One of my favorite tuba moments...

[bort]

Happened 12 years ago today. Here's a photo of young Bort (dig the sideburns!), with tuba players from Swarovski Musik Wattens, in Wattens, Austria.



No *real* point to this, but I have a framed poster from this concert hanging on my wall, and I happened to notice the date, 6/21/2005. The man in the middle gave me his lapel pin... I'll have to dig that out sometime!

[windshieldbug]

The man in the middle gave me his lapel pin

Das Tuba Exchangen...

[Three Valves]

Is this one of those gigs when they make you play before handing out the beer??

[MaryAnn]

That appears to be a (French) horn on your shirt.....I'd like to find a shirt like that!

[Tubajug]

Now that's a feather in his cap if I ever saw one!

[Three Valves]

Now that's a feather in his cap if I ever saw one!

I wonder if the Austrians call it "macaroni" they way Yankee Doodle did??

[bort]

You know, I can't remember if they ALL had feathers like that or not. Will have to dig out the old photos sometime. I think the guy in the middle had a Rudy 5/4 BBb. Hearing that band play totally blew me away. Large group, with maybe 8 rotary tubas (BBb and F), plus full (large!) sections of rotary euphs, rotary baritones, rotary flugelhorns, rotary trumpets... plus 3 trombones, and only enough woodwinds to get by and cover the parts. What a sound!

[humBell]

Those favorite tuba moments are memorable indeed...

I can't tell... Which is your hand?

I have heard something about the happiest days of a boat owner. I did not know that also applied to tubas.

[humBell]

My happy times are when i am actually capable of fielding a request while busking.

Today a kid asked for "The wheels on the bus go round and round." I might not have quite nailed it, but sounding it out on the spot was perhaps passable.

A close second was playing in the Hatchshell(sp?) on my birthday, which i guess i've done twice now. First time i was so clueless i tapped my fellow tuba player on the head with my bell when standing afterwards at the condictor's behest.

[Rebel]

One of mine is an embarrassing "moment" when in 6th grade at our middle school "Christmas Concert". The band director was announcing to all of the parents before the concert what we would be playing......etc. We did not have tubas, so I had to use an old Conn metal sousaphone. I guess I was small for my age at probably 65 pounds or so and the sousaphone at that time was a bit for me to handle. So.......as the director was speaking to the audience I must have been bored, but I did the stupidest thing and leaned back in my chair on the two back legs. The next thing I remember is the loud crash into the kettle drums as the sousaphone and me were providing the audience a "gravity demonstration" as the bell of the horn got behind me and overtook the center of balance. Too bad there were no big rocks in the auditorium at that time, I am sure both of my parents would have gladly crawled under them!! After that, it's all been downhill.