Bartok C.F.O. performance excerpts - bloke’s newly-built Holton B-flat tuba

[bloke]

...no fancy recording equipment...
‘ just recorded with Mrs. bloke’s iPhone 6… But some of you guys asked for sound samples, and what better sound samples then in the context of a tuba’s “maiden voyage” symphony orchestra performance...??

[Ace]

Great job. Tuba sounds really good. Killer trumpet section. Thanks for posting.

Ace

[bloke]

Though only recorded with an iPhone 6 microphone...
Here is a short montage of excerpts from Bartók's venerable "Concerto for Orchestra" featuring my Holton B-flat 4+1 "frankentuba's" maiden orchestral voyage.
I used a B-flat tuba in my first year of youth orchestra, one professional orchestra concert (age 17 - Stravinsky's "Le Baiser de la fée - Divertimento"), many years later (sousaphone) in an orchestral jazz composition (featuring Branford Marsalis), and a Besson B-flat recording bass once in an outdoor patriotic concert, but (other than those examples) this is my first time to use a B-flat tuba in symphony orchestra (in forty-seven years of orchestral tuba playing).
During WWII, Bela Bartók was in the USA dying of leukemia (misdiagnosed as a return of tuberculosis), and - a he refused charity or help from friends - this piece was commissioned for $1000 ($15K in 2021 $'s) in 1944 (obviously, with no idea that it would become his signature work) to help him receive treatment, and to pay his medical bills. He literally climbed out of his sick bed to compose it, the Boston Symphony played the premiere, and (weighing only 88 lbs.) his doctors gave him permission to attend the premiere. I actually personally knew an Austrian conductor/pianist (then: young solder) who attended the premiere, but was so exhausted that he slept through the piece.
As a reminder, this tuba's stature is a scant 32 inches, the bell diameter is 19 inches, the bore size is .687" (11/16") with a .750" (3/4") bore 5th valve which is an *adjusted >SEMITONE< length.
The original Holton instrument was sold in the 1960's as a $500 "student" model, and featured three top-action pistons with a factory bore size of .665" (similar to the Yamaha YBB105 student model bore size).

_____________________________________________
*In the excerpts montage, the low B-natural "fire truck horn" sound was produced via the valve combination 1-3-5, with a slight pull of the #1 slide.

[bloke]

Great playing, @bloke!

I think the recipe you have in your Holton/King BBb is a good one. Similar to my smaller CC but with a couple more feet of resonance. The King 2341 (noted as visibly larger in your other post) is a kin as well, with its major problem being build/assembly quality, but the design is good. The Eastman tubas that fall into this genre have similarly favorable reviews.

Basically, this type of design is a really good sonic middle ground of lots of design aspects and lends itself well to playing in myriad situations. Even better when the starting point bugle offers a good scale and is offered the benefit of TLC in restoration and improvements with quality donor parts.

[bloke]

I - just this week
(after a King 2341 "new style" cleaning/dent removal for a customer - one that has been seen on the internet before, with an added 5th rotor)
- had the luxury of an A/B between this Holton custom thing (a bit like a TU331, except with a little bit larger bore and inch-more bell pancake, on this instrument) and a new-style King. The King's resonance seems to stay down in the bell in the bell throat (sorta like with a much-larger Meinl-Weston 25 rotary tuba), vs. the sound of this Holton, which seems to "jump out of the bell". Otherwise, they physically feel similar to play, and their intonation characteristics are similar.

Great playing, @bloke!

I think the recipe you have in your Holton/King BBb is a good one. Similar to my smaller CC but with a couple more feet of resonance. The King 2341 (noted as visibly larger in your other post) is a kin as well, with its major problem being build/assembly quality, but the design is good. The Eastman tubas that fall into this genre have similarly favorable reviews.

Basically, this type of design is a really good sonic middle ground of lots of design aspects and lends itself well to playing in myriad situations. Even better when the starting point bugle offers a good scale and is offered the benefit of TLC in restoration and improvements with quality donor parts.

[prairieboy1]

Well Done! Your playing was excellent! Thanks for posting this.

[groovlow]

Impressive!
My first thought "I should have been THERE"

OOmph & Bite with that one

Joe does the horn evoke a BBb version of a Besson Eb... With the responsiveness,
sturdiness in sound and build, with additional color?

Joe H
PS-- I Shoulda played your Holton in the big room at Blokeplace.

[bloke]

I suppose, Joe, that’s a really legitimate observation in the form of a question, and tends to strongly reinforce my personal observation that some of the 6/4 C tubas (particularly the larger ones) tend to suffer a bit from their two-feet-short hurried-up bugle taper...again: frantically expanding to realize the size of the bottom bow and bell...resulting in just a little bit of a hollow sound, and sort of the way that the (basically: “monster” w/19” bells) compensating E flats tend to offer someone of the same pallet of sound color.

This B-flat tuba is offering me something which is extremely alluring…and it’s not just the “new toy“ factor...and I’m still really enjoying picking up my 5/4 C instrument (which I don’t consider too large to realize a 16-foot-long expanding bugle).

Finally - and at this point in my life, I’m not (yet?) seeking something that offers more portability, etc. i’ve posted the weight of this instrument several times. It is not “lightweight“, and – being quite compact, with very few hollow spaces next to large bows - not particularly easy to grasp.

[Stryk]

Outstanding! Ballsy sound!

[hrender]

Really solid sound, nice blend.

[edfirth]

There's a Great recording of this tune featuring Fritz Reiner and Chicago on YouTube. Ed

[bloke]

' several good ones found there...
An interesting one is a Hungarian orchestra's live performance (Bartók's home country, etc...)
The Hungarian bass trombonist had a nice F-slide lever added to his instrument, and his glissando was marvelous.

[cktuba]

Sounds GREAT!!!

[Dan Tuba]

Very nice

[WC8KCY]

I really should get my Holton down there for some TLC one of these days.

[bloke]

As you may have heard, we have a nice big guest room, feed folks, and give them the Wi-Fi password.

I really should get my Holton down there for some TLC one of these days.

[P@rick]

Very nice Really enjoyed it. Keep posting