Starting a Brass Band

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:52 pm

By "brass band", do you mean a "British Style Brass Band" or the much less formal "American" version?

MaryAnn · Post by **MaryAnn** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:16 pm

I really only have one input to starting a group; think really hard ahead of time what level of group you want, and make sure that the lowest level of musician you invite in, meets that standard. Otherwise unhappiness will surely follow.

Example: you want to start a British Brass band. The tuba parts are in treble clef. But you find out that you can't get BBb tuba players who are willing to play the Bb tuba part, because none of them want to learn to read Bb treble clef. They all want to read the Eb tuba part.

Silly stuff like that.

MA

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:42 pm

MikeMiller wrote:
Chuck(G) wrote:By "brass band", do you mean a "British Style Brass Band" or the much less formal "American" version?
OK, I admit my ignorance. What's the difference?

A British-style brass band is quite rigid in makeup. See, for example:

http://www.bandsman.co.uk/writing.htm

for an explanation. An American style band is much less formal in instrumentation and makeup. Hornists, for example, can use french horns, instead of the dreaded E-flat tenorhorns.

Half the struggle, it seems to me, in forming a Brit-style brass band, is finding people with the appropriate instrumentation; E-flat and B-flat basses, cornets that sound like cornets and not trumpets, Basses (B flat particularly) who don't mind reading their parts in treble clef (Bb and Eb transpositions). (Trombones (except bass) are written in Bb treble also, but if your bones know how to read tenor clef, it's mostly a matter of adding a flat to the key signature).

And the dreaded tenorhorns, despised by hornists because of their squirrely intonation.

Then there's the Eb sop cornet, but trumpeters being what they are, seem to be willing to rise to the challenge of squealing like a stuck pig.

It's my experience that a brass band demands far better control of blend and dynamics than the typical symphonic band--probably because there isn't the wide range of instrumental timbre available--one has to work on other dimensions of performance.

You may also wish to consider whether or not you want to play competitively. Your being closer to London than to Petropavlovsk makes competition more of a realistic proposition.

If you're playing Brit style, there's only one really good place to get music--from the UK. Fortunately, most BB music is competitively priced and many publishers and dealers are willing to ship internationally.

The most difficult part is finding a director who knows the literature. A brass band is not a symphonic band sans the woodwinds--it has its own unique repertoire.

There are some very active British brass banders on this list who, I believe, will be delighted to add their own tuppence.

Oh, there's also the Salvation Army brass band, too, which has a slightly different makeup from the standard British band.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:51 pm

MaryAnn wrote: They all want to read the Eb tuba part.

Yet the Eb players who really play Eb tuba have no problem switching to BBb tuba and reading the Bb bass part. An argument for using appropriate instrumentation if there ever was one.

DonShirer · Post by **DonShirer** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:50 pm

There is an extensive band list at
http://boerger.org/c-m/commother.shtml

If you go to their contact list and search for "brass" you will find at least ten brass bands who might be able to help you with startup information.

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:44 pm

The guy who knows more about what you want to do than anyone I know is Joe Johnson, conductor of the Georgia Brass Band. PM me and I'll give you his email address. This is a fine brass band as well as being fairly new to the scene. He also runs the SE region music store for the Salvation Army. A wealth of knowledge about the literature as well.

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:46 pm

There's some helpful information here:

http://www.nabba.org

Here's another useful site:

http://www.ibowtie.com/brassforum/

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:15 am

TubaTinker wrote:There's some helpful information here:

http://www.nabba.org

Here's another useful site:

http://www.ibowtie.com/brassforum/

And for an idea of the UK scene:

http://www.4barsrest.co.uk

and a very good forum with lots of help at:

http://www.themouthpiece.com

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:01 am

I would dearly love to have a brass band to play in. It wouldn't even have to be tuba, but the chances of that happening here where I live in my lifetime are slim to none.

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:59 am

You guys have got to come to New Albany, Indiana (across the river from Louisville) on the weekend of April 13th for the NABBA competition. One of the bands I play in, The Bend in the River Brass Band, is going to compete for the first time. Since we're fairly new on the brass band scene, we'll be competing in the Explorer division. There should be some very good bands there. The whole schedule is here:

http://www.nabba.org

http://www.riverbrass.org

The Holiday Inn Express in New Albany ought to be a hoot! There are at least two bands staying there on Friday night.

Jack Denniston · Post by **Jack Denniston** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:28 pm

I sure enjoy playing tuba in our brass band in Raleigh NC- http://www.trianglebrass.org/

We're getting ready for NABBA right now. Our next concert is May 12. You can see our schedule on our web site. If you come up for a concert, let me know and I'll introduce you around to people you can talk with about starting a brass band. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, but there are still quite a few original members who would love to tell you start-up stories.

Jack

Eupher6 · Post by **Eupher6** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:45 pm

Having played in Brit-style bands for close to 20 years off-and-on (and being American), I can say without reservation that once you've played in a quality brass band, you'll think twice about doing a community band again.

Yeah, yeah, I know, to each his own and all that.

But for a eupher, there simply isn't more challenging music out there without getting into esoteric stuff, and if some of those points that have been made already are addressed, i.e., getting tubists who can read treble clef, having them play horns that are at least somewhat compatible, finding tenorhorn players that can work with the squirrelly intonation, finding cornet players that sound like something other than trumpets (VERY difficult to find here in the States), finding percussionists that will hang around long enough to get good, finding baritone players that are willing to stay there and not gravitate to euph, and most importantly, finding an MD that knows the repertoire, man, for me at least, it just doesn't get any better than that!

The Brass Band of the Western Reserve, the band in which I play principal euph, is also playing NABBA, in the Championship division. The Sparke test piece, Dances and Alleluias, is classic Sparke - rich, colorful, vibrant, and oh-so-nasty.

Gotta love it!