Darken sound with strap

[skeath]

I once saw a tuba that had a strap around the bell. The player told me that was to reduce bell vibration and darken the sound of that particular tuba.

Has anyone here ever seen that done, or done it? Does that work?

Just curious.

SK

[Alex C]

skeath.... a suspicious sounding name... and in Dallas, too. hmmmmm

I've seen it done with wide belts and more. My undergrad teacher was lured by Conn to become a Conn artist and make his first Golden Crest album with a Conn baritone horn on the cover.

He hated the horn and Conn promised they would make one to his specs but he had to make the album on the horn they gave him (24i, I think). He used duct tape and cotton balls to deaden the bell. When the Conn president saw him at Mid-West with that arrangement, he had a coronary and they immediately made a heavier, dead bell for him.

He always said "Dead bell, live sound; live bell, dark sound." I don't know if I agree but I'd say put a belt on your horn if you want to. See what you think. Let us know.

PS - they never made the horn and he eventually went back to his beloved Besson euphonium. Still, he made the Conn sound pretty damn good.

[Dan Schultz]

I've seen that done while machining brake drums, too! Keeps 'em from 'singing'. Surely it works to kill the resonance on tuba bells, too! You can keep a sousa bell from 'ringing' by putting split icemaker tubing around the rim.

[jeopardymaster]

Mike Thornton used it for a while on his Alex, a bit before he bought his Willson. Then when he gave up on the Willson and went back to his Alex, the belt was gone.

He told me it gave him more center and drive to his sound, if I recall correctly. From the audience I couldn't hear a bit of difference, belt or no belt. Alex versus Willson was another matter.