Tuba player looking to make the jump to contra

[G-horns]

Interesting. What's the explanation for that?

Probably because the sousaphone is fiberglass. IMO, they may be more durable than all brass but they are just noise makers when it comes to sound.

[Shadow_7]

Interesting. What's the explanation for that?

Aside from the ones that are fiber glass. There are a few all / mostly metal models that play pretty good. But from a design perspective. Continuous curvature, versus some straight tubes where the air flows relatively unencumbered. The Sousaphone is also designed to spread the sound out more. Where a marching horn is designed to send sound in a particular direction. So a) a Sousaphone can seem stuffy. And b) the marching horn can sound louder at a distance (from a certain vantage point). And if your means of measurement is bouncing sound off of a wall, or distant mountain. The marching horn is the right tool for that job.

[N.E. Brigand]

Probably because the sousaphone is fiberglass. IMO, they may be more durable than all brass but they are just noise makers when it comes to sound.

Sure, "if it's made by Mattel it sounds just swell" -- or so ran the dig I heard in the '80s. But that was when I was in h.s., playing on a brass sousaphone. My first three years of college marching band was on fiberglass sousaphones, before funds came through to purchase a set of brass instruments my senior year. (For want of an music major in the tuba section, I was the one chosen to demonstrate to the potential funders the difference in tone between fiberglass and (borrowed) brass.) But was that all Brad T. was referring to? Or is there some reason that a brass BBb contra would have more "edge and power" than a brass BBb sousaphone?

[G-horns]

Sure, "if it's made by Mattel it sounds just swell" -- or so ran the dig I heard in the '80s. But that was when I was in h.s., playing on a brass sousaphone. My first three years of college marching band was on fiberglass sousaphones, before funds came through to purchase a set of brass instruments my senior year. (For want of an music major in the tuba section, I was the one chosen to demonstrate to the potential funders the difference in tone between fiberglass and (borrowed) brass.) But was that all Brad T. was referring to? Or is there some reason that a brass BBb contra would have more "edge and power" than a brass BBb sousaphone?

I think Shadow_7's reply pretty much covers it.

[Soprano Martin]

There is also a certain amount player perception to this, that comes from where the bell is in relation to the ear, and vibrations of the whole horn, and how the body receives them due to playing position.

That said, I've known Brad T for a few years, and know kind of where he is coming on this. On the contra there is a crisper attack that is easier to project, versus the sousaphone which is more spread in sound. This is a design characteristic. Sousaphones like most concert tubas are designed more to create a spread sound, balancing out the low end of the ensemble and filling out the sound palette. Contras have the ability for larger crisper attacks without being blatty, which allows for significantly increased projection that doesn't sound distorted and blatty.

[N.E. Brigand]

Thanks for the explanations!

[Bruckner8]

Here's my situation. I'm a 16 year old tuba player looking to make the jump into drum corps. I'm not the best tuba player in the world, but I'm most definitely not the worst (Sam Pilafian has complimented my playing). When it comes to marching I'm pretty good at it. I still have room for improvement, but I'm willing to work hard to make that improvement.

I am most likely only auditioning for my local corp, The Academy. However, after my senior year I'll be free to do any corp I want. So I was wondering which corp would be better to march contra in? I really want to do either Carolina Crown or Bluecoats. My marching bands drum instructor(Who marched Blue devils 88' 89' keeps telling me to Blue Devils, but I don't think I'll ever have a chance to make it.

What should I do to prepare myself for the task of marching contra for a world class corp?

If you really think you have no shot at BD on Tuba, then you certainly will not make it in Bluecoats or Crown...the elites of tuba.

And if you WANT to march BD, it's not fair to Bloo or Crown anyway.

Go with your heart; and listen to your instructors. Forget about Crown and Bloo...you don't sound like the type player they'd probably be looking for anyway. They don't normally get people auditioning who have to beg for advice, and who think of it as "fall-back option." I bet they usually get performers who think "I want to be in one of the best Tuba lines ever. Period. I'm going all-in."

So if you prefer getting covered by synths, or using on-field acoustic shells to be heard, BD is the place for you. BD has all of the CI too, so if you're motivated by rings, BD is a good place to be.

Yeah, BD all the way. Go for it. I'm feeling good about it.

[FHdork]

Bruckner, you're a pretty funny composer...

[ChadPlaysBass]

If you really think you have no shot at BD on Tuba, then you certainly will not make it in Bluecoats or Crown...the elites of tuba.

And if you WANT to march BD, it's not fair to Bloo or Crown anyway.

Go with your heart; and listen to your instructors. Forget about Crown and Bloo...you don't sound like the type player they'd probably be looking for anyway. They don't normally get people auditioning who have to beg for advice, and who think of it as "fall-back option." I bet they usually get performers who think "I want to be in one of the best Tuba lines ever. Period. I'm going all-in."

So if you prefer getting covered by synths, or using on-field acoustic shells to be heard, BD is the place for you. BD has all of the CI too, so if you're motivated by rings, BD is a good place to be.

Yeah, BD all the way. Go for it. I'm feeling good about it.

I don't really want to march Blue Devils though... I want to be in a corp with the best contra line in the states, and to me that's Crown.

I know I'm a good enough player to make it, and i know I've got enough determination to do good at it.

[FHdork]

I think part of what Bruckner was trying to say is the best players just go out and do what they dream of doing. They rarely - if ever - come here for 'support'...or whatever that is.

So - I think I can summarize the most positive advice you could possibly get: go for the corps you want, but don't be so irrationally egotistical to say you're too good to march an open class or 10-23 world class corps in order to learn what you don't yet know, should you not make Crown.

It's a 'free agent' era, and the skills you learn are yours to take wherever you like. But those without skills don't make lines just because they dreamed of being IN that line. It's an earned thing - one of the amazing and great strengths of drum corps: it's a meritocracy.

So it's all up to you - no one here can do ANYTHING to help you...other than to encourage you, as many of us have done. Only you can do the work.

That work would probably include: a running program. You'll want to learn to go 3-5 miles, all the while breathing through your nose. Learn to QUICKLY slow your heart rate after exertion (see the nose breathing thing). Consider some private M&M instruction. If you've got a marching tuba at your school, do your M&M with that horn. The great corps pick based on visual ability primarily. Sitting around playing your scales will help make you a better tubist...but it won't help you pass the visual audition. You've got 10 weeks.

Set up a plan...break it down by weeks, with goals you'd like to reach at each point. Chart it out. If you're like me and have very poor upper body strength, push ups and such will help...though you may get a better and less soul-killing workout with thera-bands (Pilates uses them...as well as physical therapists) - they come in a wide variety of thicknesses. Google search for drills.

No one will give you a spot. You can, however, earn one.

Edited September 13, 2010 by FHdork