Posted by Rob P-M on August 09, 2001 at 09:45:51:
In Reply to: Re: sousaphone playing position posted by Dan Schultz on August 08, 2001 at 20:58:58:
NO! The Helicon bell should be pointing slightly to the left!
I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in some pictures of proper sousaphone holding from the '20s and '30s from old King and Conn brochures.
Let me try to describe it as I see it and understand it.
First, you won't wear it right it you don't assemble the sousaphone correctly. As a starting point, put the bell on the body with the bell face perpendicular to an imaginary line straight out from the last branch. Another way to think about it is to take a yard stick and put it into the body as straight as you can. The line of the yard stick is approximately the line where the bell should be pointing. (I say approximately because there will be small adjustments based on each person and each horn's sound).
Now, when you pick up the horn and put in on your shoulder, the bell should face basically forward, but a bit to the left. The bottom of the horn (large branch) should be at your right hip. The valve cluster will now be approximately where your hand would be if you bend your right arm 90 degrees at the elbow and point you hand forward.
If you look at a sousaphone player from the front, you should see very little of the valve cluster and almost nothing of the valve branches. You should see what looks like a diagonal pipe from the shoulder (where the bell appears) to the right hip.