how useful is a recording bell?

[pjv]

The nice thing about a recording bell is that you can turn it any which way to get the best out of the room acoustics (remember how unhappy Jake was about the ceiling in Orchestra Hall.) It's an advantage that's not restricted to outdoor concerts or acoustic "jazz gigs".

On the left my bells pointing up. It was the best place for my sound in that room.
In the middle it's going backwards. I did this during a recording so I could see my colleagues and help avoid any extra tuba sounds in their mic's.
On the right the bell is 2/3's forward and 1/3 up. Again, the best sound for that room.

Even if I'm mic'ed, I still have the advantage of pointing the bell were I most need it (and/or the group!). Sometimes an acoustic sound with an amplified "lift" is what's best. The recording bell can help.

Having an extra upright bell can be interesting, assuming it's a good bell. But it's not a must. As you can see in the middle pic I hold my tuba, like many players, at about an 80% angle. When my bell's turned up (like on the left pic) the bell itself is also pointing up at about 80% to the right. Bingo; an upright bell!

Another advantage is that I have a lot more options as to where I position myself within the group. With my upright tuba's I often need to sit in one place where the group can hear me. This isn't always the best place for the quality of my sound, seeing the other players, or for the audience to see me.

Good luck.

[Jack Denniston]

Back in the 70's I was playing a Bell Model MW with a detachable bell. I didn't have the recording bell, so when I needed one, I used my sousaphone bell (I think it was a Conn). It didn't fit snugly, so I secured it by wedging in some pieces of wooden clothes pins. It worked better than my upright bell for our outdoor municipal band concerts (totally open air- no roof or sound shell).

These days I'm playing an old King 2341 with detachable bell. When I need a recording bell for an outdoor gig with no sound shell or amplification, or a gig on a stage with a low curtained ceiling (it hasn't happened yet), I'll use the bell from my King sousaphone- it fits perfectly.

[tubajazzo]

thank you all for your answers!

Gerd

[Uncle Markie]

It was a condition of my employment with Paul Lavalle's Band of America that I had a bell front tuba. I used a King 1241 on that job. In the Ringling Band I used my Martin with the bell front. I now have an upright bell for the Martin (Stofer) that works great. I also use a King 2341 - the new upright model - for a lot of work - outdoors and in. Nightclubs in NYC with low ceilings (that includes a lot of the old jazz haunts) were better with the bell front as you didn't have to "play the ceiling" - some were bad enough that it felt like a bucket mute all night. The old Gaslight Club comes to mind - I used a bell front on that gig.

Fortunately the outdoor band shells I happen to work in during the summer have good acoustics so the upright bell works fine. The Martin projects in just about any environment with either bell.

Sousaphones have an ongoing problem with distortion of sound. The nodes of the vibrations do not curve around the back of that bell - they "bang" on the back and go out the front. Plus the "bits" - especially the Conn style - of jagged stuck together tubing right where the mouthpipe should be smooth contribute to the "rasp". Sequential bits that meet in a smooth inside bore solve this problem - Martin did this with an "S" shaped pipe, Bundy of all companies, and back in the 1970s King made up a set of sequential sousaphone bits that worked very well. Once that problem is dealt with sousaphones can work pretty well in a concert situation.

I don't think the bell front is going to make a comeback as a production horn; however there are plenty of serviceable bell front tubas around to buy these days. In many situations I have always felt it easier to "push the time" with a bell front tuba when surrounded by other bass instrumentalists who were a little too in love with the sound of their "tone" and hung onto notes too long - and they know who they are...

Mark Heter

[bort]

The Marzan I used to own had a recording bell. I didn't use it a single time. The original owner used it once at a New Sousa Band rehearsal, thinking it could be a good idea. He was asked to not use the recording bell again, and so it sat, unused for many many years.

The current (and final) owner of that Marzan has, and uses, the recording bell, and likes it a lot.

[Bob Kolada]

Recording bells rock; they're all business. I think all the ones I've played were fixed bell; I did play a removable bell Conn Constellation baritone that was pretty lousy. We got a new recording bell Yamaha baritone in high school. I liked it, and my clarinet playing band director, John Gorball (anyone know him?)- sounded like a million billion bucks when he played it.

I've been scouting for a King 2266 to try out as a jazz horn/solo horn/trombone sub for quintet and trombone trios for a while now. Anyone in Chicago got one?

[MartyNeilan]

I played outdoors today and wished I had a recording bell - more sound would have gone forward and less sound upward, where only the birds would approve.

P.S. They still make bell front tubas. They're called "marching tubas"

[Dan Schultz]

I used THREE recording bell tubas in a single two hour rehearsal this morning:

- King 1241
- Holton 'short-action'
- King 1290 rotary

No... I left the King 'pit' model alone!

[Happyhungarian]

Well, for what its worth: I just used a refurbed recording bell with a 2341 King in a low ceiling venue for a dixieland gig. ( Thank you, LEE STOFER!) The guys all enjoyed the directional bass sound from the second line and the timbre of an American horn. Its good to have choices.

[TubaSteve]

I played using my Reynolds with a recording bell both Friday at an outside event, and today at a concert inside just for fun. I used two horns today inside, (admittedly it was mostly just for fun today), but we played a couple parts with walking bass lines that I line to use a recording bell on so the sound gets out and doesn't seem to drag. I then used the MW-25 for the rest of the concert. The audience also seem to like the recording bells as they are something interesting to look at. (folks come up and ask what it is and other questions.) As for Friday's outside gig, there is nothing better than the recording bell on those portable stages. I had several compliments from the sections in front of us and the audience on how great the tuba section sounded.

Steve

[bigtubby]

There is an interesting JPS quote at the bottom of this page regarding the inception of the sousaphone. Maybe common knowledge here but I hadn't been aware that bell direction was the impetus for the change from helicon - the "wrong" direction by today's sousaphone standards.