturers can keep their prices low for only so long until it is no longer economically feasible to build a sousaphone in the US. If you were to translate the price of a first-quality American sousaphone built in 1950 to its' cost in 2007 U.S. Dollars, it would most likely fall in the $10,000 - $12,000US range now. If there were school systems and individuals across the US willing to spend $10,000 per sousaphone today, I'm convinced that you could pick from pro-quality models from at least 4 different manufacturers in the US and several others from other countries.
When I was in high school, our program could not afford a full set of both sousaphones and concert tubas, so we used 'naked lady' Conn sousaphones on Wenger stands indoors and no one complained. They were beautiful instruments that were well-cared-for, and no one complained about using them. We played rather well in-tune without 4 valves - this IS possible. If one got damaged at all, it was the responsibility of the student and his parents to get it repaired, and the band directors and band parents made sure that the responsible party was held accountable. Reporting to a rehearsal or performance with a non-functioning instrument was reflected in our grades, and vandalism to a school instrument was a good way to get an F for the year, suspension from school, and criminal charges.
When no one is held accountable, music programs fail.
Steve
