Warning: Heresy!


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Posted by Joe Baker on December 05, 2002 at 13:51:42:

Okay, I can't hold it back any more. I just gotta say it: I'm through with mass tuba ensembles (like the Christmas tuba celebrations I've attended in Dallas and Ft. Worth the last couple of years). I've experienced the same thing each time: numerous tubists and euphs of varying degrees of ability, all doing their best and playing at mostly tasteful volumes, flanked by a bunch of HS and college hacks (all playing sousas pointed at the backs of our heads) whose concept of playing places more emphasis on paint removal than music. Consequently, I can't even hear what's coming out of my own bell. To make matters worse, the youthful offenders are typically no more attentive to the directed tempo than they are to their own horrid and overbearing tone.

I love playing Christmas music, and I love exposing the public to the instrument. But what good does it to expose the public to such horrible sounds? It surely must only perpetuate the notion of the tubist as the least competent musician in the band or orchestra.

Are some of the celebrations smaller (particularly any near my new home in E. Tennessee)? I'm curious if others' experiences are like my own, or if this was exclusively a N. Texas phenomenon. I'd love to play in a manageably sized group, but with 150+ it's just noise.

Joe Baker, who is suitably clothed in flame retardant long-johns.


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