Cimbasso or Tuba for solo work in college

[ashhealey]

Hi, I am about to be a senior in high school and I was wonder whether for my solo tuba in college (already have a St. Pete 209N CC and love it) should be a tuba or a cimbasso. I plan on majoring in music education so I will be performing quite a few solos on this insturment. I know that traditionally I would just get an F or Eb tuba however I have heard a lot of interesting things about the Cimbasso that I think might make it a good decision to use instead of just a regular tuba. I am not so arrogant to believe that I am the first to come up with this. So why do not more people do this? Thank you all in advance for your help!

[The Big Ben]

A cimbasso usually sounds a lot like a bass trombone. It doesn't make the kind of sound that is expected when an F or Eb is called for. Not better or worse- just different. The sound can be changed through mouthpiece selection. Chris Olka (Seattle Symphony principal tubist) has a YouTube segment on the cimbasso and what he thinks of it:

https://youtu.be/mEa4VqsXBug" target="_blank

It is interesting.

[PaulMaybery]

I picked up a Cimbasso from Wessex a few years back and found that I use it rather frequently.
Yes, I do use it in a solo role and for that matter on Sunday July 3 I'll be playing an arrangement of "Joshua Fit the Battle" in church for about 1000 listeners. My first orchestral encounter was when I just brought it to an orchestra rehearsal (not asking the conductor) for a pops concert. I knew it was the right horn for the literature and it was a big hit. Now, with that orchestra it is expected that I bring it. I've also used it in symphonic band settings in certain modern/jazz oriented pieces. In the summers I direct the Great Western Rocky Mountain Brass Band Festival in Colorado and we now have a featured Cimbasso trio. My buddies are Chuch Schulz and Steve Call. There is some recital literature that I find appropriate. I'm thinking of the Tomasi "Etre ou nes pas Etre," Lebedev "Concerto" Uber "Jazz Rhapsody" and "Deep River" I've also arranged various "bon bons" such as "Ghost Riders in the Sky, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, Art songs by Faure, Rachmaninoff "Vocalise," Youmanns "The Carioca" You imagination is really your "best friend."
Were I in college again, was a pretty good young and ambitious player who already could handle the F tuba, and had the financial means, I would try to get one. (That is after the CC and F).
The Jin Bao in F w/5 valves references the Rudi and is by some estimations a bit better. They can be had for around $3500. The quality on mine is exceptionally fine: bright silver and impeccably assembled. Intonation is so smooth on it that it is really a "non issue."
Jonathan at Wessex might be pleased to know that it will be used by the Minnesota Orchestra, Andrew Litton conducting, next month in a concert production of Verdi's "Otello." on July 23.

Having and using a cimbasso will give you a certain distinction above and beyond playing only the tuba and for that matter even doubling on bass bone. If you play it well, it adds a luxury of sound to any orchestra. You will need to 'sell' it though. Most conductors have not a clue as to how to deal with it. But anything a tuba can play, is fair game. Be creative. If you are going to wait until called to play an Italian opera, you may die before you toot a note on it.

We need bumper stickers that say "Have you hugged a cimbassist today?"

[bisontuba]

Hi, I am about to be a senior in high school and I was wonder whether for my solo tuba in college (already have a St. Pete 209N CC and love it) should be a tuba or a cimbasso. I plan on majoring in music education so I will be performing quite a few solos on this insturment. I know that traditionally I would just get an F or Eb tuba however I have heard a lot of interesting things about the Cimbasso that I think might make it a good decision to use instead of just a regular tuba. I am not so arrogant to believe that I am the first to come up with this. So why do not more people do this? Thank you all in advance for your help!

Ask your private teacher for advice....
Mark

[Rick Denney]

Hi, I am about to be a senior in high school and I was wonder whether for my solo tuba in college (already have a St. Pete 209N CC and love it) should be a tuba or a cimbasso. I plan on majoring in music education so I will be performing quite a few solos on this insturment. I know that traditionally I would just get an F or Eb tuba however I have heard a lot of interesting things about the Cimbasso that I think might make it a good decision to use instead of just a regular tuba. I am not so arrogant to believe that I am the first to come up with this. So why do not more people do this? Thank you all in advance for your help!

The cimbasso is a specialty instrument, called for by some Italian composers and not much else. A good enough musician can play solo music on any instrument, of course. But a cimbasso is way down the list of considerations for a high-school tuba player, it seems to me.

Rick "thinking the instrument you have now can make solo music just fine, and when the time comes, the next step will be a bass tuba in Eb or F" Denney

[PaulMaybery]

I hear what some of the TNFJ are saying that a Cimbasso is a specialty instrument. But then so is a flugel and a picc trumpet. I did qualify my post that if you were already quite proficient on the F tuba, with sufficient means, which in my little world, some advanced HS players are, then why not. I think if you are a bit advanced you may actually develop some additional skills that make themselves evident once you start biting the bit with the Cimbasso. Granted many college departments are not advanced sufficiently to have over the top tuba players, let alone players who have a second tuba (Eb or F). But it does happen. There are several fine cross over artists who feature themselves on Cimbasso.

There are a lot of alternative possibilities that should not have to wait to graduate school. I felt thwarted in my education when I was told certain studies could only be taken by grad students. When I finally was in grad school I had learned the subject already on my own. The f tuba was forbidden territory for and undergrad. So I eventually just bought my own.

So why not even sackbuts or natural horns, Wagner tuba, contra bass trombone.
They are all available now and very affordable. If you have the passion,the talent and the means, (notice that this is not meant for everyone) why not begin putting the arsenal together and spend those Saturday mornings blowing a cimbasso or bass sackbut or what ever.

I like to see young players learn, and I mean LEARN. Getting one's hands on a certain horn can change a life.

Yes, I remember in the 1960s in New Jersey, all the corner music stores were selling accordians. A decade later there were attics and basements filled with mildewed squeeze boxes. Folks the cimbasso is not the same thing. If my kid wanted one, I would try my darndest to get him/her one. Or perhaps lone them mine (oops! rent it to them). But then I always did react to things with an emotional propulsion that either resulted in tremendous success or very stinky failure.

You should listen to some of the wise folk her on TN but also remember to follow you passions and your heart. Don't get talked out of something you really believe in. Ask yourself some tough questions.

[swillafew]

The idea that you can't play a solo on the horn you like is one you should maybe reconsider. Your good instrument will sound as good or bad as you can play it, and you are in an ideal time of your life to learn to play well. Good luck.

[Donn]

Yes, I remember in the 1960s in New Jersey, all the corner music stores were selling accordians. A decade later there were attics and basements filled with mildewed squeeze boxes. Folks the cimbasso is not the same thing.

Certainly not. The accordion is really an indispensable instrument, unlike the cimbasso, but indeed a cimbasso will last many times longer in storage.

I don't know about solo work in college, but if you like that sound, I'd say start with the bass trombone.

The trombone family is predominately slide trombone for a reason. That reason is not that it's easy to make a good slide, or it's easier to teach kids to play a slide trombone, or the slide is the most convenient and compact way to go. It isn't for the sake of the glissandos you can make - I suspect trombone players are taught to never do that. It does however provide you with the convenient means to play truly in tune, in whatever harmonic context, and the deeper in their range they go, the more significant that becomes. The bass trombone's extra valve or two doesn't detract from that a bit.

[Three Valves]

Trombone > Cimbasso





I rest my case.

[bort]

I wouldn't want a cimbasso as a student -- I know I would CONSTANTLY have to explain it. What it is, why do I have it, why am I using it instead of a tuba, how to pronounce it, etc. In college, I think that would just be too annoying to deal with.

I think you should get yourself a decent F tuba instead. Be a student first and buy the tools that will allow you to develop your set of skills. After that, then go nuts and do your thing with a Cimbasso if that's what you really want to do.

[tofu]

Yes, I remember in the 1960s in New Jersey, all the corner music stores were selling accordians. A decade later there were attics and basements filled with mildewed squeeze boxes. Folks the cimbasso is not the same thing.

Well yeah...Momma doesn't have one she wears on her chest.

[Donn]

For bass trombone "solos", though, wouldn't a valve (or keyed) bass trombone be best...??

I suppose Bill Reichenbach (?) did Wave (Buddy Rich) with a bass trombone with at least one valve. But also a slide. Valves are good on a bass trombone, though I can't really feature myself learning to use more than one.

While nominally a duet, I reckon Devil's Waltz Martin Schippers & Tomer Maschkowski could relate to the subject, except again I can't count the valves, except that they have at least one each. For those bass trombone and cimbasso fans who are really in it for the supreme fart sound, there's a very fulsome treat at 2:55.

[PaulMaybery]

I'm having fun at our Lutheran mega church having rehearsed my arrangement of "Joshua Fit the Battle" with cimbasso and piano for this upcoming Sunday AM. The sanctuary seats close to 2K and is a huge barn, yet the cimbasso fills it royally and if you are familiar with the cimy, its sound is rather warm, and there is really no good reason at all to sound blatty on it. The senior pastor came from his office to rehearsal to hear what he descible as this beautiful deep warm sound and could not fathom whether it was a trombone or tuba. He remarked at the sheer beauty of the sound. I was pleased and humbled that it was appreciated as I work very hard trying to be sure there is little reason to mock the sound of the instrument. It is unfortunate that for some, it is perceived as a musical noise maker when in fact it is an incredible vehicle for turning wonderful tunes. Sometimes I just imagine George Roberts but half an octave or so lower. Am I a cimbasso evangelist, I suppose so.

[Three Valves]

Dorsey played a KING trombone, and those little kids play CONN trombones...

...so what's your point...??

The trombone is the adjustable wrench of low brass in it's versatility while also giving you that which only a slide trombone can bring.

The Cimbasso is more like a hub puller, a unitasker. Oh, you can use a hub puller to do other things, but it does nothing better than simply pulling hubs.

Did 76 Cimbassi lead the big parade??

NO.

I rest my case.