Tuba Redux

I went to my first orchestra rehearsal in years this Monday. It was fun. A lot came back to me. Even some of the subtleties. I fell right into some old habits of counting rests ;-), and even marking the music the way 'pros' do. Most surprising thing I didn't remember? Playing the tuba is a very physical activity (as Kid-rolla said). I am rounding into lip shape, but the physical act of controlling my wind is going to take sometime. In fact, I might never be as good due to age and lack of practice time.

You might not remember but there is only one tuba in an orchestra. On this night, there were two. Me and another guy who is not a beginner but also a player from long back. He played in high school and a little in college but never much orchestra experience. I think he got a lot of confidence from play with me.

It's funny to see even in an amateur/volunteer orchestra, that there is always a pecking order in an ensemble. It is very codifyed. For example, in the strings, each 'desk' is shared. The first chair player, on the side facing the audience, doesn't turn the pages. The second chair of the desk does that. It is his/her responsibility and expectation. Typically, he or she would make any notes to the music if needed.

I am buying a Miraphone 186 BBb tuba. It is the same horn that I played throughout college. In fact, it is the same model. I heard someone call it the Coca-cola of tubas. Very solid professional level horn but not at all very pretentious. It would not be considered elite. It is like a Fender Stratocaster. You virtually can't go wrong with one. The other guy had a Jupiter.

The horn is being taken to a pro tech who will chemically clean it (essentially a soak in acid slightly stronger than vinegar) and perform the usual valve maintenance. It will have some dents removed but nothing that would be considered major surgery.

In the meanwhile, the dealer gave me a Yamaha tuba to play. It is silver. I never played a silver tuba. The sound is slightly more bold, a little less warm. The horn itself plays very nicely and has some better ergonomics than the Miraphone, though it is very heavy. The metal feels harder and that might be why the sound is a little more bold. Maybe I'll get my mic out and record it.

Hank Kulik had one of the first popular Yamaha tubas. It as a 3/4 size tuba with 3 valves and was brass. It was a great little tuba to play. And compared to a fibreglass sousaphone sounded so much more refined. The valves were a little wonky on it. Yamaha has moved from an also ran in the instrument business to a leader. I'll have to get a picture of this horn to show you. Stunning really.

I remember tripping when I was going up the stairs in Tuckerman Hall and putting a dent in Hank's horn, which he always loaned to us students for the refined gigs. Did I ever feel like crap. Hank took it in stride and pretty much never said a word about it. What a great guy he was to those of us he liked. He was not averse to tearing someone a new one so we very much appreciated being on his good side.