Favorite Tubist Quotes

[Matt G]

You ok?

I mean this seriously. Lots of stuff out there weighing heavy on people’s minds.

Take care and be well.

[bort]

I've heard an awful lot that I don't care to repeat.

[binlove]

In high school I had the opportunity to play for Harvey Phillips. He asked me if I thought I sounded good when I practiced and I naively and shyly replied yes.

He remarked that I must be practicing the wrong stuff.

That stuck with me for a long time and is something I think about even today, in my engineering management job. Find your weaknesses, expose them, and get better - I tell my team this all the time.

[bort]

Ok, one story from me...

I met Harvey Phillips once, at a TubaChristmas. I was probably about 17 or 18, sitting in the front row of the rehearsal, and screwing around with one of my friends. I played through a spot where he specifically had just told us to NOT play (again, I was screwing around).

He cut off the entire 200+ person group and shouted at me "No! Pay attention, dammit!"

A few years later, in college, one HP's former students was working with our marching band, and naturally, he hung around the tuba section a fair amount. He relayed a lot of HP stories... yikes...

[UDELBR]

Attributed to Gene Pokorny, regarding volume: "In an audition, silence is your only competition."

I always liked that.

[THE TUBA]

"Tubists don't have delusions of grandeur. Tubists have delusions of adequacy" - Gene Pokorny, I think.

[happyroman]

Toby Hanks, when the Yorkbrunner was first introduced said "For $10,000 it ought to blow you."

[brianf]

"Don't get old, you won't like it!" - Arnold Jacobs

[jperry1466]

I had an early morning first-one-up lesson with Rex Conner at Interlochen on X-day-of-the-week each week (summer session - University of Michigan School of Music). I was on that bench outside his door - trying to get my 186 up to pitch.

I enjoyed the Rex Conner/Harvey Phillips story. Of all the things I heard Rex say, one memory stands out that wasn't even tuba-related. When I went in for my lesson, he was talking about an "okay" female euphonium player who had just left her lesson, and he was a bit frustrated with her. He said, "some boy just needs to give her a good roll in the hay". I don't remember if Rex realized his wife Alberta was in the room, but the look she gave him would have burned a hole through concrete.

[hubert]

Matthew Hall (UK), when, once upon a time, acting as a conductor: "Let us first rehearse the last chord; that will be the only thing people remember after we have finished".

Hubert

[windshieldbug]

"What's on your so-called mind?" - Dr. Irving H. Cohen

[SousaWarrior9]

"The first girl I ever kissed gave me a disease"
-Arnold Jacobs

[bone-a-phone]

I studied (trombone) with John Swallow, who I think qualifies for this as he was a euphonium player and possibly touched a tuba one time.

I was a fresh faced, straight-laced youth, straight out of the woods, and he was of course John Swallow. His head was memorably large and at that point he had so little hair on it that he looked like Linus (from the Peanuts).

He was probably trying to get me to exude confidence on some exercise. So he says "Here, play it like this", and in his best operatic voice, sings in ascending scalar fashion with an outstretched arm, "SHOVE IT UP YOUR FU**ING @$$!!!!"

I was of course mortified. What would my mother think! And my grandmother?!?! My family was paying money for me to take these lessons. Mr. Swallow was a great teacher, and not afraid to say right out loud what you needed to hear.

[Rick Denney]

He followed up with, “Hey, man... You’re not some prima donna violinst. You have 30lbs of $#!+ in your lap - sit the hell still!”

I love this. (Although if my mind is on fire too much, it causes marked worsening of my tremor, so I have to chill out mentally to be remotely chill physically. Bourbon works, but lately I've had a bit of an epiphany about Scotch, which can get expensive.)

My favorite quote is from Lee Hipp. I once asked him which was more important, musicality or technique? His answer is my favorite quote:

"Yes."

Rick "catching up" Denney

[Rick Denney]

[I'll second your motion on the price of Scotch. Barback - easy enough, but often rough (Varsol in a bottle). Middle shelf - affordable, but choose carefully. Top shelf - not my daily drinker, but special occasions for sure. Special glass case in the special room - I simply smile and nod approvingly as a walk by.

If I'm going to drink affordable booze, it will be Bourbon, which can be very good without being very expensive. (My preferred is Elijah Craig Small Batch--under $30 a bottle). If I'm going to drink Scotch, it has to be better than good Bourbon, so I'll only drink the good stuff. My current infactuation is Bowmore 12-year, which is still reasonably price, for Scotch (around $50 a bottle).

Rick "bottles last a year or two with my paltry consumption" Denney

[Rick Denney]

[I'll second your motion on the price of Scotch. Barback - easy enough, but often rough (Varsol in a bottle). Middle shelf - affordable, but choose carefully. Top shelf - not my daily drinker, but special occasions for sure. Special glass case in the special room - I simply smile and nod approvingly as a walk by.

If I'm going to drink affordable booze, it will be Bourbon, which can be very good without being very expensive. (My preferred is Elijah Craig Small Batch--under $30 a bottle). If I'm going to drink Scotch, it has to be better than good Bourbon, so I'll only drink the good stuff. My current infactuation is Bowmore 12-year, which is still reasonably price, for Scotch (around $50 a bottle).

Rick "bottles last a year or two with my paltry consumption" Denney

Understood. Glenlivet and Maker's Mark tend to get the nod around here. Rebecca Creek , WL Wellers, and Buffalo Trace occasionally.

Have you ever tried Laphroaig? Very nice. Have to open the windows when I open the bottle, else the cat gets nervous--fills the house with the aroma of peat and she's afraid a sheepdog can't be far behind.

I've tried Maker's Mark and I like it, but I like Dr. Craig just as well and it's cheaper

Rick "doesn't drink enough to try everything" Denney

[tclements]

"Ya know, that sounds like a piece of liver hitting a metal garage door."