Playing Sousaphone in strong wind

[Wyvern]

In the UK we hear that you can't play sousaphone in strong windy condition as either if wind catches in bell you will be knocked over backwards, or if more wind is going down the bell than you can blow, you cannot play against to make sound.

For you regular sousaphone players, what is the truth? How do sousaphones do on parade in strong windy conditions?

[Tuba Guy]

You know how the original sousaphones were "raincatchers"? Well I think we should call the bell front versions "windcatchers"
I often play on the streets of San Francisco, and those are essentially a giant wind tunnel. Playing isn't an issue because of the air going up the bell; my biggest problems are a sudden gust of wind knocking the mouthpiece into my face.
A trick that I've learned is to hold the bell down with your left hand and lean into the wind. You'll look hilarious, but it's possible to mitigate the resistance. Going the other way is also fun as long as you understand the basics of parasailing

[TubaBob]

Agree with Tuba Guy. Lean into it or be blown back.

[michael_glenn]

Never had a problem with wind and playing a sousaphone

+1

[DHMTuba]

The air going into the bell has never caused me a problem playing.

The only problem I've ever had in the wind is when playing the fiberglass sousaphones we had in high school (Conn) and college (Reynolds). Walking into a stiff wind could be tiring sometimes, as the bell tended to act like a sail. On a really gusty day, the wind could take you unawares and push you back a step or two if you weren't careful.

I have experienced this problem only when playing a fiberglass instrument, never when playing an all-brass sousaphone. Maybe the extra weight of the all-brass instrument counteracts the "sail" tendency, I don't know.

The more I think about it, the more I suspect that the weight distribution and overall weight of the instrument may be the culprit. I especially remember a "sail" problem with the Conns we used in high school, the ones with the ABS plastic bell. Not so much the Reynolds, although it could still happen. Maybe the lighter Conn bell flare had something to do with it?

My 2.01 cents (adjusted for inflation). HTH

[iiipopes]

I played in high school marching band, and for those times we were called to attention, it had to be absolute stand-still statue-like attention. We had enough players in marching band that as half time approached, starting about five minutes to go in the second quarter, we would march single file around the track and make a complete ring around the football field and stand at absolute attention until half time sounded, then advance to our positions on the side and end lines to start our show as the players departed for the locker rooms. It looked good. It was good. But it had to be "perfect." The director didn't care if the wind was trying to take you to the next county. We learned to anticipate and lean into it. This was the late '70's, and we had King 'glass souzys that were a few years old at that time.

[iiipopes]

Wind, rain, sleet, snow? Come on, Brits, you can do it, too!

Add freezing valves. In high school marching band we had four souzys. During one before-school field rehearsal, all of our valves on all four souzys froze. Mine froze open. The guy next to me froze with #1 down, and so on for the other two people - different valve combinations. So we four played the notes we could, and between the four of us we still covered the parts and got through rehearsal.

The director was first perplexed, when he heard all the notes, but not at the full dynamic of what he anticipated throughout rehearsal. After we explained, he was amused and never called for a before-school field rehearsal in sub-freezing temperatures again.

[Steve Marcus]

An additional challenge is presented when carrying a Jumbo sousaphone...despite what Kiltie posted.

[Wyvern]

(Aren't you guys supposed to be strapping comp-Eb's to yourselves anyway...??)

Not always so! Here is the Royal Marines band 111 years ago with Helicon

Sousaphone were tried by the British military in the middle of the last century (I have seen pictures), but for some reason were not adopted

[iiipopes]

Sousaphone were tried by the British military in the middle of the last century (I have seen pictures), but for some reason were not adopted.

Sounds like (pun intended) Boosey & Besson probably had something to do with that!

[Josh Calloway]

I find that if I bend my knees a little bit it helps me keep balanced, especially when those unexpected gusts come along.

[Tuboss2]

Eh just playing a lot louder then usual and hold the Sousa tight and keep a strong base with your lower body.

[iiipopes]

Just for the record...The quotation (two posts above) is misattributed.

Pesky inset quotes - now fixed. Thanks.

[Leland]

Add freezing valves. In high school marching band we had four souzys. During one before-school field rehearsal, all of our valves on all four souzys froze. Mine froze open. The guy next to me froze with #1 down, and so on for the other two people - different valve combinations. So we four played the notes we could, and between the four of us we still covered the parts and got through rehearsal.

The director was first perplexed, when he heard all the notes, but not at the full dynamic of what he anticipated throughout rehearsal. After we explained, he was amused and never called for a before-school field rehearsal in sub-freezing temperatures again.

That's hilarious. Probably also a good thing that the director hadn't learned of mixing Everclear with valve oil for cold weather (or maybe he had, but didn't want the principal to find liquor in his office!).

[tubatooter1940]

My Eb King tuba with a recording bell was a problem at windy outside gigs until I scored a Tuba Tamer playing stand.
Now the only wind I have a fear of is me breaking my own wind.

[iiipopes]

Add freezing valves. In high school marching band we had four souzys. During one before-school field rehearsal, all of our valves on all four souzys froze. Mine froze open. The guy next to me froze with #1 down, and so on for the other two people - different valve combinations. So we four played the notes we could, and between the four of us we still covered the parts and got through rehearsal.

The director was first perplexed, when he heard all the notes, but not at the full dynamic of what he anticipated throughout rehearsal. After we explained, he was amused and never called for a before-school field rehearsal in sub-freezing temperatures again.

That's hilarious. Probably also a good thing that the director hadn't learned of mixing Everclear with valve oil for cold weather (or maybe he had, but didn't want the principal to find liquor in his office!).

Our band director was a tee-totaler. But the students....

[RyanSchultz]

Back in my marching days I put my left hand on the lead pipe--consciously not pushing the mouthpiece into my face--but rather, controlling the sousaphone if there was wind, uneven terrain. . . It can be done. Are you getting a sousaphone?

[iiipopes]

Back in my marching days I put my left hand on the lead pipe--consciously not pushing the mouthpiece into my face--but rather, controlling the sousaphone if there was wind, uneven terrain. . . It can be done. Are you getting a sousaphone?

I did it to keep from dropping the mouthpiece and bits, which I did the first show I marched as a high school freshman. The good news was that my marching was so precise the mouthpiece and bits dropped exactly lengthwise on a yard line, and I had a devil of a time finding it when I had to run back onto the field to get it after the half-time show was over, but before the football team took the field for the second half. After that: always had mouthpiece and bits securely gripped with the left hand on the run in.

[ScottM]

In high school, when I weighed a whopping 83 pounds as a sophomore, the tuba section ended up on one knee as the finale for the marching show. As you might guess I was on the end of the line. While we were in rehearsal at band camp, a sudden gust of wind hit me and over I went, taking the entire section of five tubists down. Dominos with tubas is not a pretty sight. The two directors had a big laugh as did the rest of the band. After that I learned to gauge the wind a bit so I could be braced for any unexpected wind gusts.
ScottM

[Wyvern]

Are you getting a sousaphone?

I will be getting prototype for the new Wessex Eb sousaphone in couple weeks and will start using (road-testing) for marching gigs of which I do quite a lot now I play with Wessex Military Band.