Pachelbel Rant

[dmeacham5]

I am playing this on tuba in my brass quintet, and I was told to watch this video thought it was humorous so I'd share it with you all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM" target="_blank

[GC]

There's an old classic PDQ Bach album, "WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio", about a radio station that plays "all Pachelbel, all the time". At the end, one of the on-air "personalities" has a screaming breakdown at the umpteenth repetition of Canon in D.

One of the stranger parts of the album is the "discovery" of two cuts by Elvis' "brother" Enos, who never minded his name until people started calling his brother "Elvis the Pelvis".

[Steve Marcus]

On the Canadian Brass video, Home Movies, there is a scene which begins with CB playing the Canon in a garden. Chuck D, with his same 8 notes repeated over and over, spots the gardener. He motions the gardener over, "teaches" him the fingering and how to play the 8 notes. The gardener proceeds to blissfully "play" the tuba part while Chuck leans back onto a chaise lounge with a glass of champagne.

Minor details of my description might differ from my long-unplayed VHS copy of the video.

[Heavy_Metal]

[David Richoux]

Another boring part is the bass line for Bolero. "The Brass Band" would start their version with the tuba at the back of the hall, then he would proceed to the stage by climbing over the seats, moving seated audience members out of the way as he went from row to row (never missing a note...)

[MikeW]

Other candidates for the most boring bass part ever in a band arrangement :

Pines of Rome (a real leg gnawer: written divisi, so you're caught between the boring part and the tedious part)
Gypsy Dance
Begin the Beguine

The Canon is actually fun by comparison (especially when the conductor asks the tubas to "fill in that weakness in the harmony")

[OldsRecording]

Other candidates for the most boring bass part ever in a band arrangement :

Pines of Rome (a real leg gnawer: written divisi, so you're caught between the boring part and the tedious part)
Gypsy Dance
Begin the Beguine

The Canon is actually fun by comparison (especially when the conductor asks the tubas to "fill in that weakness in the harmony")

The Bells from the William Byrd Suite by Gordon Jacob. Bb. C. Bb. C. Bb. C. Bb. ad nauseum.

[GC]

I'll add the Phillip Sparke brass band arrangement of White Christmas. The bass part is not that repetitive, but it's the most boring thing I've ever played.

[PMeuph]

I am playing this on tuba in my brass quintet, and I was told to watch this video thought it was humorous so I'd share it with you all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM" target="_blank

The Pachelbel rant is funny. However, I prefer this groups rendition of a four chord song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDrrjbFikKo" target="_blank

It sounds better and they don't have to force anything. You see, the chord progression in Palchelbel is D-A-b-f#-G-D-G-A or(I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V) while on the other hand half the songs he quotes in the begining are base on the I-V-vi-iv progression...Notice ho the iii- and iv chords arrive at the same place and shouldn't work as substations for each other. You can notice that he only quotes the first part of these melodies and then goes off into the canon. Regardless, it's still funny.
_______

As for the worst band parts on tuba, I have to nominate about half a dozen Peter Meechan. Most importantly, his "Hymn for Africa" only has one not in the tuba part, an Eb held for about 75 measures.... I would not wish those parts upon my worst enemies.

[Steve Sykes UK]

I was rehearsing a band on an old arrangement of 'Chanson Indoue' (from the Rimsky-Korsakov opera Sadko) which had been made to feature the solo horn.
About 15 bars into the piece I could see that one of the BBb tuba players was having trouble making contact with the mouthpiece - quite obviously trying to suppress his laughter.
Not being best pleased about this I stopped the band and asked him what the problem was. He replied that every single bar of the arrangement had but one quarter note on the downbeat of each bar - and that every one was from start to finish a low C.
After telling him to grow up he replied "but you've just got to see this" and passed his part through the band to me.
Sure enough every bar had the self same note on each downbeat - the funny thing was that each and every note had the fingering written underneath in pencil!
Had to laugh myself.

[dmeacham5]

I was rehearsing a band on an old arrangement of 'Chanson Indoue' (from the Rimsky-Korsakov opera Sadko) which had been made to feature the solo horn.
About 15 bars into the piece I could see that one of the BBb tuba players was having trouble making contact with the mouthpiece - quite obviously trying to suppress his laughter.
Not being best pleased about this I stopped the band and asked him what the problem was. He replied that every single bar of the arrangement had but one quarter note on the downbeat of each bar - and that every one was from start to finish a low C.
After telling him to grow up he replied "but you've just got to see this" and passed his part through the band to me.
Sure enough every bar had the self same note on each downbeat - the funny thing was that each and every note had the fingering written underneath in pencil!
Had to laugh myself.

Something similar happened to me, thought it wasn't as bad, I was given a copy of Leroy Andersons Sleigh Ride and in one section each note was names and incorrect fingerings were marked in, well mostly incorrect, the tuba player next to me (A junior in High school was trying to use them)