recording

[oldbandnerd]

I liked what you did with it. I enjoyed listening to this recording.

[The Big Ben]

'
I guess the choir director thought the brass could just "do it"; We didn't get any music mailed or emailed to us. Not knowing what to expect, I threw the 6/4, the F, and the euphonium in the trunk of the car. The chart recorded below prompted me to run out to the car and grab the F. There was a very prominent bass trombone part which I was expected to cover. I stayed on F tuba through one of the verses, and (putting down the bass 'bone chart and picking up the tuba chart) switched to the 6/4 for a later verse. I wonder what the arranger would think of all of those tuba solos in the opening fanfare...??

This is called "being a professional", folks...

[imperialbari]

You cannot complain lack of prominence neither in the writing nor in the final mix. Very different way of hearing Nun danket alle Gott, but also very impressive.

Klaus

[Chuck Jackson]

I wish I could play the tuba as well as my buddies play their trumpets.

Stop fishing for compliments. You are a GREAT player. You and everyone else knows it. The trumpets are fine, you are BETTER. Loved the recording very much.

Consider your bait snatched.

Chuck"impressed by how well you play with the time you have to spend to earn money away from the horn"Jackson

[Chuck Jackson]

You should hear these guys' first readings of the quintet lit' that is in our folder.

PFFT, they are good players Joe, anyone with half a brain would be crazy not to aknowledge it, but you are a great player and a BETTER MUSICIAN than they are, now let's get over this "I wish I were as good as the trumpet players" BS and move on. Geesh.

Chuck"who WISHED he had half of your chops at the height of my playing career"Jackson

[imperialbari]

I use headphones, when listening via my laptop, which is easy to open between other tasks.

But listening to this file, where the point is listening to the tuba, happens via my home theater connected to my stationary computer. And I let my iTunes application download the file. I tend to trust the iTunes fidelity more than Real or Quicktime. I noticed no pops.

There are two reason, at least, for bloke coming out so well in this recording. In the opening the bass line is written in contrast to the upper brasses. That alone is a favourable position from where to show of musicianship.

In the chorale the tuba’s placement in the overall mix is revealed as being very favourable. In the verse with no tuba the lower organ stops and the male voices are very far in the background. As they are in the verses with tuba.

And then bloke obviously likes the lines written for him in this arrangement. Such joy perceived by the player tends to transfer to the ears of the listeners.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

Jovial isn’t my first reaction, neither is it my second.

The tuba playing of the opening fanfare has several good qualities. Among these one always expected in professional trumpet and trombone playing, but not always heard in tuba playing even from prominent players. No names mentioned here, just listen to video and sound clips often linked to here on TN.

Klaus

[iiipopes]

bloke, you da man!

[Rick Denney]

I had to pull out my good ear buds to really listen to it. I'm glad I had them--I'm in South America on an official visit and traveling very lightly this week.

Joe, you demonstrate what I like about a clear-sounding F tuba for brass quintet--It can blend with the trombone sound without being a trombone. It has a real quintet quality to it. With a bass trombone on the bottom part in the fanfare, it would have sounded like a quartet--trumpets in harmony, occasional horn sound, and a trombone counter-melody. A tuba on the counter-melody actually makes the other trombone part come out.

But what I really liked was the switch to the contrabass for the second verse. For those who think a bass tuba can do what a contrabass tuba does, this should provide all the refutation they need to change their views. The switch added dimension to the sound, like we were listening to a cube instead of a square.

Mike Sanders and I were chatting a couple of years ago about works for tuba, and we agreed that music for brass ought to have an heroic quality to it--that's what those sounds were made for. A lot of tuba performance gives up that heroic quality in search of something else, but you have demonstrated it here.

Rick "who has suffered his most severe oxygen debt (and hyperventilation) trying to balance an organ pedal" Denney

[tbn.al]

Rick "who has suffered his most severe oxygen debt (and hyperventilation) trying to balance an organ pedal" Denney

I had to just give it up. With 130 ranks and a double 32' I can't keep up. It pains me to admit it but I just can't keep up. No hope. He, the organist, knows it too. It can be very humbling. But then there is always the Bass Bone! He doesn't have an answer for that! I can bury him whenever I want!