tuba stands and standing/sitting

[bloke]

With this huge new-to-me tuba, once again after all these years I'm experimenting with a K&M playing stand. Before I finally reject it again and put it back in the closet, I'm finding that - when the music director walks out and everyone stands, and then we suddenly sit down and begin playing about three seconds later - the damn thing is in the way of (not only standing quickly, but) sitting down quickly, getting situated quickly, and being ready to play the first pitch. I find myself sitting way before everyone else, just so I can make it to the first note. When a playing stand and a boom microphone are both in play, that makes things even worse. Further I'm only using it because one particular tuba that's new to me is huge, so that comes in play as well. I'm looking forward to when I give up on this silly stand and put it back in the closet.

sidebar:
This fairly new thing (10 - 20 years...??) of executive directors walking out and yik-yaking at the audience for seemingly ten minutes (as every minute they run their mouths seems as if it's twice as many minutes), then the concertmaster walking out and doing the silly fake tuning thing, and then - finally - the music director coming out... this routine absolutely kills any possible anticipation with the patrons regarding hearing some amazing/exciting music. This BS routine needs to be thrown in the trash.

The obligatory fake tuning thing - certainly in this electronic age - needs to be dispensed with, and - as executive directors feel as though they are fascinating, and must say a bunch of crap to people - I believe they should save those comments for after intermission. Let the music begin!

[Mary Ann]

I do not stand with the tuba. I hide behind it. Especially if I'm in the back, where I can't be seen anyway, the little blonde blob of hair shorter than everybody. For me, the difficult thing isn't standing up but finding a vision path so I can at least see the waving in front. Somehow there is always a Giant in front of me.

[Mark]

The obligatory fake tuning thing

Tradition!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw

[Stryk]

I just stay seated...

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[GC]

I sit and lift the horn . . .

Seriously, this is one of the disadvantages of using a cheap drum throne for a stand. It definitely is awkward to stand over. The 4 of us who play together in brass and community bands range from our '70's to early '50's. With shoulder problems, back problems, and the like, we finally gave in this year and usually sit.

[sweaty]

I straddle the tuba stand holding my 30-lb. Martin Mammoth.

[bloke]

I straddle the tuba stand holding my 30-lb. Martin Mammoth.

Yeah...
I find myself straddling the damn thing and not able to turn and face the audience and stand with nice posture - unless I oh-so-carefully-and-not-particularly-gracefully (with a huge .5mm thick sheet metal instrument that would cost $2X,XXX to replace) step over and around it, and also watch the damn microphone boom stand (if there happens to be one of those). I'm not vain and - if I was ever handsome - I'm certainly not that anymore, but I do like to look my best when acknowledging applause and - with my legs spread on either side of a tuba stand's supporting legs and facing the podium, instead of the audience - I'm just not "doing it right" - not at all.
As I've said quite a few times, at least 90% of concert attendance motivation is visual, and try to be acutely aware of bad optics - in the same way that I try to be aware of extraneous noises, such as slide clanking, loud valves, bad tuba playing, etc.

I feel like - even as old and ugly as I am - people are going to look at me from the seats, because I'm holding a huge shiny thing that reflects a lot of light.

[tofu]

.

[Grumpikins]

I usually set my horn on the floor in front of me and stand holding the bell to balance it. However, i typically play an average sized 4/4. I have in the past forgone the standing if there's too little space. Besides, my wife says they cant see me anyway.

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[bloke]

I doubt that the issue is the stand. I've got all three legs down absolutely as far as they will go and the padded cup for the tuba is down absolutely as far as it will go. The legs nearly touch the floor in the center. It's just barely high enough so that the center does not touch and so that the legs do not rock. I've got two of the three legs tucked behind the two front chair legs and only one leg of the tuba stand sticking straight out in the center so that it's absolutely as out of the way as possible, but I'm still having to look at it and step over it carefully. It might be possible that - particularly during the yuletide - I'm playing on excessively cramped and jam-packed stages with 100 piece choirs sardine packed in behind the orchestra, and the tuba stand, the boom mic (not for me for any of the recent gigs but for some of adjacent instrument) chairs right smack in front of me with other people in them might be aggravating the issue. The basses are always given plenty of room, but they tend to pack the tuba player into a spot just as tight as the trombone spots. Also, the fact that this tuba is huge, thin, and sheet metal are probably factors.
In the past, (again) I've quickly become annoyed with tuba stands and put them back in the closet. I think I need to sell the two or three different ones that I have, so I'll quit fooling around with them.

[Grumpikins]

What is this unusually large tuba? Im curious.

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[the elephant]

I have a very nice, first-batch BBC stand. (Yeah, it's *that* old.) It is in perfect condition because I NEVER USE IT.

I agree 100% with you that the only thing that tuba stands do is to GET IN THE WAY. If I were in an orchestra whereby everyone was on the stage floor it might work for me, but on the limited space of our risers, they are a terrible nuisance to work around, and frankly, a physical danger for both me and the tuba.

Most of the time when I am not on a riser I am not in our hall but am on the road, and frequently this involves a dangling mic uncomfortably close to my bell that nearly always smacks into my bell rim when I have to hop up suddenly at the end of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (which is nearly always on our runout programs, which are mostly outdoors).

I also will add that having the tuba connected to the floor is horrible as I have to move around a lot when I play. The movements are small but constant, and not being able to move the horn with my body is a straight-up NO-GO for me.

My BBC stand will forever be in a state of newness because of this. I keep it in case I am injured and need it because I *can* use it. But I will never again *choose* to use a playing stand. As they like to say at the Yazoo City Walmart…

[bloke]

Yeah... I keep the tension nut on the padded cup loose, so the instrument can - at least - slightly rotate, but that's still not enough positional flexibility. Further, I'm constantly concerned that if I don't set the damn thing down just so on to the padded cup, I'm going to put a nice juicy dent in an inaccessible for repair part of the bottom bow. This POS is going back in the closet. Thanks for your encouraging post, Wade.

non sequitur:
I'm sitting in a parking lot outside a convalescent home getting ready to play another toot and scoot. I'm getting all sorts of texts from the other musicians who have already entered the building about being asked to mask up and such. I guess this is going to be a lot like back when restaurants asked their patrons too mask up walking to their tables but then take the masks off to take bites, and then put the masks on again in between bites.
Okay.. fine. Unlike those restaurants, the money is going towards me. rather than away from me...and I can play that game for an hour...so here goes.

[kingrob76]

I'm a big fan of the stands, particularly the BBC stand. Sometimes I stand up and leave the horn on the stand which sort of leaves me straddling the chair, and sometimes I pick up the horn and move the stand over a bit. If I'm on the back of a riser-less stage and above the audience it's a token standing effort, usually. The soft padding on the saddle (which is shallow) makes for easy placement and doesn't need to be just right. Depends on the situation, honestly, and after 35 years of using a stand I am pretty adept at wielding it quickly.

[bloke]

I loaned out my K&M to a private girls school for a dozen years and got it back when the guy retired a year and a half ago. I think maybe he shouldn't have retired.

[Oedipoes]

I have a BBC stand and have used it with several tubas for a while.
Most of the time this was to get the mouthpipe at the right height, because tubas are made for big people. (which I am not)
Almost every time, I ended up altering the mouthpipe height, and get back to supporting the tuba on my legs. (like my B&F kaiser recently)
The only instrument that I could only play with the stand, and I did not invest in modifying was the brass band's Besson 994 BBb compensator.
Those tubas are just insanely bad ergonomically, and tuba players below 195cm should collectively refuse to play them.
(I have to admit they sound great in band though, but need redesign)

Getting onto your specific question: I put the tuba on the floor between my legs before standing up, while holding the bell rim.
When moving back on my chair, I lift the tuba on my legs to playing height quickly/ simultaneously.
That works pretty well for me.

[bloke]

LOL
I have always stood up with my instrument and then held it off to my right side a little bit in the vertical position while facing the audience. I continued doing that when I had those multiple horrible hernias until last Winters epic surgery. I would stand up as always, sit back down, quickly push my guts back in all over the place, and then get ready to play as soon as I could.

[2nd tenor]

From what I read through the thread the logical thing is to remain seated regardless. If questioned the response is simple enough: it’s simply too difficult and even dangerous for you to be moving large and heavy Tubas about quickly, and particularly so in cramped spaces. My BBb playing friends in Brass Bands manage OK but we’re not miked-up and would change things if the seating was cramped … maybe we don’t play bigger that a 19” bell 4/4 too.

TLDR: Do what works for you.

[arpthark]

quickly push my guts back in all over the place

Rarely does a comment on this website give me a visceral physical reaction, yet here we are.

I am glad you are better now.