Posted by Joe Baker on February 11, 2004 at 16:02:11:
In Reply to: Re: Tubas, not music posted by Jack Bauer on February 11, 2004 at 13:23:22:
First of all, welcome to Tubenet.
With all due respect, these things get discussed from time to time. Every so often, someone will just post a "Quick, what's on your practice stand RIGHT NOW" or "What's in your CD changer". We've debated the musical value of different forms of music, what books are good for beginning players, what exercises are good for improving the low/high range, the importance of scales, the future of symphony orchestras, etc. Those discussions actually generate quite a lot of discussion.
But we still spend a lot of time on equipment. Why? Because any of us can go out and get Blazevich, or Rochut, or Arban's, and satisfy our curiosity; but we crave to know more about equipment that we've not yet had the opportunity to see. We can't send off $20 and get a Hirsbrunner in the mail. It's an itch we desperately want to scratch.
Now, the real question is this: how ultimately effective is discussion of equipment; in other words, can the input from some other person really satisfy my curiosity. In many cases, the answer is no; but in more cases than you might think, it's actually 'yes'! I would never decide to buy an instrument based on the info I read here, but I might very well rule one out if I learn, for example, that it's particularly heavy, or that it's prone to valve problems.
There are also a (freakishly) large number of students of science, mathematics & physics on this board, including a few (Rick Denney comes to mind) who have done some very interesting study of how different equipment produces different sounds. Since it is (surveys here have repeatedly shown) the SOUND that attracted many of us to the tuba in the first place, we're always interested in how the choice of instrument affects that sound. Many of the equipment discussions center around these issues, as well.
Then there's the fact that we're just big kids who like toys.
Hang around, Jack. This board goes in cycles. There will always be posts about instruments, but lots of other stuff as well. And, as others have suggested, if there's something you want to discuss you may introduce the topic.
Joe Baker, who wants a new toy.