Cavaliers Tuba Question

[behold888]

First, if synths were still illegal, we wouldn't be asking each other if that was a "real" sound. :-)

Second, a funny story. A couple of years ago, we were giving our sixth graders the opportunity to try out several instruments as they were picking what they would play in band the next year. One girl was deadset on playing the tuba, and when they sat her in front of the instrument, the most beautiful, lyric sound came out. For awhile, we thought she was a natural--the best tuba sound we'd heard in that middle school for many years--and from a complete beginner playing her first note.

Then, we figured it out--she was singing through the horn.

She's now a drummer. :-)

A drummer that sings? She's the next Phil Collins!

or wait..

is she in the Blue Devils snare line?

[Noname]

A drummer that sings? She's the next Phil Collins!

or wait..

is she in the Blue Devils snare line?

I don't know why, but that exact thought crossed my mind at the beginning of the story, haha.

[Drum Corps Nation]

It's called polyphonics or multiphonics. You have to sing very high or it won't come across over the note you're playing at the time. I do it from time to time, or sometimes just do the "scratching" imitation with my band. Nat did the multiphonics, but a lot of his scratching was layered in. He was inspired in large part by "Scratch" from the Roots, and YBBB has a couple songs that are lifted straight from the Roots' rep.

It's not multiphonics because the Cavaliers tubas don't play a note under it while they do it. Multiphonics requires two simultaneous sounds.

When playing multiphonics on tuba, you don't necessarily have to sing too high in order to create the effect. For example, playing a low b-flat while singing an F above it, will still come across pretty well as long as the interval is in tune. That's one of the reasons why multiphonics on tuba works so well... you don't have to sing very high to still sing above the note you're playing. However, what the Cavaliers did is not the same thing.

As for Nat McIntosh, some of his tracks, like "Brooklyn" do have layered in vocalized effects, but tracks like "The Warrior Comes Out to Play" (probably his most famous) are completely done on one track.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Drum Corps Nation

[FHdork]

<A drummer that sings? She's the next Phil Collins!>

Phil? HA...Karen Carpenter...she had a GREAT voice...

Edited August 12, 2011 by FHdork

[nukeme70]

More on multi/polyphonics...this whole video is instructive on the topic, but the fun starts around 2:55.

[GeneralTsoChicken]

It's basically them vocalizing through the horn, a technique made popular by Nat McIntosh when he was with Youngblood Brass Band. It's supposed to sound like scratching on a record.

Multiphonics and extended techniques for tuba were far from "made popular by nat mcintosh". They have been a staple of the tubist realm since the late 60's.

I'd also argue that their recent fame comes mostly at the hands of Oystein and very little at the hands of Nat McIntosh.

[Drum Corps Nation]

Multiphonics and extended techniques for tuba were far from "made popular by nat mcintosh". They have been a staple of the tubist realm since the late 60's.

I'd also argue that their recent fame comes mostly at the hands of Oystein and very little at the hands of Nat McIntosh.

While multiphonics and extended techniques for tuba have been in the more avant guarde tuba compositions for decades, THIS IS NOT MULTIPHONICS.

This particular sound, the sound of scratching on a record, vocalized through the tuba, is something that is directly attributed to Nat McIntosh.

What Oystein Baadsvik does in "Fnugg" is not the same concept, while the technique is similar. Also, Nat recorded "The Warrior Comes out to Play" long before Baadsvik came up with Fnugg.

[GeneralTsoChicken]

This particular sound, the sound of scratching on a record, vocalized through the tuba, is something that is directly attributed to Nat McIntosh.

Really? Howard Johnson has been doing it since 1967. Keep reaching. Many more people have heard Howard Johnson improv than probably ever will hear Youngblood.

[GeneralTsoChicken]

THIS IS NOT MULTIPHONICS.

I never said it was. This an extended technique that has been used in the Jazz realm by trumpet players/trombone players/tuba players for 40 years.

[Musicman1084]

:)