British Brass Bands

[Alex C]

The most technically challenging music I have ever played on tuba was in brass band championship competition music. No other performing venue comes close. ......

This is quite true. However, I quit a local brass band because I'm just not nuts about playing the same three pieces from Christmas until the NABBA Championships. I did it for two years. A challenge is fun.... to the point where it becomes quite boring. Enough is enough.

Although that was not my experience in brass band I would absolutely agree with you on that point. However I think playing the same music from Christmas until the Champoinship is an outgrowth of the approach many of the bands in the UK have.

It is worth stating again, the Brass Band of Battle Creek's approach is to win an audience rather than win a contest. They are a special case but they have their priorities right. IMO the brass band movement will grow faster with that list of priorities rather than concentrating on winning contests.

[David Richoux]

Tony Clements has started a BBB in the San Jose, CA region - they have been around a while, but the much older Watsonville/Salinas Pacific Brass Band has been playing since 1990. Another fine tuba (and Bone) player Howard Miyata is associaete bandmaster of the PBB.
http://www.siliconvalleybrassband.com/ and http://davejohnsondesign.com/pacificbrass.html

[imperialbari]

The instruments listed by Bob all may be found in the Posaunenchöre of the German Lutheran Church, but of course the way of writing is far different from the BBB style.

Klaus

[Dan Schultz]

Posaunenchor

??

[windshieldbug]

Posaunenchor

When presented with a part you cannot play, play dead.

[Allen]

What is striking about the British Bbras Band tradition is how serious it can get. It seems that the notion of competitions puts a lot of pressure on people for orthodoxy (following the rules, only using the specified instruments, tubas as transposing instruments, etc.) and for pursuit of winning as the main goal.

TubaTinker's post made me remember: I was going to audition for BBB-style organization. I figured that since I already read trable clef, I could learn to deal with un-transposing as I played from the BBb Bass part. Then, I found out that I would be expected to play a BBB-style BBb tuba (I play CC and F tubas). [They were nice people; I could have the use of the band-owned BBb 3+1 compensating tuba. ] That was too much for me. I didn't have the dedication. It was clear that playing in that organization involved something more than just making music as best as I can. I declined to take the audition.

This is something each of us has to decide -- how much are we interested in music-making or how much do we want to participate in competitions? There's room in the world for each of these activities, we have to know ourselves and what we really want to do.

By the way, I've been told that the Brass Band of Battle Creek not only deviates from the strict instrumentation and repetoire of the traditional BBBs, the tubas play from cancert pitch bass clef charts. Will wonders never cease!

Cheers,
Allen

[scottw]

By the way, I've been told that the Brass Band of Battle Creek not only deviates from the strict instrumentation and repetoire of the traditional BBBs, the tubas play from cancert pitch bass clef charts. Will wonders never cease!

Cheers,
Allen

And that is the shame of the whole thing: by putting the audience and the convenience of the players above the SOP and protocol of the BBB "tradition", the band Allen mentions will likely never get a sniff at any championship, no matte r how well they perform; they will get black-balled as renegades and get their comeuppance! If they just want to be the best band they can be playing that style, fine, but why beat your head against the wall by "competing"?
The very same thing is happening here: that HS marching bands became driven not by a desire to accomplish musicality, but by a desire to win another championship, along with the football team if possible. Work on 3-4 numbers until they are perfect, but accomplish not one whit of musical things like learning to sight-read, learn fundamentals, learn different styles of music, learn to play dynamically, etc. Yes, before you flame me for this, I know the students learn some of these things in "mastering" 3-4 show pieces, but can anyone truthfully say that the kids got the quality education musically they should have gotten?
A lot of parallels between HS marching bands, drumcorp, and BBB!

[Kevin Hendrick]

By the way, I've been told that the Brass Band of Battle Creek not only deviates from the strict instrumentation and repetoire of the traditional BBBs, the tubas play from cancert pitch bass clef charts. Will wonders never cease!

Cheers,
Allen

And that is the shame of the whole thing: by putting the audience and the convenience of the players above the SOP and protocol of the BBB "tradition", the band Allen mentions will likely never get a sniff at any championship, no matte r how well they perform; they will get black-balled as renegades and get their comeuppance!

Somehow, I doubt they're greatly concerned about a championship (or getting "black-balled") -- they're a professional band, not an amateur one. Check out their web site:

http://www.bbbc.net/

You may notice some familiar names on their roster -- Steven Mead, Demondrae Thurman, Marty Erickson, Dave Zerkel ...

[scottw]

By the way, I've been told that the Brass Band of Battle Creek not only deviates from the strict instrumentation and repetoire of the traditional BBBs, the tubas play from cancert pitch bass clef charts. Will wonders never cease!

Cheers,
Allen

And that is the shame of the whole thing: by putting the audience and the convenience of the players above the SOP and protocol of the BBB "tradition", the band Allen mentions will likely never get a sniff at any championship, no matte r how well they perform; they will get black-balled as renegades and get their comeuppance!

Somehow, I doubt they're greatly concerned about a championship (or getting "black-balled") -- they're a professional band, not an amateur one. Check out their web site:

http://www.bbbc.net/

You may notice some familiar names on their roster -- Steven Mead, Demondrae Thurman, Marty Erickson, Dave Zerkel ...

And that makes the point less valid? When the biggest names in the genre seem to "get it" that the "amateur banding system is broken and needs fixing?

[David Richoux]

For those seeking "A Clue" about BBB, the movie "Brassed Off" is worth a look, and also, if you can find it, a low budget UK TV movie comedy called "The Shillingbury Blowers" really gets deep into the whole thing.

[Alex C]

By the way, I've been told that the Brass Band of Battle Creek not only deviates from the strict instrumentation and repetoire of the traditional BBBs, the tubas play from cancert pitch bass clef charts. Will wonders never cease!
Allen

When I saw the BBBC, the band used two Eb tubas and two BBb tubas. Marty Erickson is always in the band and always plays Eb, a Willson front action. The other Eb player that evening played a 3+1 tuba, definitely an Eb.

I don't remember the BBb players on the program but one was from the UK and was playing a borrowed BBb Besson, his low range sound was simply amazing. The other low keyed tuba could have been a CC, who knows?

The point being that there's no need to play bass clef parts if you are playing an Eb part. I don't think the band's management would go to the trouble of transposing parts for one tuba, regardless of key, that would not be efficient time-management. The player probably just transposes the part mentally if needed.

[DonnieMac]

Never the twain shall meet, British Brass Bands with American trained trumpet players plus German tubas. The soft, delicate, sweet cornet playing of the BBB is something American trumpet players can hardly imagine much less emulate. Yes, Phil Smith of the NY Phil can do it. But he has a sally ann background and his dad was a sally ann conductor.
Get the DVD "Brassed Off!" and listen to the BBb and EEb basses and the cornets. The same music with American trumpet players would sound like a replica of the Stan Kenton brass section. Four trumpet players on one part, wow. Is anyone playing double C's?
The sound of the 3+1 Besson tubas is very different in weigh from the German style tubas which I think are just wrong for BBB ensembles. The clarity is lost in the thickness of their sound.
But anyway just play the BBB music; it's fun but you'll never sound like a BBB with British trained players, IMHO.

[brianf]

pursuit of winning as the main goal

Music and sex should remain non-competitive sports.

[Tuba Guy]

pursuit of winning as the main goal

Music and sex should remain non-competitive sports.

Yeah, just getting to do it should be prize enough.
Interesting thought...sex symphony? something's wrong with that idea...