What do you not..

[bort]

1) Cost. This alone can discourage people from starting to play, and can certainly keep them from continuing to play after they're away from school-owned instruments. Hell, I was "benched" for a year out of college because I couldn't afford a horn.

2) Finding a place to practice. I've had trouble with this recently - I live in a small rowhouse in the middle of downtown, so it's not like I can sit around the house and practice all night. When my boss gets back from vacation, I'm going to see if I can arrange to practice in the office after hours.

3) Relatively speaking, there aren't that many female tuba players. I mean the other tuba guys are fun and all, but, well you know...

[me]

i hate how everyone (who plays tuba) considers themself a poor unfortunate soul. it's big, goofy, and loud...duh. it's a tuba, it's supposed to be big, goofy and loud. i knew what i was getting into when i picked up the tuba so i'm not going to complain about it now. i will agree with the "it's hard to keep a silver instrument polished " comment, but then again at least we dont have to maintain a certain humidity in our cases year round a la strings.




p.s. looking for "quality solo literature"? pick up the pendriky capricio, or bach cello suits...or hey, just play the music we already have (which is not that bad) better. you dont have to have beethoven to have music

[MartyNeilan]

Cost, transportation, places to practice, and boneheaded comments are real problems, and have all been covered quite well so far. I would like to add:
AVAILABILITY
There are a half dozen places within a 30 minute drive that sell guitars and other stuff. Just this afternoon I went to a local shop and tried out a few new e-basses, as well as some used ones (all far cheaper than the worst student tuba, BTW).
But, if I want to buy a tuba, there are only a handful places in the entire country I can go to really try a few out different brands and models.

[NeilMacQuarrie]

.

[THE TUBA]

I do not like it when I play at my high school's football games, because students (from MY school) will stand behind us (the sousaphones) and throw small objects, boo whenever we stand up, take our seats when we go for the halftime show, and shout at us in vulgar language about how we block their view of the game. I also don't like having to explain to students every day why sounding like a contrabass chainsaw is not good, although some very bad tuba players do (no offense to those who unintentionally sound like contrabass chainsaws do to poor instruments).

[MartyNeilan]

They're the people you catch leaning on your horn while they talk to you (or someone else) or the extra special variety who step on your bell flare as they walk by. It's been my experience that bassists can leave their instruments lying in a pile, end pins out and everything, and nothing ever happens, but bring out a tuba and all it takes is 5 minutes.

Even worse are chairs. I do not know how many times I have seen people put a chair leg on a tuba bell, dinging it (or even tearing it) when a tuba is left unattended. I am very careful where I leave my tuba, but once I had it down right in front of me during a "mass ensemble" performance. The bunghole trombone player sitting in front of me slid his chair back about eight inches and sat down, putting his chair leg on my bell and dinging it nicely. I immediately scolded him for it; he turned around and said, "that's not my fault" while his chair leg was still on my tuba. I wanted to jump up and slug him, but you can't really do that during the middle of a performance at a Christian university and still hope to graduate. I had words with him later and he conceded to cover any repairs; I consulted with my repairman and he said the cost would be minimal and it is nothing to worry about, so I ultimately let it go. I was sure to remind the offender about this the following semester. The horn still sounded the same and the new owner didn't seem to take issue with the damage.
I had one side of the bell on my current big horn slightly flat spotted when a guy thought he could sit on it (in its gigbag) while he loaded other instruments under a tour bus until I got him off it.
And, I had a woodwind case dropped on the bell of my old bass trombone once, while it was on a stand in my own locker.
Our instruments get NO respect, we have to be virtually violent in our protection of them if we don't want them to turn into garbage.

[kegmcnabb]

Really Funny Guy: "Betcha wish you had taken up piccolo!"

Tubist: "Oh my Gawd! That is soooo funny! I've never heard that before."

[tubaribonephone]

I don't really hate anything about the tuba, for me it's the cases that I hate. My Miraphone by it's self fits in my car fine but when I have to take it somewhere far (and I don't want to use my gig bag) I can barely fit it into my back seat! (I drive a 1989 Chrysler Lebaron (the greatest car ever built!!!))

[JB]

-Buying vehicles to accomodate the size/space needed for one or more tubas. I can't buy a cheap, gas-saving 4cyl car.

Amen to that, brother. I agree!

I also had someone ask me once if I was going camping. I replied, "No. I've got my mother-in-law in there. The guy didnt' know what to say.

A similar response, one that is particularly effective for public school performances (where the smart-*** "cool" losers greet you as you arrive...), is to tell them the thing slung over your shoulder is a body bag -- and add that you have your grandmother in there.

[Tubaryan12]

Doc wrote:
-Buying vehicles to accomodate the size/space needed for one or more tubas. I can't buy a cheap, gas-saving 4cyl car.

Not true....Ford Focus ZX3 ... and the doors are wide enough for those of us that need the extra room.

p.s. ....I won't buy one because it's a Ford....but it does fit more than one horn if the rear seats are folded down

[Charlie Goodman]

Really Funny Guy: "Betcha wish you had taken up piccolo!"

Tubist: "Oh my Gawd! That is soooo funny! I've never heard that before."

That's mentioned in a Douglas Adams book, only in reference to bass players getting that comment. I now consider Mr. Adams to be the finest author alive.

[Kevin Hendrick]

... I now consider Mr. Adams to be the finest author alive.

If only he was still alive ... (he was one of my favorite authors, too)

[winston]

.

[tubeast]

Tubas and french horn share a particular drawback in German community bands: As one is the "Ooomp" and the other is the "Pah" band directors think they can put them in the hands of their least-talented musicians, and that´ll be the exact thing that´ll support the bad image we have.
Plus, the ordinary village band literature will distract any kid from learning the horn, because it seems just too boring, so we hardly have any newcomers.

[TexTuba]

I don't like the transportation of the horn and the price. Now I know we're getting off easy compared to strings but it's still a huge chunk of change for ME.

Ralph

[smurphius]

I can sympathize with you there Doc. Not only do I play tuba and bass trombone, but my wife plays double bass as well as electric bass (with the accompanying method of amplification) and music stands galore. MUTES too. Of course, I'm not complaining, because I drive a vehicle large enough.... then again, I am complaining, and it's all OPEC's fault.

I can't wait until cars run exclusively on solar energy..... One of these days. LoL.

[Paul S]

Problem is: I have an upright bass, amp, speaker, mic stand, Manhasset stand, and cord box to haul also.

I can sympathize with you there Doc. Not only do I play tuba and bass trombone, but my wife plays double bass as well as electric bass (with the accompanying method of amplification) and music stands galore. MUTES too....

In having five tuba players and two double bass players in the extended family, this is about the only thing that works for us all traveling together!

[Rick Denney]

What do you not like about tuba?

The persistent tendonitis in my right elbow.

For my wife, it's the consumption of serious living-room real estate.

Rick "who thinks practicing would be a problem if there was any" Denney

[Charlie Goodman]

... I now consider Mr. Adams to be the finest author alive.

If only he was still alive ... (he was one of my favorite authors, too)

Oops... yeah, poor choice of words.

[TheChiefofStaph]

p.s. looking for "quality solo literature"? pick up the pendriky capricio, or bach cello suits...or hey, just play the music we already have (which is not that bad) better. you dont have to have beethoven to have music

There's a difference between "not that bad" and quality literature. Even the "cornerstones" of our literature (i.e. the Vaughan Williams, the Hindemith, maybe the Penderecki) pales in comparison to the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, the Dvorak Cello Concerto, the Mozart Horn Concerti, and even any number of works by "second-rate" composers. It seems like we've had this discussion before on this board and someone brought up that they'd even rather play "The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams rather than his Tuba Concerto. And while taking solace in playing works not orignally intended for the tuba works for a while, it gets old.