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When I attend concerts as an audience member, i usually close my eyes to focus on listening. My kids have been in band for several years now and so I keep my eyes open to see them. I have found that tubas are very distracting. The tubas seem to enjoy acrobatics every time they have rests, even short ones. Up, down, flip up, twirl, etc. Visually, it really takes away from the music. Your watching and processing the performance, all the sudden tubas are twirling and your thinking aaahhh.... danger will Robinson, danger!

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I've posted quite a bit about this in the past, and - when I've built my own instruments - they typically have around seven water keys. During extended rests or tacet movements, I might set the instrument on its bell, and when when there's some really busy activity over on the other side of the stage I might (hopefully, unnoticeably) pick it up and hold it next to my abdomen to warm it up to play the next movement... no blowing through the mouthpipe.

Funny, horn players have NO water keys, and seem to delight in emptying slides and spinning their horns to beat the band!

Oh, it's ritual with horn players. The tubes are so narrow, the instrument is so long, and it depends on the humidity and temperature where the water ends up!! SO much fun!! And there doesn't have to be very much of it before Burble Begins. The usual routine is pull the tuning slide(s) and empty; horn upside down, drain the water out of the valve slides into the rotor area, then open 3rd valves and drain water into them. Horn upright again, pull 3rd valve slides and empty. Then -- if water is further down in in the horn, the Steering Wheel Move to get it to run out the bell. I figure it gives the audience something to look at when they are not entranced by the dulcet tones of the horns actually playing.

In this instance, the flipping and twirling has nothing to do with water issues. They are trying to "snap" from a resting position to playing position. Marching band style. In a formal concert band setting. Its distracting.

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Grumpikins wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 3:04 pm In this instance, the flipping and twirling has nothing to do with water issues. They are trying to "snap" from a resting position to playing position. Marching band style. In a formal concert band setting. Its distracting.

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yeah...I dig.

F-attachment trombones end up getting their rotor knuckles trashed (epic devaluation of the instrument) doing crap like that outdoors.
I discourage people from marching with F-attachment trombones.
A bunch of young scholars want to take their fancy trombone out there regardless.
There are even some band directors who believe that the young scholars need to use their "large bore" trombones "on the field" to "put out more sound".

bloke "whatever. ' ain't mine."