Rotary B&S Neptune recordings?

[bort]

Does anyone know of any recordings where the tuba player is using a rotary B&S Neptune? (Youtube, MP3, etc) Can be amateur or pro, free or for purchase. Just trying to track a few down.

So far I have found a recital on YouTube and another short clip of a concert. Any other leads would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Mark Horne]

Here's a link to a concert that was recorded by our local public access cable station a couple of years ago. The only tubas were my Neptune and another player on a vintage 186CC. If you skip ahead to 23:00 minutes there is a version of Rhapsody in Blue that is basically the original jazz band arrangement and the Neptune is the only tuba playing (a weak performance on my part; I had been using my Alexander until dress rehearsal when it was decided we needed something bigger). It will give you an idea of how a Neptune sounds in the hands of a relatively inexperienced amateur. At least the audio is from a professional recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up9UB2kq_Mk" target="_blank" target="_blank"

Some time ago I found an audition recording that featured the Ride played on a Neptune - it's at the end of this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUOJ352d6t0" target="_blank" target="_blank"

[bort]

Great, thank you both for the information!

Mark, nice playing! Quite helpful to hear it in action for some tunes I've played a bazillion times before.

Anyone else?

[bort]

HA! It's been years since I've seen a Miss Swan reference. Great, now I'll have that voice in my head haunting me all day.

Joe, I mostly agree with you, and certainly before I buy or trade anything, I will make that trip and try it for myself. I have tried Neptunes before and liked them, but want to "refresh my memory" with it. However, I think there is still some value to knowing what a specific tuba (or really, a specific *style* of tuba) can sound like in some situation by some player. Plus, it's not as though I own some other 6/4 and I'm trying to tell a lot of details about another 6/4 by a sound clip. I'm just trying to remember or be refreshed about the output of that instrument. I also realize that some great players make awful instruments sound great (and vice versa).

I still stand by my belief that a play test is only good enough to know if you want to take it home. You need a good few weeks or months with an instrument to decide if you really want to keep it.

But yes Miss Swan... it sounds like a tuba.