Re: Re: Re: german F sound concept


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Posted by Rick Denney on July 26, 2001 at 08:24:32:

In Reply to: Re: Re: german F sound concept posted by Noch einmal, bitte! on July 25, 2001 at 22:03:19:

I agree with Joe that a particular player's sound will shine through whatever instrument they are playing. But I agree with Steve that the horn will put its stamp on that sound.

When I play my Yamaha 621, it sounds like Rick Denney playing a Yamaha 621. When I play my York Master, it sounds like Rick Denney playing a York Master. The two sounds are profoundly different, but there is a quality in the sound (more accurately, lack of quality) that is distinctly me, in addition to the qualities in the sound that come from the horn.

When I play rotary F tubas, they are all over the map in terms of their sound, but they all have a particular feel about them that I identify as "German F tuba." They must be approached in a particular way to get the best of what they can produce. Some are pronounced in these characteristics, some less so. Some F tubas don't have them at all (the Yamahas come to mind as well as the Willson). How much of this different playing approach is heard out front I don't know. What I do know is that I don't know how to do it.

What I like about the little Yamaha was not so much the sound, but the wonderful ease of play. If I can play the instrument with that much less effort, then the resulting music is more musical. I can concentrate more on the musical aspects rather than fighting the technical aspects of the tuba. So, even though the timbre may not be what someone else wants, the music is better, especially to non-tuba-playing audiences. This quality shines in the recordings on which I have performed using the instrument (with the TubaMeisters).

So, in the end, I agree with Joe. German, Schmerman. Pick the instrument that allows you to make the music you want to make. Every day I pick up that Yamaha and play something that sounds like music to me that I can't play on virtually any other horn, I thank myself for having bought it.

Rick "who believes the sound is only one aspect of the music" Denney


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