Solo recordings

[bloke]

First of all, I have NOT - just now - listened to some solo recording of a tuba. I'm sure I haven't listened to one in months. If I listen to anything on Facebook or YouTube, I listen to it for about ten seconds and then scroll, so I'm not talking about you or some well-known tuba player nor any specific player. Further, I'm talking about instrumentalists in general, and not so much about tuba players.

I would just like to point out that when we listen to 50 or 60-year-old recordings that are extraordinarily fine/inspiring, we need to remember that there were either zero or less than a handful of splices, if not direct to disc recorded. There was no Auto-Tune, there was no click track, and there was no digitization which could allow for all sorts of repairs and cloaking of flaws in playing.

I've been involved in playing in orchestras behind extremely famous solo musicians for commercially issued recordings, and I will tell you that digital splices/punches - or whatever you want to call them - were in the hundreds for each movement of each piece.

There's (now) an art to recording, but there's a particular art to playing straight through performances that are executed well enough to sound flawless to others - and even to be phrased so well throughout as to actually inspire other musicians.

OK... I haven't mentioned any individual instrumentalists in this post (because I really don't want this post to be about any individual instrumentalists), but I'm sure some people would love to see me list one (and - fwiw - I haven't listened to any of this musicians recordings in years) - so I will: Dennis Brain.

As a post script, something else occurs to me about making solo recordings with endless digital splices:
The more a recording artist phrases while they play - in other words: plays musically and with expression, the more difficult it makes it to be able to splice flawed playing out of recordings, because phrasing can vary from one take to the next, and might not line up. This may (??) be why recordings are always technically perfect these days, but - seemingly - very few of them inspire.

[Jim Williams]

Harvey's original Golden Crest is still my favorite tuba recording. Recorded in the late 50s/early 60s or so with 50s/60s equipment and splices can be counted on one hand with enough fingers left to throw a decent curve ball.

Despite the (now) primitive recording technology, the musician comes through clearly.

The slow movement of the Wilder sonata is the most moving piece of tuba or euphonium music I've ever heard.

[bort2.0]

Aaah, the deep fake tuba concerto. Performed perfectly, although it was never performed at all.

This is exactly why I enjoy live performances -- either literally, they are playing right in front of me, or it is broadcast live (e.g., a weekly live broadcast of the MN Orchestra). Oftentimes, a few cracked notes, squeaks, sneezes, etc, and so much better because of it. The soloists are nearly always piano, violin, or voice... But still, much more enjoyable as real-life performances than unnaturally precise robot music.

[russiantuba]

I will go out and say many newer orchestral recordings are the same way, lacking of any color, personality, shape, but oh boy they are clean. Same with tuba recordings…so many of the newer ones seem like a check mark on tenure forms.

Whenever I play recordings of tuba or euphonium recordings for students, if it’s not an older recording, it’s a live performance of someone I know is musical.

I remember reading that Rex Martin thought that only the best should release a CD, I guess to really showcase our instrument. With that being said, his only released recording was a live performance from Japan, that is one of the jewels of the tuba CD repertoire.

I appreciate what artists like Phil Black used to do, mail out recordings of his recitals. I learned more from his live, unedited recordings than I did from University of XYZ professor’s over edited recordings.

[bloke]

An orchestra that hires me to show up and play - per service - in a small-but-growing city (halfway between Memphis and Nashville)...c. 2XX,XXX "greater" (ie. commuting distance) population is led by an (Irish, of all things) music director who was conservatory-trained in Hungary and Germany (keyboard, voice, conducting, theory, repertoire, ear, and all that). He absolutely won't let ANYONE get by without phrasing - and regardless of how static the particular part of any composition (and this includes ALL pops works - REGARDLESS of how pedestrian...and - with pops - insisting on "sounding like the record" and with absolutely the proper groove, etc.)...which often is a sorrowful shortcoming with wind bands/orchestras, yes?

He's a bit distressed when there's a sub (even a remarkably fine-playing sub), as even some domestic conservatory-trained younger musicians have a tendency to NOT phrase (unless they're playing a melody, closely-related harmony part, or counter-melody).

back to "modern recordings"...
again: Consider how much more difficult it is to achieve a seamless digital splice when (not only rhythms/pitches/volume are involved, but) phrasing is involved.

As an electric bass player decades ago (with a particular bass which offered remarkable "sustain" - offered for sale on this website) I really couldn't do what I could do with the tuba - to support soloists' phrasing, so guess what I did...?? I incorporated a volume pedal... which allowed me to do (at least a little bit) sustained crescendi - when soloists and the rest of the band were doing them.

edit:
I'm not-at-all attempting to give anyone the impression that I view this small-city/per-service orchestra as one that sports some of the world's most remarkable players. Hopefully, that would be understood.

[russiantuba]

One of my favorite is a live one or Roger Bobo doing the John Williams Concerto with the LAPO. Listen to this, and this is how a soloist should sound, takes chances.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4gp56u2ah1m ... l.mp3?dl=0

[bloke]

I stole a bunch of Mr. Bobo's ideas (having stumbled across the live broadcast, and shoved in a cassette) when I performed it in 1994.

Unapologetically, I'm somewhat proud of that performance, but (due to some circumstances - including the music director deciding to go on tour for the last five rehearsals of the 1/2 amateur 1/2 professional orchestra, and - due to a *historic ice storm - the pros only having one read-through of it, I hesitate to link that (digitized version of a Walgreens cassette machine recording from underneath a bad violinist's chair) performance... I DID post it here one time (for 24 hours) and - having also posted that I would take it down after 24 hours - did so.

Why did I perform that piece?
- as a challenge
- to be able to say that I premiered it in my state
- Mr. Bobo's performance excited me, regarding the piece (particularly the last movement - a locrian mode "devil dance" ♩ = 160...to hell with the composer's tempo marking).

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