[Trombone-l] Always good to check out the horn a head of time

[Ray Horton]

I happened upon this little anecdote while searching for something.

Perhaps it could be a practice technique?

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Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 15:49:24 -0700
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] Stuffy subcontrabass tubas

Alan Cole forwards the following:

Dear Friends:

A friend & Potomac Brass Quintet (of Virginia) colleague who plays tuba 
& bass trombone had the privilege, back when he was a Harvard graduate 
student, of playing a solo concerto on the university's immense 
sub-contrabass tuba, a real museum piece that was seldom played & only 
then for special occasions. In practice while working up the solo, he 
found that the humongous tuba responded radically differently from any 
tuba he had ever played before, even to the extent that he had to make 
up alternate fingerings as he went along. Plus its sound was unfocused & 
stuffy, as he might have expected from such an outsized instrument. But 
he's a good player & before too long was able to work up the solo. He 
chalked up the instrument's funny response & oddball fingerings to its 
super size. The whole time he was practicing on the extra-big tuba, it 
was in its accustomed upright position right where it was kept in 
storage backstage, because it was way too hefty to move around 
unnecessarily & without help. At dress rehearsal for the performance, 
some helpers joined in moving the beast to center stage, & while they 
were at it they discovered & removed from inside the bell of the big 
tuba a roll of carpet that had been placed there for some unknown 
reason. My friend the soloist said that with the rug taken out, the 
venerable tuba sounded lots better, blew much freer, & played OK using 
conventional fingerings.

-- Alan Cole,