Posted by Dan Bryce on April 23, 1999 at 15:44:56:
In Reply to: "Other" quintet tubas? posted by Leland on April 23, 1999 at 15:08:25:
I think the size of the tuba is really important in the over all sound of the group. A quintet needs to ask itself what kind of sound are they going for. Bright, Dark, Organ like, More chamber or soloistic like, etc.(I'm sure you can throw in about a thousand more concepts) In my quintet at school we not only tried to find the best players, but we were looking for a specific sound. There was an awesome trumpet player whos sound was too bright so we had to use someone else because of the type of sound we were after. (I know I'm nuts right? no one with half a brain turns down a good trumpet player in college, they're too rare.) Fortunately this person worked hard and we had our self a very nice and dark, Organ like sound. Then the next semester I started using my PT-15 and we started moving toward a more chamber/soloistic type sound.(this does not suggest a non blended sound.)I think it also varies depending on the type of music you are performing. While Bach peices should probably have an organ like sound, Peices like John Stevens' "seasons" I thought should really have a more chamber/soloistic sound( by the way if you are an advanced level quintet get your hands on John Stevens "seasons", it is about the funest and coolest quintet work I've ever played.)I think that the tuba you use has more to do with the over all sound of the group than any of the other instruments. So be sure and get together with your quintet and discuss a solid sound concept. You can also do a lot of sound manipulations with different mouth pieces, but there are those who would advise against that.