Tuba Christmas Chicago

[Sousaswag]

Generally went pretty well! Except for one thing. I'm curious if any of you were there/if this happens around other places.

There's always one guy who is blasting just... the worst possible sounds that end up an entire beat, sometimes more, behind the ensemble. It is noticeable in every recording I took, and it's really, really annoying. Like, is this on purpose, or does this person truly have zero idea that what they're doing sounds like garbage? It's really frustrating! Before you ask, no, I have absolutely no idea who it is, or even if it's the same person each year. But there's always one!

Okay, rant over. If you'd like to hear those recordings, I will post them up on my YouTube in a little while, and will put the links here.

Does this happen elsewhere? Am I wrong to be irritated?

I completely understand that this event is what it is, and with that comes musicians of every age, but come on! Read the room, use your ears!

[graybach]

In my experience, those people are there to get noticed, and for that purpose only. Not musicianship, time, intonation, balance, etc.
If one is playing that loudly, he/she knows he/she is doing it. It’s usually the more immature of the high school and college kids there, probably the same ones who blast out Ride in elephant rooms to get noticed. They get noticed, but not the way they want to.
I was fortunate to play a TubaChristmas under Harvey Phillips just under 30 years ago, and he stopped and ripped somebody(-ies) a new one for blasting like that, and then we got a (very good) speech on being musicians who happen to play the tuba, and that we should be good ambassadors for our instrument.

[Sousaswag]

Right - And I was hoping somebody would do that, but that hasn't happened. It's unfortunate. People were noticing and commenting on it, at least around where I was sitting.

Calling people out - I'm all for it. One of two things will happen. That person will straighten out, or, they should be asked to leave if that behavior happens again. End of story... In my world, at least.

[tofu]

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[daktx2]

I was there and heard it as well. Quite honestly, every gigantic tubachristmas I've attended going back decades in multiple cities has suffered from something like this, usually from HS kids with school owned sousaphones. Virtually no adults bring Sousas, so everyone near them isn't confident enough to call them out, and everyone grown up is too far to figure out who it is. I find it easier to consider my tubachristmas attendance as more of a Psalm 100 kind of practice than a musical one...

As an aside, the Wilder arrangements are quite crunchy, closely harmonized, and unforgiving of even the slightest intonation problems. I really think they work 1000x better with 1 to a part. Even 2 to a part in a pretty good college tuba ensemble can be too thick!

[Sousaswag]

Even if something is said during rehearsal, there is nothing to prevent someone bent on distruction to let it fly during the concert.

It's a plague with no easy solution

[Sousaswag]

Right - It's going to be what it is. I actually prefer the smaller ones that happen in the suburbs. Usually 10-15 people show for those, but I have always enjoyed the Palmer House performance for what it is. Today was just a LOT listening back to what I recorded.

Some of these kids are probably taught to blat on those sousas anyway, but it has never felt right to not acknowledge it. Oh well. It's once a year.

I'm uploading some of my videos to YouTube. If you think you can stand to listen, they'll be up shortly

[russiantuba]

Are they actually tuba players? It seems like at the larger ones, many of the tuba players aren’t even native to the instrument, they pick it up for Tuba Christmas and return to their other instrument the other 364 days (definitely the opposite of what Harvey intended). You can get people who are tubists who try to do this, but the very few I’ve attended, I feel like Harvey’s goals and mission should be the first things mentioned before a single note is played (and the ones I’ve attended, that has not been the case).

[tofu]

[

[Grumpikins]

I was slightly guilty of this at the beginning of the tuba Christmas i attended. However, I was the only front facing bell there and I could not hear myself at all because many others were just blasting away. so I was playing louder and louder without realizing. But not blatting. Anyway, after a lady directly in front of my bell was rude to me, I barely played mp the rest of the day.

I was quite disgusted with the concert as the two "university" students (sitting with the lady who was rude to me) blatted as loud as they possibly could through the concert. Not the way they played in rehearsal.

This is how "college" students are being taught now? When I was in college, it was made very clear that we must conduct ourselves in the utmost professional manner on and off stage! Always!

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[BRS]

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[DonO.]

I was slightly guilty of this at the beginning of the tuba Christmas i attended. However, I was the only front facing bell there and I could not hear myself at all because many others were just blasting away. so I was playing louder and louder without realizing. But not blatting. Anyway, after a lady directly in front of my bell was rude to me, I barely played mp the rest of the day.

I was quite disgusted with the concert as the two "university" students (sitting with the lady who was rude to me) blatted as loud as they possibly could through the concert. Not the way they played in rehearsal.

This is how "college" students are being taught now? When I was in college, it was made very clear that we must conduct ourselves in the utmost professional manner on and off stage! Always!

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I attended the same one Grumpikins did. I thought it was a very good event and yes these two college students were off the hook. But judging by the recordings and the snips they played on TV news, these two weren’t prominent from the audience point of view, being mostly drowned out by the other 68 players doing the right thing. It was mostly annoying to those around them. I discussed this with several friends over lunch and their general response was “well, you’re going to get stuff like that at a thing like this”. Obviously the general consensus was to accentuate the positive and ignore the negative, kind of like the way you would ignore gnats at an otherwise great picnic.

[bloke]

I'm participating in BrassChristmas this evening, tonight and a bit into Christmas morning. I will be the obnoxious one of the bunch. I've already been paid, so I can get away with it.
I am using a sousaphone, but Miraphone bent it into the shape of a big fat tuba and stuck some extra valves on there that don't do anything, so I'm fooling everyone.

To my recollection, there's only one verse of one carol whereby I get to play stuff like low F etc., so I don't have all that many chances to blatt out depth charges. The few that I have are going to have to count.

[Grumpikins]

[/quote]I attended the same one Grumpikins did. I thought it was a very good event and yes these two college students were off the hook. But judging by the recordings and the snips they played on TV news, these two weren’t prominent from the audience point of view, being mostly drowned out by the other 68 players doing the right thing. It was mostly annoying to those around them. [/quote]



Your right, it wasn't really noticable on the recording my wife took with her phone. I think I'm being too critical. The event was wonderful. I shouldn't let small things upset me so much.

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[Sousaswag]

All, here are some links to what I recorded of the performance. It is what it is!

Deck the Halls-


The First Noel-


Good King Wenceslas-


Joy To The World-


God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen-


Carol Of The Bells-


Hark! The Herald Angels Sing-


Adeste Fideles- (Yes, I pulled my first slide all the way out of my horn. Don't laugh too hard!)

[Doc]

I'm participating in BrassChristmas this evening, tonight and a bit into Christmas morning. I will be the obnoxious one of the bunch. I've already been paid, so I can get away with it.
I am using a sousaphone, but Miraphone bent it into the shape of a big fat tuba and stuck some extra valves on there that don't do anything, so I'm fooling everyone.

To my recollection, there's only one verse of one carol whereby I get to play stuff like low F etc., so I don't have all that many chances to blatt out depth charges. The few that I have are going to have to count.

IMG_9550.jpeg (111.33 KiB) Viewed 1731 times

[Charlie C Chowder]

I hate blasters, but it is not my place to say something. That is the director's. The Portland TC has both U of O AND OSU marching tubas attend. We give them both time up in front to play their fight song. That seems to satisfy the blasters.

As to the flute players who play tuba for a day, some of them are kind of cute,
CCC

[gocsick]

I hate blasters, but it is not my place to say something. That is the director's. The Portland TC has both U of O AND OSU marching tubas attend. We give them both time up in front to play their fight song. That seems to satisfy the blasters.

Couldn't figure out why Obviously of Ohio and Ohio State University would be heavily represented in Portland.

[MikeS]

I hate blasters, but it is not my place to say something. That is the director's. The Portland TC has both U of O AND OSU marching tubas attend. We give them both time up in front to play their fight song. That seems to satisfy the blasters.

Couldn't figure out why Obviously of Ohio and Ohio State University would be heavily represented in Portland.

In 2017 Ohio State tried to toss out a 20-year-old agreement and sought an exclusive national trademark for “OSU”. Oklahoma State filed a counter motion. Before the Patent and Trademark office could rule, the three OSU’s entered a new settlement. Ohio State holds the trademark in 19 eastern and midwestern states, Oklahoma State holds it in 17 southwestern and western states, and Oregon State gets the remaining 14. I’m not sure if it’s a free-for-all in Guam and Puerto Rico. All three agree not to use terms like “wannabe OSU” in reference to the others.

Ohio State, after three years of trying, managed to trademark “The”, as in The Ohio State University. Apparently, they want to move away from using just OSU. It all seems pretty silly except all three universities generate tens of millions of dollars a year licensing this stuff. Heaven knows that the football players shouldn’t have to look at a five year old waterfall installation in the locker room.

And yes, there is a Portland, Ohio, where Ohio State and Ohio University tuba players might attend a TubaChristmas (tm) at the Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park.

[kingrob76]

After 40 years of having several available to me in the DC area, I'm proud to admit I've never to been to a Tuba Christmas and don't ever see myself going to a Tuba Christmas. There's a really big part of me that just sees it as something for people to gawk at or make fun of, and I feel no need to add to either of those things. The mass ensemble idea also doesn't appeal to me - I've stayed away from mass "reading sessions" for the same reason. If there's 100 tuba and euphonium players in the room, it doesn't matter how well or poorly you play, the mass effect is still the same. I'd rather play a quintet gig and read down the Rasmussen book for the 812th time.