The_Marching_Elite Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 (edited) WE HAVE A BAND AND MANY ARE TELLING US THAT HAVING CONTRAS AND SOUSAPHONES together WILL SCREW UP THE BASS LINE AND THE BAND! i REALLY DON'T SEE HOW THAT WOULD BE TRUE! I AM A PERCUSSIONIST AND WE NEED FIRM ANSWERS!!!! ALL OF THE PERSONS THAT HAVE MADE THAT STATEMENT HAVE ONLY WORKED WITH THE SOUSAs or only contras. if there is a way for both instruments to be played in the same song please tell me. the contra is G and the sousa is Bb. I have seen other units doing this and they seem to work out fine!! Please help!! Edited December 26, 2007 by The_Marching_Elite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravedodger Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Intonation will certainly suffer, not to mention that either the Bb or G part will be written in a somewhat funky key with which some of your members may not be familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Contras and Sousaphones working together....MASS HYSTERIA!!! ($1 to Bill Murray) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 (edited) I have mixed contras and tubas (and other G and Bb horns, for that matter) a number of times. I think that, if you are just going to start with an existing arrangement and simply transpose the parts for one or the other, there are a number of potential pitfalls. Those are probably obvious to most who are reading this, so i will skip them and go right to the remedies I've used. First, transpose the pieces to a key that would be friendly for both G and Bb. Concert Key of C is one of the easiest, putting the Bb's in D and the G's in F. Then, check the parts for potential cross-fingering and rangy notes that could make the parts more difficult and notes that have potential intonation issues; try your best to write around these. When combining the two, I usually try to keep the number of parts fewer and the complexity of parts a little less. More doubling on fewer parts makes listening and self-tuning easier, I think. In addition, tuning to a common note, or even individually to the fundimental pitches of each set of horns, will not put the instruments in tune with each other thoughout their ranges. Extra effort must be made by the players to listen and to play in tune with the ensemble. If you MUST use an existing arrangement, and it puts the G's (for instance) in a bad key, the best thing is to simplify the G parts in a way that allows you to write around cross-fingering, notes out of range and potentially out-of-tune notes. Advice from an admitted hack. But, I hope that it helps. Edited December 27, 2007 by brassomaniac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToferVis Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Hmm...i'll take a look at how the G parts will work with the piece and get back to you Dennis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 They can work together. BUT..... If it's a young group, asking questions about what fingering to use could get tricky. Plus multiple part versions. And some pretty whack intonation tendancies that are just that much worse. Not that any of that matters with an experieced and knowledgeable group. Just take a look at tuba christmas. Tubas of all configurations and in many keys getting along (not to imply getting along well, musically speaking). It can work, but visually speaking there might be some who just can't deal with a section of horns on instruments that just don't match. Kaos theory in effect, scatter drill, "written dirt". However you want to word it, it's not ideal, but it can work. Not legal for most DCI/DCA mediums, and you might have issues with judges taking exception to your diversity. But functional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayre Kulp Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 With the rigt musicians it is entirely possible. Yes, there will be fingering and intonation issues. Yes, there will be transposition problems to deal with. It's not an ideal situation for sure. But it can be done when necessary. It will require extra efforts on the parts of each player to make the overall package work. Brassomaniac was pretty much right on track with how to make it happen with the transposing and tuning tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Marching_Elite Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07-Socks Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Figured these pictures would work great for this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dir_en_X Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Figured these pictures would work great for this topic. Two rules of the internet: 31. CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL. 32. EVEN WITH CRUISE CONTROL YOU STILL HAVE TO STEER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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