F@tB@stard (Miraphone 98) on sabbatical

[bloke]

Last month, I used the 19-inch bell Holton (with three selections played on cimbasso) for an outdoor orchestra concert, though Helene didn't quite finish drizzling in time for the concert, so - sadly - it was canceled at the last minute after the rehearsals.

This weekend, I'm using the Holton again for a live-to-film concert (whereby the orchestra plays the entire soundtrack to the quarter-century-old Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. It's easier to get snarly little-and-big one-beat-long crescendos and a quasi-angry-sounding resonances out of it (which will be noticeable to the patrons) without overplaying.

A couple of weeks later, I have another orchestra concert where I'm playing two Elgar pieces which are Pomp and Circumstance #1 and the Enigma Variations. Those - via tessatira - strongly suggest to me that they were originally played on bass tuba, so I'm going to use my F with the 16-1/2 inch bell.

A week after that I've got a mix and match concert with American in Paris on it. I might go back and use the 98, but I could stick with the Holton for just a bit longer. ...Truth be told, the F tuba would work out just fine with the Gershwin, particularly since I don't suffer from "lowceephobia".

FB will return to play all (OK: most of) the jolly Christmas engagements here, there, and yon.

[York-aholic]

American in Paris? Thought you were going to put the top action Buescher C tuba together for that.

I know, just not enough time in the day and there’s always something else that needs doing.

Just wanted to point out that I was, in fact, paying attention.

[bloke]

American in Paris? Thought you were going to put the top action Buescher C tuba together for that.

I know, just not enough time in the day and there’s always something else that needs doing.

Just wanted to point out that I was, in fact, paying attention.

That was the plan, until I decided to stop playing C instruments. I still need to get that thing finished and see how it plays. The other 4/4 Buescher instruments that feature a crazy long capillary portion - whereby that's removed - have ended up being better C instruments than B flat.

Thanks for paying attention.

Hey, that unfinished project does have Secrist-rebuilt valves... maybe I should sell it off to someone else who would like to finish it and own and play it. The recording bell is 18 in, and I have some other Buescher 18 and maybe 19 inch bells that could be cut to fit an Elkhart Conn 4/4 sousaphone collar which would also fit this instrument for the straight bell option.

I wonder how many tuba players are aware that the tuba also gets to play a solo on the main theme of the piece? Probably only those who have played it before...The only solo that shows up on auditions - and is provided by the orchestra, due to the piece being rental - is the slow one.

[MiBrassFS]

People who have tubas on “sabbatical…” hmm... I’ve heard of them…

Aren’t they called “collectors?”

Somewhat guilty here!

“Poking the bloke!”

[bowerybum]

While on sabbatical you can enjoy a nice cigar named of all things "League of Fat Bastards".
https://www.jrcigars.com/item/league-of ... ml#start=1

[bloke]

It's been a long time since I've smoked anything, other than a night about two years ago when a music director and the four low brass had a scotch and cigar party. I smoked one strong Cuban cigar (good!) with my scotch, and it made me sick..
you know: nicotine poisoning. I just wasn't used to it anymore.

Of course, smoke and tar in the lungs is not healthy, but nicotine itself actually has several health benefits, if the person who is getting nicotine supplements becomes accustomed to it over time and isn't allergic to it. When that weaponized virus was released, statistics demonstrated that it didn't hit smokers as hard as it hit the general population - apparently due to nicotine being in their systems. Patches are expensive, the gum is not cheap, and when chewing the nicotine gum, the saliva is actually not supposed to be swallowed due to stomach irritation. I'm not going to carry a spit can around. LOL

I need to pull FB out of the case, and play it at home, periodically.

[humBell]

People who have tubas on “sabbatical…” hmm... I’ve heard of them…

Aren’t they called “collectors?”

Somewhat guilty here!

“Poking the bloke!”

As i understand it, a sabbatical is usually granted for doing concentrated work so important you can't be distracted by normal day to day work.

Professors take sabbaticals to write books and suchlike.

I have no idea what fat bastard might be up to, but i look forward to it. Should be epic.

[bloke]

Professors take sabbaticals to write books and suchlike.

...on paper, and supposebbly

bloke "two puns"

[MiBrassFS]

…supposebbly…

I always wondered how that was spelt.

[Mary Ann]

Well, my MF 183 is on sabbatical with slides out until such time as I have to do another outdoor gig in a gravel parking lot. Supposabbly if it gets another dent it will not notice, and I can play it louder without barking than I can the NS.

[tofu]

People who have tubas on “sabbatical…” hmm... I’ve heard of them…

Aren’t they called “collectors?”

Somewhat guilty here!

“Poking the bloke!”

As i understand it, a sabbatical is usually granted for doing concentrated work so important you can't be distracted by normal day to day work.

Professors take sabbaticals to write books and suchlike.

I have no idea what fat bastard might be up to, but i look forward to it. Should be epic.

True story:

25 years ago our long time postman all of a sudden was no more. For months we had a different postal person every day. It was a %$#! show. It’s a one block street with 8 houses on huge lots so it shouldn’t have been that hard to accurately deliver the mail. We literally would all have to meet in the middle of the block and hand over each other's mail. Nobody knew what was going on and those who had called got no help from the local post office.

So I called and asked for the postmaster in a town of 50,000. Repeatedly could not get the guy on the phone - it as like no one was allowed to talk to him - so one day I got home early on purpose and went over to the main post office. Again, could not get in to see the guy and I went ballistic -in a voice that could be heard through walls stated my next stop was my congressman. That got me hustled into the guy’s office.

What is going on with our mail delivery and what happened to our old great post man I demanded. The reply I never expected:

“He’s on sabbatical”

What???

“he’s on sabbatical in Rome”

IN Rome?

“YES”

Rome like Rome Italy???

“YES”

Why???

"He’s studying the Rome mail system”

WHAAAAT??? Reallly???

“yes”

For how long???

“A year”.

I was flabbergasted. Why in the world my local 62 year old postman was studying the Italian mail system in Rome was beyond me. And why - I had/have never heard anybody ever mention how great the Italian mail delivery was. I’ve been there. Beyond bizarre, but I did get the postmaster to agree to give us one regular sub and our mail then got back to normal. And sure enough after a year of absence our regular guy returned. He retired shortly thereafter (maybe a month later) and I never got to ask him about it.

Postman Sabbatical - still makes me laugh every time sabbaticals come up.

[bloke]

The F tuba was perfect for both Enigma and Pomp and Circumstance No.1

Whose thread was it that discussed something about feeling guilty not using the largest tuba or something like that. Was it something that Wade posted?

[arpthark]

The F tuba was perfect for both Enigma and Pomp and Circumstance No.1

Whose thread was it that discussed something about feeling guilty not using the largest tuba or something like that. Was it something that Wade posted?

https://tubaforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=10062

[bloke]

Yeah. I'm going to admit that I went through that very thing when deciding to use the F instrument on this concert.
By the same token, I've gone through the same thing when deciding to use euphonium on some pre-tuba-era piece, rather than being a "Berlioz F tuba hero".

In a related vein, I continue to be puzzled by principal trombone players in orchestras clinging to these huge .547" bore instruments with pretty darn large mouthpieces, when the ideal instruments for playing their higher-range trombone parts are - in reality and most often - probably something like a king 3B or a Bach 16 at the largest. Some of them have recently decided to occasionally play .525" bore instruments, but many of the .525" bore instruments are (other than their playing slides) actually just about as large as the .547" bore instruments. When I hear them play by themselves on the really large instruments (whether they are some internationally renowned player or a fine local player), the resonance qualities just don't sound trombone-like. To me, they sound something like a "slide horn" or something like that...

... and I believe it's the same syndrome of guilt from feeling like they would be considered to be lazy if they used an instrument with which it would be easier to play principal trombone parts. Most of the time, something around or only a bit larger than a half inch bore trombone with an eight inch bell would put more sound out that more patrons could easily interpret as a trombone sound...
... and here comes Bolero again on my schedule, and I'd be willing to bet some good money that it's going to be played on a .547" bore instrument, and with a pretty large mouthpiece.

"I'm a symphony orchestra musician, therefore I must always use an instrument that's larger than what's required to play the written parts, as well as work really hard to be able to play them nearly as clearly and nicely as I could play them on a properly sized instrument."

I don't own the huge B-flat tuba that I own in order to be able to put out a tremendous amount of effort to overplay it (so much that I can impress my colleagues and "rat/blatt" on it).
To the contrary, I have it because I really like the way it sounds from pianissimo to fortissimo from the low to middle-upper range of the instrument.

[MiBrassFS]

2 iron = 105 to 210 yards.
3 iron = 100 to 205 yards.
4 iron = 90 to 190 yards.
5 iron = 80 to 175 yards.
6 iron = 70 to 165 yards.
7 iron = 65 to 155 yards.
8 iron = 60 to 145 yards.
9 iron = 55 to 135 yards.

I like me a good 5 iron tuba.

[bloke]

It's nice to own a full set of clubs, but not everyone needs a full set.

This is a bad analogy, because it's going to bring prowess into the picture and I don't mean to do that, but when I played a little bit of golf, I only carried a 5-iron, a nine iron, and a putter, because I knew that I wasn't any good at hitting with any of the other clubs.