Reviving Old Recordings

[russiantuba]

I have owned Robert LeBlanc's LP for a while (I was given a copy by Jim while doing my DMA at OSU, as there were several there). Someone had converted the recording to mp3 audio on a home digitizing kit (likely prior to my time) so students could listen to it as well. This digitized recording was not the best, but you get the musical intent, and to my knowledge, is still the only full studio recording of the Beversdorf Tuba Sonata that is in existence. I have also been fortunate to hear Mike Thornton's "The Sound of a Tuba" solo recording as well.

I know many people will not get to hear these recordings, as I have not been able to hear the Harvey Phillips recordings, and I suspect there are a bunch more. Dan Perantoni had several albums that I don't see released. I think these would be a valuable resource. I know Dr. Paul Droste did a release of his old recordings through Potenza, but I did not ask about the costs or efforts.

Would there be a market for these recordings from a listener perspective? Could this be something a group like ITEA can pay and maybe offer a streaming service to members, etc.

[bloke]

' never could get into this piece...' seems like the textbook "tuba piece" to me...possibly upon which all subsequent "tuba pieces" have been based.
(near non-sequitur...) A good friend of mine (well in his 70's) was a T.B. (trombone) student at Indiana. A beautiful player, he went on to design/built high-end "Orff" instruments, as well as those rectangular temple blocks that Ludwig bought from him and sold as "Ludwig".

On that same Leblanc l.p. (though there is just a little bit of "York CC tuba" intonation heard) I really like the Walter Hartley Sonata...It's cleverly-composed, and doesn't rely on pat/trite tuba bombasto.

getting real (which - I guess - means "risking offense")...
Something that I remember from my transition period from several daily hours of "classical" guitar practice to several daily hours of tuba practice...
When I did my first public performance of a "tuba solo" (freshman - age 17, in front of the school of music at one of those midday required-attendance "workshop/recital" things), I noticed a couple of things:
> The tuba solo required an hour (rather than days) to perfect.
> There was a piano involved, which played FAR MORE notes than I played.
> The audience seemed far more impressed with it than they would have been with a (far more difficult/subtle/musical) guitar solo...
...possibly (probably...??) because it was [1] loud, and [2] "really good for a tuba".

[hrender]

I think it's a relatively small audience, and the catalog of relevant recordings is scattered, and in many cases, out of print. I was curious, and I found Crystal still has much of their tuba-related catalog available on CD: https://crystalrecords.com/#!/~/search/keyword=tuba. I thought that Crystal was where I got my Harvey Phillips recordings years ago, but they're not on the Crystal website.

[Doc]

I think it's a relatively small audience, and the catalog of relevant recordings is scattered, and in many cases, out of print. I was curious, and I found Crystal still has much of their tuba-related catalog available on CD: https://crystalrecords.com/#!/~/search/keyword=tuba. I thought that Crystal was where I got my Harvey Phillips recordings years ago, but they're not on the Crystal website.

Well... Where, then, does one find recordings of Harvey?

[hrender]

Re: Harvey Phillips recordings... Windsong Press has one, and there are a couple available through the Tuba Christmas website. Other than that, I'd try the auction site.

[grayax]

"getting real (which - I guess - means "risking offense")...
Something that I remember from my transition period from several daily hours of "classical" guitar practice to several daily hours of tuba practice...
When I did my first public performance of a "tuba solo" (freshman - age 17, in front of the school of music at one of those midday required-attendance "workshop/recital" things), I noticed a couple of things:
> The tuba solo required an hour (rather than days) to perfect.
> There was a piano involved, which played FAR MORE notes than I played.
> The audience seemed far more impressed with it than they would have been with a (far more difficult/subtle/musical) guitar solo...
...possibly (probably...??) because it was [1] loud, and [2] "really good for a tuba".
[/quote]

Back in the day, I was the bass player for the Ohio State Athletic band (not to be confused with the Marching Band). At some random basketball game, the director let the rythm section play a song on our own. The only thing we had ready was a bad version of Wipe Out. I played about the easiest ad libbed bass solo imaginable (I was and still am awful at soloing) and got a pretty good response from the fans in attendance. Even on tuba, no mater what I did, no one seemed impressed. Although, I will say, more people in my life have been impressed by my tuba playing (even something as simple as the fun parts of Barnum and Bailey's Favorite) than with anything I ever did on trumpet or euphonium, no matter how difficult. The bigger the instrument, the easier it is to impress?

[hrender]

Update: Apparently archive.org has at least some of Harvey Phillips' recordings online: https://archive.org/search.php?query=cr ... hillips%22

You have to know your search terms.

[bloke]

https://www.amazon.com/Baroque-Quintet- ... sic&sr=1-1

[russiantuba]

' never could get into this piece...' seems like the textbook "tuba piece" to me...possibly upon which all subsequent "tuba pieces" have been based.
(near non-sequitur...) A good friend of mine (well in

On that same Leblanc l.p. (though there is just a little bit of "York CC tuba" intonation heard) I really like the Walter Hartley Sonata...It's cleverly-composed, and doesn't rely on pat/trite tuba bombasto.
...

Barton only recorded the first movement, not the entire thing. LeBlanc also recorded the Bennie Beach as well. LeBlanc was very much against editing and from what Jim mentioned, walked in, and a little over an hour later, walked out. What you heard him play is what he would have played like live. Jim figured out how to get that York CC in tune...what an amazing horn.

[UncleBeer]

"really good for a tuba".

Reminds me of a favorite 'Howard-Johnson-ism': "It's not that the talking dog says such profound things, but that he talks at all."